Pet Parasite Prevention
Stopping Heartworms, Fleas, and Ticks
Parasites pose serious health risks to pets. These tiny threats can invade your pet’s life before you even notice symptoms. Queen City Veterinary Clinic focuses on proactive pet parasite prevention for all cats and dogs in Cincinnati. Parasites can cause discomfort, transmit disease, and lead to costly treatments if left unchecked. Thankfully, with consistent prevention and annual testing, you can protect your pet from fleas, ticks, heartworms, and intestinal parasites.
Preventing Heartworm Disease
Heartworm disease is spread through mosquito bites, which transmit heartworm larvae into your pet. Once inside your companion’s system, heartworm larvae develop into long worms that lodge in the heart and lungs, causing respiratory issues, fatigue, coughing, and even heart failure. Treatment is intensive for dogs, and there is currently no cure for heartworm disease in cats (only symptom management).
Dogs are the most common hosts for heartworms, but cats can also be affected. For both species, our veterinarians recommend year-round heartworm preventatives. Monthly oral chews and topical applications work for cats and dogs, and there is a 12-month heartworm injectable for canines. Many heartworm prevention methods protect from other intestinal parasites like hookworms and roundworms as well.
Even if your pet is already on heartworm prevention, an annual heartworm test and intestinal parasite screening (fecal) are still recommended. No prevention method is 100% foolproof, especially if not used consistently all year long.
Fleas That Infest Pets
Fleas may be tiny, but they can be a huge issue for pets and households.
Fleas cause itching, allergic reactions, and in severe cases, anemia, especially in smaller or younger pets. Fleas also act as carriers of other parasites like tapeworms, creating additional health complications if left untreated.
If your pet has fleas, they should be treated right away. We can recommend safe, fast-acting options to eliminate the infestation. Flea treatment often includes topical or oral medications combined with thorough cleaning of your pet’s environment: bedding, furniture, and carpets. Treating all pets in your home is necessary, as fleas can easily jump between hosts.
The best approach to keeping your pet from picking up fleas is always prevention. Monthly flea preventatives break the life cycle and protect your pet before a problem arises. We offer easy-to-administer flea prevention and can guide you in selecting the best one for your pet’s needs.
When Ticks Bite Cats and Dogs
Ticks thrive in grassy, wooded, or brushy areas and can latch onto your pet without you even noticing. Once attached, ticks can transmit serious illnesses such as Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis. These tick-borne illnesses can result in joint pain, lethargy, fever, and long-term complications if untreated.
Preventive tick control is a must, especially for dogs and cats who spend time outdoors or in tick-prone environments. Indoor cats still benefit from prevention, as ticks can easily be brought inside by humans or fellow animal companions. Our vet clinic offers monthly topical treatments and oral medications that keep ticks from living on your pet. These preventative options provide month-long tick protection.
To further safeguard dogs, our veterinarians recommended an annual 4DX test. This simple blood test screens for heartworm as well as three tick-borne diseases. Annual testing during wellness exams catches infections, even if symptoms haven’t appeared yet.
Intestinal Pet Parasites
Certain parasites get inside your pet and cause health problems.
Cats and dogs are at risk of internal parasites such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms, and Giardia. These intestinal parasites can cause symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, and lethargy. Often, intestinal parasites can be transmitted between pets, making prevention a priority for every pet in your household.
We recommend annual fecal testing to check for intestinal parasites, even if your pet seems healthy. Many parasite-positive pets show no outward symptoms until the symptoms become severe. Some monthly heartworm preventatives also protect against certain intestinal parasites (usually certain species of hookworms and roundworms), providing added defense with a single dose.
Beyond medication, internal parasite prevention for pets includes minimizing exposure. Keep your pet from drinking from puddles or streams and prevent them from eating the feces of other animals. These common behaviors can expose your pet to parasites and bacteria that are best avoided.
Parasite Prevention for Pets in Cincinnati, OH
Prevention is the first line of defense against fleas, ticks, and heartworm.
Regular screenings, treatment plans, and year-round parasite protection are just one part of how we keep your pets healthy at Queen City Veterinary Clinic. Contact us to schedule a visit for parasite testing and to choose the best protection plan for your pet.
Queen City Veterinary Clinic flea, tick, intestinal parasite, and heartworm prevention for cats and dogs from Walnut Hills, Hyde Park, Evanston, Avondale, CUF, Over-the-Rhine, Downtown Cincinnati, Norwood, Oakley, O’Bryonville, Columbia Tusculum, and the central Cincinnati, OH area, as well as Dayton, Bellevue, Ft. Thomas, Park Hills, Southgate, Newport, and the Northern Kentucky area.
