So preventative care is a pillar of our clinic. This is part of our philosophy—strong, preventative care to just do that, prevent things from happening later in life...to prevent kittens from getting sick, prevent them from transmitting anything to the owner. So some preventative care is fecal testing or poop testing to check for any parasites. Because sometimes you can't see parasites that are worms on the stool. It can be eggs, and these can be zoonotic, or transmissible to people. We get them proper vaccinations to protect them from diseases that are common in cats. We administer blood tests to make sure they weren't born with that with a virus that sometimes some kitty cats can get. We check their heart, their lungs. So, regular veterinary appointments are going to be very important. Do not forget flea and tick control. Cats are very good at hiding fleas, as they groom often.

You should definitely ask about prevention, testing and lifestyle changes, when we can get tested, when to put them on prevention, and I think those are the main questions you should be asking.

Heartworms are not visible like other parasites, how people think, "Oh, I could see a worm on a fruit from a dog or a cat or something to that extent." No, they're not visible. They travel in the blood. The only way they're visible is with imaging, x-rays, and ultrasound. But otherwise, no, they're internal. They're inside the body.

As we said, inflammatory conditions of the lungs. That's the number one in cats is that, yes, it's a worm that may live in the heart, but it causes severe inflammation, respiratory signs in the lungs.