This section is on feline parasites. These are all questions that have been submitted or that I have been inspired to talk about because of a question submitted. If you have any topics that you would like to have discussed please feel free to email me with the topic or question.
Recent studies have proven conclusively that cats can indeed get heartworms. Unlike dogs, cats can not tolerate large numbers of heartworms. The average infestation in a cat is 3-7 worms. Unfortunately, this low nuumber of worms makes it difficult to detect heartworms in cats with diagnostic tests. The most common clinical sign in a cat with heartworms is not coughing or exercise intolerance like in the dog but is chronic intermittent vomiting. Cats in heartworm endemic areas should be on a monthly preventative such as Heartguard to protect them.
Cats most certainly do get worms. There are intestinal worms, heartworms, lung worms, etc. Intestinal worms are transmitted by worm eggs in the feces. The eggs "hatch" and the larvae infect the next cat. Kittens can also get the larvae from their mother. One type of intestinal worms called tapeworms (look like small moving rice grains) are transmitted by eating a flea or mouse. Heartworms are tansmitted by mosquito bites. Lungworms are fairly rare but can be transmitted by eating an insect. People can not be directly infected from cats. The larvae from a type of cat intestinal worms can migrate thru the skin and cause skin irritation or migrate thru internal organs and cause damage. This is rare but does occur. Tapeworms can be transmitted to a human if the human eats a flea. Heartworms do no infect people nor do cat lungworms. The best way to check for intestinal worms is to take some feces to your vet for analysis. Heartworms can be checked by a simple bloodtest.
I have researched and answered these questions to the best of my ability. But I am human and make mistakes. If there is any part of my answer that you feel is incorrect, please let me know. The last thing I want is to disseminate false or incorrect information.