Worm Control

All puppies and kittens, no matter what de-worming history the mother has, are born already infected with worms. From then on the dog or cat will continually pick up worms from the environment.

The only way to avoid this is to prevent all contact with other animals and anywhere animals have been. This is neither practical nor desirable. Hence worms are something we need to manage in our dogs and cats throughout their lifetime.

Worms cause intestinal damage which may lead to diarrhoea if numbers become excessive. They also feed on intestinal contents, making this food unavailable to the dog or cat. This can result in weight loss or stunted growth in puppies or kittens.

Parasites of dogs and cats also pose a public health risk. People, especially children, can be infected by the larvae of internal parasites of dogs and cats. This can cause skin lesions and less commonly eye problems. Fortunately, with good hygiene and de-worming products these problems are now infrequent.

Over time dogs and cats build up some immunity to internal worms and carry smaller burdens. Until this immunity has developed, de-worming treatments must be more frequent to allow the growing puppy or kitten to cope with the worm burden. We generally recommend that puppies and kittens receive de-worming treatments every two weeks from weaning until three months of age and then monthly treatments until they are six months old. By this stage they should have developed some immunity and three monthly treatments should be sufficient. De-worming treatment every three months is also recommended for adult dogs and cats.

Regular de-worming treatment of you pets helps keep worm burdens under control. Picking up the dog droppings in your back yard several times weekly helps reduce the contamination in your yard and reduces the likelihood of children coming into contact with larvae. Picking up your dog’s droppings on walks not only helps keep the area a nicer place to be, but helps minimise the burden in the environment.

There is a large range of de-worming products available and unfortunately they are not all made equal. The veterinary products kill a wider range of worms and do so more effectively. You can join our worm register by enquiring at the reception desk. Talk to us about what is the best product for you.