Prevention is always better than cure, and when it comes to parasite prevention, you are not only protecting your precious pets from a range of health problems, but yourself and your family as well, as several parasites can be transmitted to humans and pose a range of health problems too.
Your vet will advise you on the best products for your pet, depending on their species, their age and where you live. While cats and dogs can share some common parasites like roundworms and tapeworms, certain types of parasites are more prevalent in either cats or dogs, and treatments are designed accordingly. It is also crucial that you never give a cat dog medicine or vice versa, because they metabolise medications differently and what may be safe to one species may be toxic to the other.
There are also a wide variety of different methods of parasite prevention to choose from, and your vet can help you decide which is the most appropriate for you and your pet. Options include monthly or three-monthly oral medications in the form of chews or tablets, spot-on treatments, collars, and even annual injections. Not all preventative products are the same, so it’s important to understand what you’re using, how it works, how effective it is at eliminating harmful pests, and which pets it is safe to use on. If you’re unsure which option is best, you can always visit the team at Vets of Geelong for personalised advice and guidance tailored to your pet’s needs.
Parasite Prevention for Cats
Even indoor cats, while requiring less treatment than our feline friends that go outside and hunt, should still be treated for common parasites, because parasites can be brought into the home through multiple pathways like on our shoes or clothing, contact with other pets or even through unwanted pests or animals that enter the house.
As kittens, at Vets of Geelong, we recommend worming every two weeks until 12 weeks of age, then monthly until six months. This is because, being young, they are particularly susceptible to worms and may be infected from their mother either transplacentally (before they are even born) or through their mother’s milk. For adult cats, worming is generally required every three months with most oral wormers, but if you are using an all-in-one product that also covers fleas, worms and other parasites, the timeframe can vary. Your vet can advise on the most suitable schedule for your cat’s needs.
Flea and tick treatments are usually provided by convenient and effective combination products, and as fleas can be the intermittent host for tapeworms, it is important to use a multi-modal approach to parasite prevention.
Parasite Prevention for Dogs
The same rules apply for intestinal wormers for puppies as they, too, can be born with worms or contract them from their mothers without ever going outside. Dogs should be regularly treated for flea and tick prevention, and these include a variety of chews that last between 1-3 months, and collars or topical treatments that last up to 6 months.
Heartworm prevention is also recommended for dogs (cats are less susceptible). Monthly chews or tablets are available, but an annual injection is often a simpler and effective method. Heartworm is a potentially fatal disease spread by mosquito bites, and dogs are the primary host for the parasite, which is why compliance with prevention is especially important in high-risk areas.
Veterinary Products
Veterinary parasite products are prescription-strength medication and stronger and more effective than shop-bought products. Parasites can cause numerous health issues for our pets: vomiting, diarrhoea, anaemia, allergies, heart problems or even fatalities, so keep your pet up to date, happy and healthy with regular treatments.
