Dogs and cats are constantly being exposed to many different worms in their environment. If they are not effectively treated with worming prevention these worms will become a burden to our animals causing intestinal upset, loss of condition, itchy bottoms and other potentially detrimental conditions.
Adult cats and dogs should be wormed every 3 months. Puppies and kittens should be wormed with an appropriate product from 2 weeks of age. They should initially be wormed every 2 weeks until 12 weeks of age, then every month until 6 months of age, then every 3 months for the rest of their lives
The main types of worms that should be treated against include:
- Roundworms (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina)
- Hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum)
- Whipworm (Trichuris vulpis)
- Tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum, Taenia sp.)
Heartworm is a parasite that is transmitted via mosquitos. Once injected into an animal’s bloodstream the larvae take between 4-6 months to mature into adults before migrating into the animal’s heart. Once in the heart they affect the hearts valves and decrease its blood output. It is an extremely long and dangerous process to kill the worms once they have matured in the heart, so prevention is recommended.
Prevention methods include:
- Monthly tablet (which may be part of your intestinal worming product or not)
- Annual injection which can be given from 6 months of age.