Cat owners are likely aware of common diseases, like Feline Leukemia Virus, but can cats get heartworm?

The simple answer to this question, is yes.  Cats can get heartworm disease.  Unlike dogs, cats are not suitable heartworm hosts.  This means that most worms will not reach adulthood.  Adult heartworms can reach lengths of up to 12 to 14 inches in dogs, and infestations can reach numbers in the hundreds.  This is because the adult worms actually reproduce inside of infected dogs.  Even though this will not happen in cats, it does not mean that cats cannot get sick due to heartworm infestations.  Even juvenile worms can cause your cat to be very sick.  Immature heartworms in cats can result in heartworm associated respiratory disease, also known as HARD.

Can cats get heartworm disease?

How can you tell if your cat has heartworm?

Many cats are infected with heartworm, which never result in symptoms or illness at all.  If your cat has an acute onset of illness due to heartworm infection, you might notice labored breathing and coughing.  Your cat might also experience weight loss due to lack of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea.  If you believe that your cat has a heart worm infestation, do not hesitate to consult your veterinarian.  There are no treatments for heart worms in cats.  Therefore, your only course of action is prevention.

Can cats get heartworms from dogs or other cats?

Heartworm is a mosquito-borne illness.  This means that infection starts with a mosquito bite.  One animal cannot contract heartworm infection directly from another.  The process requires a mosquito.  When heartworms reproduce in dogs, there are baby worms in their blood stream.  When a mosquito bites an infected dog, the blood meal can include the presence of these baby worms, also called microfilaria.  Since heart worms do not reach adulthood in cats, infestations cannot be passed from one cat to another by a mosquito bite.

Can cats get heartworms from dogs?

Protect your pets from mosquito-borne illnesses with Hingham mosquito control.

Prevention of heartworm in your pets is two-fold.  First, choose heartworm prevention, as advised by your pet’s veterinarian.  Secondly, choose at-home mosquito control.  Professional Hingham mosquito control is available to help protect your entire family from the threat of infected mosquito bites.  The fewer mosquitoes on your property, the fewer chances any family member has encountering a bite from a disease-carrying mosquito.  Barrier mosquito control should be professionally applied from April through October in Massachusetts – far beyond what you might consider “mosquito season.”  This is because mosquitoes do not enter dormancy until temperatures are steadily at 45°F or below.  This means early springtime and late fall temperatures are ample for mosquitoes to breed and spread disease.

Dave Macchia, Central Mass Mosquito Control Expert