No, it's not that heartworm disease is painful per se. It just causes inflammation in the heart and lungs, making it more irritating than anything else.

It takes about six months for a heartworm to fully develop from the larva to an adult stage. After that, the cat can start showing signs at any moment.

Cats with heartworms may show signs such as coughing, lethargy, lack of appetite, and even potentially sudden death.

Unfortunately, here in Florida, we still get mosquitoes inside, so yes, it is very likely that your cat could potentially come in contact with them.

A heartworm will usually reproduce, they'll float around in the bloodstream, we call those offspring microfilaria or larva. A mosquito will then ingest that, usually this is from a dog or any other canine, like a coyote. It will then go and take a blood meal from your cat and inject some of that blood with the microfilaria into the bloodstream, where it will then go and affect the heart.

It's not nearly as common. Again, cats are not the normal host, so it's not beneficial for a cat to get heartworms.

No, a cat is not the normal host for the heartworm, so it is not possible for them to transmit. The heartworm actually cannot reproduce, so there are no offspring or microfilaria in the bloodstream.

A cat gets a heartworm the same way a dog does, through a blood-borne parasite, through mosquitoes.

A heartworm is something that lives within their bloodstream that lodges in their heart.

Make sure that they're being treated and try to decrease their risk for coming in contact with mosquitoes. So make sure you get rid of any non-moving bodies of water, such as just pots sitting with water in them or just bowls. You want to try to keep those rinsed out and keep those clean. You can also spray your yard with different antibiotics.