DS: for those of you who own dogs &.....?

cats, I have a question. The reason I'm asking this in the DS is simple...I trust this section...mostly.

Do any of you who also own cats....Do you keep your cats on a monthly heart-worm preventative in addition to your dogs? *&* if so, why?

I will share the reason for asking later. PLEASE star if you don't mind.
Thank You.

2010-08-08T22:49:51Z

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_feline_heartworm_infection.html

According to some studies- up to 33 percent of reported cases are in cats who are described by their owners as "strictly indoors."

2010-08-09T09:14:14Z

Reason for asking- I am in a heat-worm endemic area. In fact dogs where I live will almost certainly get heart-worm infection if not kept on a preventative. My Vet is very sick, but right now he has a new Vet filling in for him at the Clinic. To make a long story short, my Vet is very old fashioned, she (the new Vet) is the complete opposite, in the years that I have been taking my cats to the Vet including the cat I have now who is almost 9, I have never been advised to put them on a preventative but at the same time I have never had one get feline heart-worm infection either. So I'm at a loss at what to do, obviously I wanna do what's right but I fear that some of these "newer" Vet's are just out for our money for things that aren't *really* necessary. She made a comment to my Vet that he should raise his prices because he is too cheap, especially when it comes to spay & neutering, she feels he is too cheap. He does this to help people & help the pet overpopulation issue.

2010-08-09T09:18:15Z

I'm like you Remi- I have had Cats for years (indoor & outdoor) who have lived long healthy lives without preventative & none of them ever had a feline heart-worm infection.

This does not apply to my dogs. They are ALL on preventative. Interceptor to be exact.

2010-08-09T09:23:45Z

My Vet doesn't work for a large corporation, he owns & operates his own Clinic. He has always been a wonderful Vet, but yes, old fashioned.

2010-08-09T09:26:43Z

@Lioness I wish you would share with me at least. I'm open to your reasoning.

2010-08-11T12:34:26Z

I really do not think there is a "Best Answer" to this Q. May just put it to vote.

Remdog2010-08-09T06:15:26Z

Favorite Answer

Nope. The dogs are, but not my cat. She is strictly indoors, as our cats have always been, and we've never used preventative. We've never had a cat get heartworm, and all have lived to around 15 or more. Probably not the best plan, but it seems to be working.

Catherine Rose2010-08-11T02:10:51Z

I've owned cats for 17 years, they've always been indoor/outdoor cats as we have a catflap. We've never experienced heart-worm in any of our 5 cats. (touch wood). And no our dogs aren't prevented either. They get flead, wormed and vaccinated when they need it: that's it.

I agree with you that vets are just trying to make more money and don't be pushed into something that you aren't comfortable with, but do remember that if heart worm is at an epidemic, it may be in yours, and the cats, best interest to do so.

Clumsical2010-08-08T22:36:35Z

I don't have cats, but my dad does and he doesn't have them on a heartworm preventative, no. Reason being, they never go outside, so they automatically have a very low chance of being stung by any mosquito in general.

ADD: I don't think they'll need it. I've read that with dogs heartworm is almost always fatal if not treated. With cats, a cat can get heartworm and you will sometimes never notice because it just passes right away. Dogs will get many heartworms and they will basically take over the heart. Cats will get one and it will usually go away on its own.

Not only that, but only recent studies have shown that cats even get heartworm. Not only is their no real treatment for cats with severe heartworm, but the preventatives for cats have not been around for very long so the bad side effects have not been fully studied. For an animal that rarely gets heartworm, I wouldn't run the risk of giving it the preventative and then something going wrong

Bassets4Life2010-08-09T06:53:24Z

Before I get all TD's from people. Where I live in Canada, surprisingly, it isn't really necessary to give heartworm prevention medication to dogs. I have owned dogs all my life and not one has every contracted heartworms from any mosquito. So no, I do not give any of my animals heart worm preventative. I do give them flea and tick however, but if I did think that there was a risk of my dogs and cats contracting heartworm then of course I would give it to them.

However, when doing research for this to back up my answer that the breed of mosquito that carries the HW is not present in Saskatchewan where I live I found this article dated recently...
http://www.leaderpost.com/entertainment/Heartworm+arrives+Regina/2919381/story.html?id=2919381

So now I think I am going to talk to my veterinarian about if I should start getting my dogs and cats on HW preventative after the FIRST case ever in Saskatchewan to occur as of April 17th 2010!

Rebecca2016-04-13T03:50:37Z

I have 3 dogs. Although I love all 3 equally I have BONDED with one (Ducky) more than the others. I even had the other 2 first. I just don't connect with them like I i do with Ducky. We did not even plan on getting a 3rd dog. I was working @ the shelter for over a year. Saw tons of amazing, sweet, trained dogs come through. Many were put to sleep. Something about him caught my fiance's eye one day when he brought me lunch (we worked close to each other, so he played with the dogs on his lunch breaks). He was not even that special looking. We had him for a weekend, then again the next week (the shelter let employees take dogs home for a night or so to give them a break from the kennels, and to train them). It got to the point where he was just so attached to me. Its really just a special bond I cant even describe. Now my husband calls him my spoiled Princess cause he goes everywhere with me, and follows me around. My husband has his 'soul dog' too. And its the same way for him and Apollo. Bailey is the 3rd dog, and the most independent. She is not good with other dogs in public, so its not like she could go places with us anyways. She is very aloof towards humans, and prefers to do things her own way, so I don't feel like she is left out at all, its the way he likes it.

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