Keeping your pet up-to-date with parasite prevention

With increasing day length and warmer weather, most of us, including our pets, will be enjoying more time spent outdoors. It’s always important to ensure your four-legged friend is up-to-date with routine disease and parasite prevention, but especially so at a time of year when insects are more prevalent and more animals are out and about.

What vaccinations should my pet be getting?

We recommend vaccinating your K9 companions with the C5 vaccination.

This protects against deadly Parvovirus, Distemper and Hepatitis, as well as the two types of Canine Cough.

All cats are recommended to be kept up-to-date with the F3 vaccination – this helps protect them against the two types of Cat flu and Feline Panleukopenia (Feline Parvovirus). If your kitty’s lifestyle includes roaming time outside, they may also need to be vaccinated against FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) and FeLV (Feline Leukaemia Virus).

Every pup and kitten should receive a primary course of vaccines (usually three separate vaccines done four-to-six weeks apart), followed by their first adult vaccination one year later. From this point, they generally receive annual vaccines with alternating components (as not every component needs to be boosted every year).

If you are boarding your pets they are required to be up to date with their C5 or F3 vaccinations.

What parasite prevention should I give my pet?

There are lots of product options for parasite control in dogs and cats, and generally at least two products need to be used per pet for a thorough parasite prevention routine.

Any cat or dog going outdoors should regularly receive products to protect against ticks, fleas and intestinal worms. Dogs should also be on routine heartworm prevention, but this is optional in cats, as they are not the preferred host for heartworm, so are less susceptible.

For puppies and kittens, we recommend an intestinal all-wormer every two weeks up until 12 weeks old, and then continuing worming monthly until six months old. From this point, your pet should be wormed every three months. In rural areas where pets have access to livestock or if your pet is on a raw meat diet,  it is recommended to give your pet a tapeworm treatment every month in-between quarterly all-wormer doses. 

Flea and tick treatments can be covered by combination products. For dogs, there are a range of effective preventative products, including a variety of chews that last between one and three months, veterinary-strength medicated collars or topical products that last up to six months. For cats, there are topical products that last one- three months.

For heartworm prevention in dogs, you may consider an annual injection administered by one of our vets (which can be synced up with your pet’s annual check and vaccination) or a monthly chew or tablet.

As a general rule, pets should be seen for a vet check every 6 months, where we can assess your cat or dog’s general health and discuss which vaccines are required each year to maintain their protection. At this time, we can also discuss the best options for thorough parasite prevention based on your pet’s requirements.

Parasite control can be confusing with all of the different products out there so if you need help please seek advice from our friendly team!