Those dogs, always getting into some kind of mess. It’s enough to drive a cat like myself crazy. Mr. Biggles here to give the scoop on what else bugs us felines. While heartworms prefer our canine counterparts, they can still cause real damage to cats. The immature worms, injected by mosquitos, can cause respiratory disease. We may cough or seem like we’re having an asthma attack when worms are present. Since the signs are so subtle, most feline infections go undiagnosed. Sometimes the first sign of disease is a sudden collapse or death. Scaaary! Unfortunately the medication that’s used in dogs to rid them of the infection can’t be used in cats, so prevention is our only option. In addition to heartworms, those nasty intestinal bugs like hookworms and roundworms are a common concern for us felines too. Like dogs, we experience stomach upset and diarrhea when infected, although we tend to hide it a little better. Then there’s the fleas. When you live with a bunch of crazy hounds like I do, fleas can be a big concern. Those silly guys romp around outside and can easily transport a few dozen fleas back inside to me. That’s why my mom makes sure to keep all of us up to date on our monthly prevention. As if those things weren’t enough for a fine feline like myself to worry about, there’s also ear mites. Although my doggy roommates can also get them, they’re far more common for cats. In fact over half of cat ear infections are caused by these tiny buggers. They’re highly contagious through contact with other infected animals. And oh my, are they ever itchy! Lucky for me, my mom got one product from the great doctors at Liberty Vet Hospital to protect me against all these parasites. Once every 30 days my mom applies a small dose of Advantage Multi for Cats to make sure I don’t have to deal with any of those pesky problems. Now if only there was something just as easy to get rid of these dogs! I’m looking forward to next month’s blogs about spaying and neutering. Tune in next week!