To keep your pet happy and healthy, it is important to be informed about potential health risks to your pet and how to help prevent them. All pets should be started and maintained year-round on treatment for the prevention of flea (and ticks where applicable), heartworm disease and treatment and control of intestinal worms. These parasites are prevalent in the environment, which can include your home.
This disease is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Once heartworm larvae are transmitted from a mosquito bite, they live and grow in the cat’s blood vessels, commonly in the lungs. Pets with the heartworm disease may exhibit clinical signs such as coughing, difficulty breathing, vomiting, anorexia, lethargy and even death. Heartworms can damage the liver, lungs and heart, causing disease in all of these organs.
While treatment is available for dogs with this disease, it can be costly and dangerous. In Cats, diagnosis of heartworm disease can be difficult and there is no available treatment. This makes prevention of the disease your pet’s best option. Discuss this disease with your veterinarian evaluate the best prevention choice for your cat.
Your pet is also exposed to potentially dangerous intestinal worms such as hookworms, roundworms and whipworms. These intestinal worms steal vital nutrients, can cause blood loss and cause discomfort to your pet, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and poor growth. They can affect the overall health of your pet. Other parasites such as coccidian, giardia and tapeworms can also affect pets and should be discussed with your veterinarian. Some of these parasites can affect people as well and the risks should be discussed during your veterinary visit.
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