Parasite Prevention

Parasites are organisms that spend their lives living on or inside our pets. They are debilitating to your pet by hosting off of their nutrition and cause damage to their health and wellbeing. Common parasites such as fleas, ticks, heartworm and intestinal worms are a regular problem seen by our Veterinarians.

Ticks

• Paralysis ticks are a dangerous parasite that feed off warm blooded animals for nutrition and to breed. The paralysis tick produces a neurotoxin, which is absorbed into the blood and then gradually diffuses into the nervous system, causing progressive flaccid paralysis of all muscles.

Fleas

• Fleas are tiny dark brown parasitic insects that infest the coat and skin of pets. One of the first signs of a flea infestation is that your pet will be scratching and seem quite irritated especially around the base of the tail or backs of their hind legs. Fleas are the number one cause of skin disease in pets.

Intestinal Worms

• In Australia, dogs and cats can get infected with hookworms, roundworms, whip worm and tapeworm. Intestinal worms from our pets can be transferred to other family members and children, elderly and people who are immunocompromised are at a higher risk.

Heartworm

• Heartworm is a parasitic worm that is transmitted by mosquitos and can infect dogs and cats. Unfortunately, as we are all aware that mosquitoes can find their way into most houses, fly screens or not, this means that even completely indoor pets are at risk of infection from heartworm.

Fortunately, there are many parasite preventatives available to assist in keeping your pet safe. Your local Greencross veterinarian can assist with selecting the most appropriate product to suit the individual needs for your cat.

Please visit the Greencross Vets website to learn more.