heartworm?

[applesmom]

if squirrels get west nile from mosquito bites, am i right to assume they can also get heartworm? if so, can a preventative like heartgard (ivermectin) for dog or cat be used? what about treatment if diagnosed with heartworm? (i have a cat who tests positive for exposure, so am concerned...) thanks.

[Squirrellady]

Great Question Applesmom!!! I would like to know that also!!!

[myflyer]

http://ohioline.osu.edu/b641/b641_1.html

I looked around onlline for a while and can't find any sugestion that squirrels can get or carry heartworms. I put a link above, that says what the other 15 sites I looked at said. Everything I found says heartworms are canine and occasionally in cats. Makes me wonder if there is a carnivore/heartworm link. I know squirrels are omnivores, but maybe it is in the type of flesh they choose-which for the most part is insect/worm, or the occasional "pinky mouse". Possibly a blood difference between the larger mammals and the smaller ones. Maybe the high rate of flesh in the dog/cat diet causes and increase in the ammino acids/protiens in their blood, which the larval heartworms are able to feed off of when they are transmitted to allow them to thrive.

[Pam]

I checked w/ my husband... he said that squirrels probably would not get heartworms. Dogs are the primary host. He has seen them in cats...very few. My cat is on Heartgard. A MD that comes in our clinic has seen a few cases of humans with heartworms. They stay in the larvae stage not actually worms. He would not recommend heartgard for squirrels.

[Mars]

I don't think heart worms have been seen in squirrels. That's not to say they can't or don't get them. My understanding is that heart worms in cats are a dead end for the worm, ie they can not reproduce in a cat. But it is highly danderous for a cat. The worm can live for up to two years and the cat will be very compromised during this period. The cat could die. I believe the same would be true of a squirrel with heart worm. I'm told humans can also get heart worms and that they do damage to the lungs in the form of calcium deposits.

[Pam]

Mars...sounds like you and I were thinking and typing at the same time.

[Mars]

:D Great minds think a like.:thumbsup

[Pam]

I was fixing to type those exact words....WOW!

[Mars]

:rotfl :wave123 :rotfl

[thejoymailbox]

squirrel hearts are so small in size- only as big as your thumbnail- perhaps this is part of what might make such an animal an undesirable host?