Parasite Protocols
Keeping Pets Safe from Parasites
River Rock Animal Hospital wants all owners to be able to make smart decisions about their pet’s parasite care.
These protocols are intended to detail guidelines for parasite testing and purchasing products involving parasites. There are several factors to consider when choosing preventatives and testing for parasites. In every case and with every patient, there may be special circumstances that will prompt our veterinarians to advise extra measures or testing. These will be allowed exceptions to the protocols.
Hospital Recommendations and Requirements
Annual Care
- Every patient (dog/cat) is recommended to be on prevention for heartworms, fleas, ticks, and intestinal parasites every month, all year round, starting at 8 weeks of age.
- Every patient must have an up-to-date annual exam to purchase preventions with a 1-month grace period around the date of the exam.
- The number of doses of parasite prevention allowed to be sold must reflect the number of months until the next annual exam.
- If a pet has never been on parasite prevention and is over 7 months of age or has been off of prevention for over 6 months, they must either get a heartworm screening test in the hospital prior to leaving with prevention or send out a heartworm screening test and pick up prevention later / online with a negative result.
- Some patients are too sick to get a wellness exam. In this case, the vet will allow prevention to be sold based on the most recent full nose-to-tail exam until the pet is well.
- OTC preventions such as the Seresto collar and Frontline Plus may be sold without an up-to-date annual exam.
- Prevention choice is always based on the patient’s history. For instance, a patient who had whipworms may be on Interceptor Plus monthly, as it will prevent whipworm reinfection.
Testing
- Heartworm and tick disease screening tests are recommended every 6 months for dogs. Testing is recommended to start at 6 months of age, but may be delayed until 1 year as long as the patient remains on prevention monthly.
- A client may decline the screening test for their dog 1 of the 2 times a year if they are on monthly parasite prevention all year long. If a client will not agree to test at all, they may only purchase prevention after a discussion with their vet, which will be charged as a consultation exam, and they must sign an Against Medical Advice release form.
- Heartworm screening tests are recommended annually for cats. River Rock Animal Hospital has a TruRapid HW/FeLV and FIV test for use in-house. We will not require testing prior to selling prevention.
- Every patient must have a Tick Disease and Heartworm Antigen Test within 2 months of surgery. This test may be done the morning of the surgery, and is required whether they are on prevention or not, as some tick-borne diseases will infect faster than the prevention kills the tick.
- Every patient must test for intestinal parasites once a year. Prevention may be purchased for intestinal parasites without an up-to-date stool test. We screen for parasites with a PCR test (Keyscreen) or an Ova and Parasite test at Antech. We screen for intestinal parasite eggs through a centrifugation method in-house.
Useful Information on Pet Parasites
Heartworms
- Heartworms are transmitted through the bite of a mosquito.
- There are two types of heartworm screening tests for dogs: Microfilaria and Antigen. We use the TruRapid and 4DX test in-house, and these are antigen tests. We use Accuplex as a send-out antigen test at Antech, and we use Antech to test for microfilaria when needed.
- A dog may not test positive for heartworm infection on an antigen test until 6 months after being infected by a mosquito.
- More cats test positive for heartworms than dogs in our area (1 in 100 cats vs 1 in 300 dogs).
Ticks
- Ticks can transmit disease after they latch on and take a blood meal from a host.
- Tick-borne diseases are spread after the tick attaches for at least 4 hours.
- Lyme, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma are the three most commonly transmitted tick diseases in the Midland area.
- All tick-borne diseases cause arthritis and generalized illness, but some can cause reduced clotting ability (Ehrlichia), neurologic dysfunction like blindness (Lyme), and even impair organ function.
- Ticks are going to bite and spread disease as long as the temperature is above 32 degrees.
- Ticks have a 2-3 year life span.
- Tick disease screening tests look for Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi), Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma antibodies. These tests take 3 to 8 weeks after infection to show a positive antibody result.
- TruRapid and 4DX tests are used in-house at River Rock Animal Hospital. Accuplex is a screening test (gives a positive or negative result). We use Antech for all three tick disease antibodies. Quant C6 is a quantitative test (given an amount of antibody) at IDEXX for Lyme disease antibodies only.
Pet Parasites and Humans
- Humans do not get infected with heartworms from their infected pet.
- Humans do not get tick diseases from their pets. If they are going to get these diseases, they will have to be bitten by an infected tick.
- Intestinal parasites are spread through many paths, including swallowing eggs from the environment or from eating poop, inhalation, transplacental, transmammary, and even through the skin when walking on infested soil.
- Many intestinal parasites are infectious to humans, but a human must eat the eggs or walk on the infested soil barefoot.
- Mites that live on our pets may cause an infestation on humans as well, but this depends on the type of mite and the immune status of the human. Please always refer human questions back to a human doctor.
Let’s Keep Your Pet Safe Together
Our goal at River Rock Animal Hospital is to keep your pet healthy and safe while keeping you informed as a pet owner. If you have any questions about our parasite protocols or parasite prevention for your pet, we welcome you to contact us.
Together, we can do our best to keep your pet free of fleas, ticks, heartworms, intestinal worms, and other parasites.
Together, we can do our best to keep your pet free of fleas, ticks, heartworms, intestinal worms, and other parasites.
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