We stock a wide range of parasite prevention products at Erina Heights Vet Hospital.

A severe flea infestation can kill puppies and kittens due to blood loss and fleas are also a carrier of the flea tapeworm. Fleas can cause itchy skin disease and can also bite humans.

Paralysis ticks are also a deadly risk on the Central Coast, and year-round prevention is recommended. Paralysis ticks cause an ascending paralysis, characterised by wobbly back legs, loss of bark/meow, gagging, vomiting, respiratory compromise and can quickly progress to death. If you think your pet shows any of these signs, contact us immediately. Treatment involves the administration of an anti-toxin and hospitalisation.

For dogs, we recommend giving the monthly chewable tablet Simparica for flea and tick prevention. This product kills fleas and ticks within 8hrs and unlike other products, maintains this speed of kill all month long. Simparica is also effective against sarcoptic mange, ear mites and demodex mites. Alternatively, you can use Bravecto chew which lasts for 3 months.

For cats, we recommend either ‘Revolution Plus’ or Bravecto. Both of these options are a topical ‘spot-on’ style product applied monthly for fleas and ticks. Revolution also prevents heartworm which affects cats less frequently than dogs; and treats most worms and ear mites.

Important – No method of tick prevention is 100% effective, so we still recommended daily tick searches.

Heartworm is a deadly parasite and is transmitted by biting mosquitos. Left untreated, heartworm disease is fatal. There are two main options for prevention in dogs:

• Yearly injection – The advantages of this injection is that there is a reach-back effect so that if you are a little late coming in, it wont leave your dog vulnerable and we send out reminders to help you keep your dog up to date. There is also no chance of missing doses.
• Monthly tablets – This covers for heartworm and intestinal worms but must be given on the same day of each month to be effective. If a dose is missed, you leave your dog vulnerable to heartworm and a blood test may be required to check for infection. 40% of dogs that have tested positive for heartworm were on a monthly owner given treatment. This highlights how easy it is to forget, and therefore we strongly recommend the use of the annual injectable preventative instead.

Puppies and kittens are very susceptible to intestinal worms (round worm, whipworm, hookworm and tapeworm) and therefore regular worming is required to keep your pet healthy and well. Puppies and kittens should be wormed every 2 weeks until 12 weeks of age, then monthly until 6 months of age and then every 3 months long term.

Some parasite prevention products claim to have “all-in-one coverage”, but it is important to know they do not include complete intestinal worm coverage (missing tapeworm and some hookworm species), so an intestinal wormer still needs to be given.

For control of parasites in other species (birds, reptiles, rabbits and guinea pigs), please ask our veterinarians for advice.