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JustMe
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Posts: 7929
Elvis
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« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2009, 10:49:50 AM » |
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Are your boys going to be outside at dusk or dawn? Personally, I never thought it would be necessary for indoor cats. Yes, an occasional mosquito gets in the house, which we quickly dispatch. What are the odds of a mosquito getting in your home and biting the boys? I wouldn't want to treat my indoor cats with a preventative unless I though there was a big risk involved.
We have a lot of mosquitoes here, too. My vet has not as of yet recommended any preventative for my cats, never mentioned it. My dogs do get yearly heartworm tests/blood draws. Are they able to test cats? If a cat tests positive, is there something to treat them with?
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"One cat just leads to another." ~ Ernest Hemingway
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bug
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« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2009, 12:57:09 PM » |
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When Pip was 4 years old, she developed pulmonary edema, a fever and on x-ray, an enlarged heart. It was definitely congestive heart failure, but due to what? After we treated her with prednisone, antibiotics and furosemide, her heart and lungs went back to being normal. We then started seeing gagging and at first the vet thought allergies or postnasal drip. Again, prednisone fixed this, but once she was off it, it came back. One of the other vets suggested that this might, in fact, be heartworm. Pip was an indoor cat and I couldn't imagine that she got bitten by a mosquito. We never really found out what it was. The incident happened in 2004 and when I switched her over to Orijen, those episodes never happened again -- or since. Was it her food or a mosquito? I don't know.
Looking back at that time makes me wonder about heartworm. Allergies would not have been accompanied by a fever, nor would they have sent her into CHF. It may have been one of the worms dying off -- from what I've read, it's fits the description.
I haven't given her ivermactin since the event and I'm not sure if I want to, either. I keep the cats in at dawn and dusk, keep my grass short, keep them out of the shrubs and the city sprays malathion for mosquitoes if the count is high. My vet hasn't pushed the preventive so I'm not sure about the need and efficacy. It's a pretty new debate so I'd be interested in others' views.
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Red and Bones, my baby boys, you'll always be in my heart. Mom will see you later. Look after each other, ok?
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kittylyda
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« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2009, 03:26:17 PM » |
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I think they can test cats for heartworm, but as far as I know there is no treatment once infected. Only supportive care. That is what I remember reading anyway.
If heartworm was becoming a big problem with indoor cats, wouldn't vets be pushing the preventative meds? My vet has never mentioned it. I've never done any preventative. It never really even entered my mind for my indoor cats.
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jenny
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« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2009, 04:19:57 PM » |
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I think it depends on where you live, and possibly how current your vet is on recent research. My vet does push it, not that necessarily that means anything either. But they also help write the aafp guidelines on several topics of feline health care, so very current on research. But if you check the map in the Doolittler blog above you can see where it happens the most.
But I would not say a vet not mentioning it means anything necessarily. For example, on the feline IBD list we still run into owners who say their vets have no clue who TAMU is or what B12 injections are.
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catbird
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« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2009, 04:29:22 PM » |
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My vet, a cat specialist, does not push heartworm preventative for indoor-only cats, even in high-mosquito areas like mine. She does have a heartworm poster on the wall of her office, and recommends it for outdoor cats.
I guess that vets do have different opinions on this. While cats can and do get heartworm, they get it less often than dogs because they have some natural resistance to the parasite, according to what I have read. For me, I think the risk of the medication is higher than the risk of the heartworm infection for indoor cats. JMHO. I've never given heartworm preventative, and never had my cats (always indoor) get heartworm, either.
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Read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and you'll know where we are going and why we are in this handbasket.
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jenny
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« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2009, 05:13:11 PM » |
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Actually I should clarify. My vet usually doesn't mention it much, but yet I'm still very aware that they think it is a good idea. I've actually heard more about it from the techs. Vets are ABVP feline specialists.
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« Last Edit: July 02, 2009, 05:17:11 PM by jenny »
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Spartycats
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« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2009, 06:20:19 PM » |
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Thank you all so much. You've given me a lot to think about and a lot to read.
(My cats are strictly indoors, but a couple of screens are a bit holey, and mosquitoes have found their way inside, sometimes.)
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