How to start heartworm medicine for cats who tested negative?

You can start both of them anytime now. Before starting the heartworm treatment, we recommend having her tested for heartworm. This is important, because if she happened to acquire heartworm (spread by mosquitos), then the preventative medication can cause a bad reaction. Your vet can do the testing and prescribe a preventative. Below are links to more information about heartworm and fleas. https://mobile.petcoach.co/amp/article/heartworms-dirofilaria-immitis-in-cats https://www.petcoach.co/article/the-best-flea-prevention-plan-for-your-cat/ I hope that helps and all is well with Ellie.

She is absolutely a beautiful cat. The gold standard recommendation in cats is to immediately start Revolution and then test for heartworm disease in 6 months. It takes about 6-7 months for heart worm disease to show up positive. Here is the website for the heartworm society. https://www.heartwormsociety.org/heartworms-in-cats The issue comes with cats is it is extremely hard to test for it. The simple blood test that is performed in dogs tests for the heartworm protein. The problem is to get a positive test the animal needs an adult female heartworm in them but in cats it is very unlikely for them to have the adult female. Since Heartworm disease is prevalent in your state I would recommend talking to your veterinarian to see if they would like to test him in 6 months. It is something to consider because of your location. Thank you for using PetCoach.

You will need to go to a vet as it requires a negative heartworm test before it can be prescribed. This is a simple, fast blood-test that will let the vet know it is safe to start preventive medication. Why this is required is if your pet already has heartworms and is given the medication, it can kill the worms too quickly which can cause blockages of the blood vessels leading to potential stroke or death. Making sure your pet is negative first will ensure it is safe to administer.

Heartworm medication should be given to a dog every month, but if a dog does have heartworm, it will take at least six months for a dog to test positive after being infected. I would have Holly checked for heartworm now so she can be put on a preventative if she is negative for it. I hope this helps!

Hello. You want to start heartworm prophylaxis with 30 days of a negative heartworm test. Ticks & fleas can definitely survive your temperature range, so go ahead & start using your Frontline to get a head start on the warm weather parasite explosion. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Yes, I would continue to give Chloe the heartworm medication. There are lots of mosquitoes in Georgia, and since mosquitoes can easily enter the home and cause her infection, it's best to continue this prevention. You can't tell if a specific mosquito is infected or not, and at her age a heartworm infection would be very tough on her physically. For her health, my opinion is to continue the preventative :-)

Hello. If your cat goes outdoors at all, or has problems with fleas, it is not wrong to be proactive in preventing intestinal parasites. We basically do this when we administer monthly heartworm preventative to cats ( & dogs ). So yes, it is OK to worm your cat, at least a couple of times a year with a broad spectrum wormer. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.