This Year, Protect Your Pet From Parasites

The American Heartworm Society (AHS) recommends that all dogs and cats with outdoor access be on year-round parasite prevention that should include heartworm, and flea/tick medications. These medications protect our pets from infestation with gastrointestinal parasites, heartworms, and flea/tick borne disease. They also help to prevent the spread of parasite disease to people, especially children and those with weakened immune systems.

Revised testing protocols from the AHS recommend annual blood testing for heartworm disease. This also helps to monitor our pets for tick-borne diseases. Every heartworm test at Kuenzi Family Pet Hospital includes screening for the tick diseases Lyme, Anaplasmosis, & Ehrlichiosis. Approximately 11% of our patients that tested last year were positive for one or more of these diseases.

We recommend one of the following testing options:

• Start puppies under 6 months of age on monthly preventative & perform heartworm/tick-borne disease testing the following year
• Give your dog preventative the entire year and perform heartworm/tick-borne disease testing at the annual exam
• Customized heartworm/tick-borne disease testing program for your pet may be discussed with your veterinarian at your pet’s annual exam

Cats that have exposure to mosquitos should be on heartworm preventative year-round. A blood test is not needed prior to starting preventative in cats.

When testing for heartworm, it is also a good time to check general blood tests (serum chemistries and complete blood counts), especially in pets over 7 years of age.

Please call  us at 262-547-9370 to schedule your appointment!