Deworming, Heartworms, and Fecal Testing

In order to help protect your cat and your family, NOVA Cat Clinic is offering a free deworming with every fecal examination during August and September. If you did not bring a stool sample, we will administer the deworming for $5. The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC), recommends that all cats  be dewormed at least twice yearly.  For kittens, the recommendation is for deworming every 2 weeks for 4 times.

As the kittens Ellen and Emmie saved  internal and external parasites can be deadly.  We at NOVA Cat Clinic want to insure that we do all we can to protect the lives of your furry loved ones.  Another part of our mission is to protect your well-being and of your human family members.  Toxocara can be transmitted to humans and cause a variety of health issues.  These can include but are not limited to diarrhea and vision impairment. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC )website goes into more detail.

Since we are deworming, why do we need to check a stool sample?  That is a great question and the reason is that some parasites may not be killed with the deworming.  It is prudent to check and make sure that our medications have worked.

What about heartworms?  New evidence has shown that this disease is more prevalent than previously believed.  CAPC recommends that all cats be on heartworm preventative year round.  This does include indoors cats.  Since the disease is a mosquito borne disease it can occur any where.  A previous blog post discusses prevention and the risk of disease. 

CAPC has an owner’s web site that can help answer questions.  Click here

Please feel free to email or call us 703 525-1955 with any questions.

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