貓咪心絲蟲病

April 17, 2014 • wai

貓咪心絲蟲病

直到最近，大多數專家都認為貓不會感染心絲蟲。  然而在過去幾年中，研究開始顯示，貓感染心絲蟲的情況比先前認為的更常見。 

貓心絲蟲的盛行率

美國 50 個州皆有經實驗室確認的貓心絲蟲病例。一位在 1998 年心絲蟲研討會上發表研究的研究人員，對貓進行隨機血液檢測後發現，心絲蟲病比貓白血病（FLV）和 FIV（貓愛滋病）更為常見。  凡是犬隻有感染心絲蟲風險的地區，如今貓咪也被視為有感染風險。  

貓心絲蟲感染看似增加，其實反映出我們對此疾病的檢測與理解有所進步。  貓可能只會有一至兩條成蟲，因此過去適用於犬隻的心絲蟲檢測，靈敏度可能不足以辨識貓咪的心絲蟲感染。此外，由於人們不了解此疾病的盛行率，加上貓咪出現的症狀不同，貓心絲蟲病也可能被誤診。

貓心絲蟲病的症狀

貓咪感染心絲蟲時，症狀通常與犬隻不同。  患有心絲蟲的貓常見呼吸道症狀，例如咳嗽與呼吸困難，也可能被誤診為氣喘。  這些症狀加上嘔吐、體重減輕、精神不振與食慾下降，可能發展為慢性疾病。  心絲蟲也可能導致貓咪出現神經系統症狀、癲癇發作、昏厥甚至死亡。

貓心絲蟲病的治療

 

適用於犬隻的心絲蟲治療方式對貓咪相當危險。若使用犬用治療方式，多達 70% 的貓可能死亡。  對患有心絲蟲的貓而言，最佳做法是治療症狀，並讓成蟲在數年間自然死亡。有些情況下，心絲蟲死亡時引起的發炎反應可能危及貓咪生命。 


圖片來源

心絲蟲預防

目前有可預防貓咪感染心絲蟲的藥物。  如果您有養狗，且獸醫建議採取季節性或全年心絲蟲防護，也請詢問您的貓咪是否需要預防措施。  心絲蟲在美國東南部全年都極為常見，而美國許多其他地區也有感染風險，尤其是在溫暖的月份。   若您的獸醫不熟悉貓心絲蟲病的風險，美國心絲蟲協會所發布的指南可幫助您與獸醫做出明智決定。

心絲蟲與室內貓

有心絲蟲感染風險的不只是戶外貓。  一項研究發現，約 28% 被診斷患有心絲蟲的貓，都是僅飼養於室內的貓。  有些研究人員推測，室內貓可能因為未建立免疫力而有更高風險。  許多室內貓喜歡靠著窗戶或門的紗網躺臥，這也可能讓牠們特別容易面臨風險。  若您居住的地區有較高的心絲蟲病風險，請向獸醫諮詢室內貓是否需要接受預防性治療。 

我們對貓心絲蟲病仍未完全了解，還需要更多關於盛行率、症狀與治療方式的研究。   此外，許多獸醫可能不了解最新研究，也未必會定期建議貓咪使用心絲蟲預防藥物。

 

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評論(5)

  1. cynthia

    I live in australia. Bout 11 years ago my cat presented with these symptoms. I was extremely lucky that I had a very knowledgeable vet who diagnosed my boy with heart worm. He only had 1. He wss treated with a steroid to help his symptoms over the course of a few years the symptoms went which in turn meant the worm had died. He lived a further 3 years before renal failure took him. So heartworm in cats have been around for a long time but is not commonly known. All my cats r treated with revolution now.

  2. Joan

    Now that I have found Pet Bucket, where Revolution is at an affordable price, I use only Revolution on all my pets. I used to use Revolution, but after retirement I could no longer afford it. I had such problems with Advantage and Frontline that I went searching the internet. Thank goodness I finally found Pet Bucket!!

  3. Jose Crespo

    I beleive that finally found what is happening with one of my cat, my question is, only a blood test could dignose heartworm?

  4. Serge

    I have cats, what is important is to always treat them against flees, because when a cat lick himself as his or her hygiene routine, he or she will swallow some flees, then inside the they become worms, so a regular flee treatment and a worm treatment once in a while is important too.

  5. JosiesMom

    @Jose Crespo: The usual test done to detect heartworm only tests for secretions from female heartworms. So if your pet is infected by a male heartworm the test will return a negative reading even though the make worm is present. If you treat for heartworm and kill the worm, your pet is put at serious risk of the worm bodies creating a life threatening blockage. It is really best to just begin a preventative plan when the kittens are very young.

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