On May 17, 10:24 am, "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER
wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...

It's raining and I thought i would post this for everyone.. as a heads
up!
I honestly didn't know how deadly a single mosquito bite could be, or
the horrible death it could lead to in a kitten or a cat
I thought it ONLY was a threat to my dog. Someone asked, Do you think
we love our dogs more than our cats? I said, No, i love my pets
equally! I think It's just that dogs and cats are different is all.

snip

Thanks for posting this. I posted a reminder about heartworms and the
importance of heartworm medication to this group last spring and again this
year. I live in an area where we need to give heartworm medication all
year, but people in northern states have a protocol for specific months --
which is why I started posting in the spring. Your message (and the link
you provided) adds some specific content that shows how quickly death can
occur in a cat.

To answer your question: No, I don't think people love their dogs more than
their cats (certainly, not on this newsgroup). The people is that people
are generally unaware that this is a problem for cats as well as for dogs.
In fact, it is *worse* if a cat is infected because there is little that can
be done at that point. I think veterinarians and the media should be doing
far more to educate the public about the problem and about preventative
steps. (I use Heartgard once a month for my twosome.)

MaryL

A few years ago, my regular vet was a woman who also did pathology at
a tertiary care veterinary hospital. She talked about how they were
finding more and more cases of heartworm-infected cats, and the pros
and cons of heartworm protection for cats. Her opinion was, not for
indoor cats, because the medication itself was a bigger risk than the
likelihood of infection. And even for indoor/outdoor cats, she was
ambivalent, because the heartworm-infected cats she was seeing had all
died from something else, but it was something she felt she had to
discuss with cat owners who did have indoor/outdoor cats.

But the thing is, she WAS doing pathology at a tertiary care
veterinary hospital, and seeing things that the average vet rarely if
ever sees. I suspect the average vet now is where she was on the
subject 5-10 years ago.

Lis