I've been in contact recently with a woman from Waveland who I first met in September, helping to locate her three dogs. She told me that she found the remains of one - a 17 year old Chow-Shepherd mix. She also found and was reunited with one of her cats, who tragically died six months later from heartworms. Heartworms are rare in cats, and cats are not usually tested. She had an autopsy done on her cat who was fine one minute and dead the next.
If your cat was rescued after Katrina, or if you adopted a Katrina kitty that had been wondering around for some time before being trapped, consult with your vet about having them checked for heartworms.
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3 comments:
Not just Katrina kitties.
I was told, by two veterinarians, cats don't get heartworm when I lived in Minnesota ( an area 100% endemic for heartworm in dogs) Well guess what, two of my INDOOR only cats got heartworms! One died suddenly, the other has survived.
Cats get heartworms, they just don't reproduce rapidly in the cat like in a dog. But as few as two or three worms can actually kill a cat. The die off causes an embolism in some cats.
This is what happened to my kitty. I know they say sudden death, but it really isn't sudden (10 minutes). My sweet girl suffere GREATLY and it was horrific to watch and not be able to do anything. She was running around and playing "fetch the mousie" just minutes earlier, then she was dying in my arms.
I use Revolution on my cats now.
This happened 7 years ago and people still don't seem to be aware that cats can get heartworm and die a horrific death from it. I have not had a single veterinarian mention it to me since. I would bet most don't even know the extent of the danger to cats. Really, really sad!
D.
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat that died of heartworms, and appreciate you posting this. I too had always believed that cats can't get heartworms - until hearing the sad story about Princess yesterday. I hope that everyone who owns a Katrina cat will have the cat tested. Even if they contracted it last September, because the worms develop slowly they can be treated and cured.
thanks for this info, I had no idea! I have 3 adopted cats, and I am going to have them tested ASAP
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