preventative Heartworm treatment for cats

[MikeAW2010]

Hello.
None of my cats have heartworms that I am aware of. They are all indoor cats as well.
A friend of mine told me that cats need to be on Heartworm Treatment continuously because the only phase of which they can be treated is their larvae phase. Is there truth in this? If so what Heartworm treatment do you recommend?

 

[klunick]

I don't know about the first question but I use Revolution Plus on both my cats every month. Prevents heartworms as well as other worms like round worms. Also for fleas and ticks.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Most vets will tell you that you should have your cat checked for heartworm before applying a prevention treatment such as the one mentioned above. Unlike dogs, heartworms rarely mature to adult stage in cats, but can still cause damage. While there is no approved medical treatment for getting rid of heartworms in cats, knowing that the cat has them will allow the vet to determine the extent of the disease and they may decide to manage it through antibiotics and/or steroids.

The one thing I am not sure about is if managing and monitoring needs to be done before prevention treatments begin. So, you could ask your vet about that aspect.