This weekend, I am going to take the kittens in for the first of their shots. Now I have a question about having them receive heartworm medicine, most likely Strongid. Heartworm medicine is free with any other service where I am taking them and I have to ask is it a good idea to do or should I just pass? Right now, the kittens show no signs of worms. Of course, I have no idea how much of the mother's milk the kittens received before they were found nor do I have any idea about the mother herself. There certainly are no distended bellies on the babies and their stools seem to be ok.

So given what I know about the kittens, should I request a heartworm shot along with their kitten vaccinations or wait for the time being? Again, I thank you for your help with my babies!! :luv1:

Do you mean the routine deworming? Strongid (aka pyrantel) is used for the routine deworming of roundworms. And I'd go ahead with it, if the vet says they're old enough.

Heartworm meds (like Heartgard, Interceptor, etc) is usually not routine for cats. At least at the vet clinic mine went to. We didn't even carry heartworm meds for cats!! But they used to take Interceptor from a clinic in Austin.

Heartworm preventative is up to you. The doctor told us that heartworms are less common in cats and not needed as much. :wha: However, there is no real effective treatment should a cat get heartworms. They will typically die. I don't use it since my cats are indoor only, although a few mosquitos make it inside now and then.

But I am no expert! Maybe JJ will pop in again. ;)

Strongid treats roundworms, not heartworms. Revolution and heartgard prevent heartworms. Routine deworming (strongid) is a good idea on kittens and puppies since most are born with them but the eggs can take up to 3 months to hatch so even under a microscope one more not see the eggs. Personally when I raise a litter of orphaned kittens I give tham strongid at 4, 7, and 10 weeks old just to be safe. Then at 13-ish weeks old I'll give them a broad spectrum dewormer of Drontal which is for roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms. Even if they have no worms deworming doesn't hurt.

As for heartworm prevention it's up to you. Indoor cats are the least likely of pets to get them since they are carried on mosquitos. Dogs get it much more often. Dogs are also the more natural host for heartworms. When a mosquito bites a dog or cat infected with heartworms then ingest the microfilarie. I tend to call them "baby heartworms", very weird to see them wiggling around a drop of blood under a microscope. The microfilarie will then develope into stage two inside of the mosquito, the larva stage. Then the mosquito bites a dog or cat and injects the heartworm larva into them. The larva then travels through tissue until reaching the heart where it settles and becomes heartworms that can reach 12 inches in size. Then the heartworm mutiply and make baby heartworms, etc. Now, as I said, dogs are the more natural host for heartworms. On most cats then DO get infected with the heartworm larva since it's not their natural enviroment the larva dies before reaching the heart (sometimes on their own, but also if said cat was given heartgard or revolution at just the right time to kill the larva). But that leaves their dead larva in the tissue, most commonly the lungs, and that can serious problems. In rare cases in cats the larva reaches the heart and becomes heartworms. Once they become heartworms there is no cure like in dogs. Heartworms eventually will cause heart failure, if not other organ failure. But as I said, heartworms in cats is way more rare than dogs. Mine aren't on heartworm prevention, though if/when we get ear mites in the house everyone gets 2-3 months od revolution (which prevents heartworms, fleas, ticks, and kills ear mites).

So, it's up to you if you want to put them on heartworm prevention. ;)

Oh yeah and there's no "heartworm shot" there's just oral (heartgard) or topical (revolution).

Thanks for clearing that up, JJ. I thought wormers took care of all worms.

Anyway, the babies got there first shots yesterday along with the Strongid. Total cost for 4 kitten shots (Panagen) and the 4 doses of Strongid (free) were 85 dollars to which I think was mighty darn good!

Now I do have one question about Strongid. When they go in for their subsequent kitten shots, do they also need any subsequent doese of Strongid or is this first one enough?

Generally it's recommended to do at least two rounds because of the life cycle of worms.