The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) is an independent council of veterinarians and other health care professionals established to create guidelines for the optimal control of internal and external parasites in dogs and cats. We have incorporated their recommendations in our current Parasite Control Program.
We currently deworm all puppies and kittens at 8, 10 and 12 weeks of age then monthly until 6 months of age. Adult cats and dogs are dewormed on an as-needed basis thereafter. Stool examinations are done as well because there is no current deworming medication on the market which eliminates all puppy and kitten parasites i.e. different parasites require different medications for their treatment and elimination. We recommend checking stool samples from adult cats and dogs at least once a year. The stool samples are sent to a veterinary parasitology lab in Toronto where they undergo centrifugation and filtration, a process that is more sensitive in detecting parasites than the standard fecal floatation done in most veterinary clinics.
We start flea control products in our local area June 1, usually in advance of the typical flea season. We recommend prevention for all at-risk pets i.e. all pets that go outdoors or who share a household with outdoor pets. For example, we will use prevention in indoor cats that share a household with dogs as the dogs can bring fleas indoors. Prevention is usually continued until November 1. We recommend the Revolution preventative for all our patients, a once monthly product that also offers protection against heartworm, ear mites, sarcoptic mange, some ticks and intestinal parasites.