How to Test Cats Before Giving Heartworm Pills

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about how to test your cat for heart worms before giving your cat a heart worm prevention. Heartguard is a type of heart worm prevention that is given to cats once a month. There are some other ones that are topical like Advantage Multi and Revolution for Cats. Talk to your veterinary clinic first as far as heart worm prevention is concerned. Now, if a cat has heart worms there are a couple of ways to test for that. Your veterinary clinic can help guide you through that. They basically they're blood tests. There's an antibody and an antigen test, those are two separate. Antibody types of test test for antibodies that the cat has produced if they have heart worms. And those antibodies are there to basically fight the heart worms, which they never can. Now, antigen test actually is looking for the worms themselves. What it's doing essentially trying to pick up on substances produced by worms and therefore it's a pretty specific test. If your cat is positive for, you check with your veterinary clinic. They're going to help you guide you through that process. There's no easy way to treat a cat with heart worm versus a dog with heart worm. There are much more effective ways to deal with that. But before starting a prevention product, talk to your clinic first. Testing may be an appropriate way to find our if they're negative first before going on to a prevention."