Your Pet’s Medical and Wellness Center!
Parasite Prevention and Control
Heartworms, fleas, ticks, and intestinal parasites are extremely detrimental to your pet’s health, whether they are strictly indoors or live outside. Heartworms are spread through mosquito bites and can grow up to 14 inches long inside your dog or cat’s heart, blocking blood from being pumped throughout the body and resulting in cardiac problems and often death.
It is a mistake to believe that fleas and ticks are simply a nuisance to your and your pet. By ingesting an animal’s blood, fleas and ticks can cause illnesses and in some instances, death. Fleas thrive indoors, even on hardwood floors, and are the main cause of tapeworms in cats and dogs.
Besides tapeworms, there are many other intestinal parasites that can infect your pet such as hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms. Intestinal parasites cause vomiting, diarrhea, pneumonia, obstructed bowels, and many other detrimental conditions. They can be contracted in multiple ways, so the easiest way to prevent them is to routinely use a preventative. Frequent fecal testing is also essential. It is extremely important to prevent intestinal parasites, as most of them are zoonotic, meaning that they are contagious to YOU!
Good news! Meridian Park Veterinary Hospital carries several different preventatives to meet your pet’s needs!
Revolution for cats and dogs is a monthly topical flea and heartworm preventative that also de-worms your pet.
Iverhart Maxx is a monthly heartworm preventative for dogs that also de-worms your pet. It is available as a convenient beef-flavored chewable tablet.
Heartgard Plus is a monthly heartworm preventative and de-wormer for dogs that is available as a chewable tablet.
Vectra 3D is a monthly topical flea and tick preventative that kills fleas during all life cycles.
Vectra is a monthly topical flea preventative for cats that kills fleas during all life cycles.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PARASITES AND PARASITE CONTROL PLEASE VISIT:
The Center for Disease Control (http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/animals.html)
The Companion Animal Parasite Council (http://www.capcvet.org/)