Pet Advice

There is no one size fits all answer to this question. There are obvious differences between an indoor cat and an outdoor cat but also outdoor cats who are true hunters and outdoor cats whose greatest ambition is to be a cushion on the sofa!

Indoor cats where fleas are not present need only low frequency treatment (i.e. once a year) as the exposure is low. If flea control is not good or there is exposure to raw meat and or vermin inside then a minimum of three monthly would be better to monthly if vermin are present.

Outdoor cats are exposed to tapeworm (via fleas and vermin) and to roundworms (via vermin) they might ingest. Current best practice is monthly treatment for round worms and three monthly for tapeworm if flea control is in use.

Note: Families with toddlers and young children should worm agressively as the children are the most at risk group.

There is again no one size fits all answer to this question.

There are a number of risk factors. If the dog is young, entire, hunts or is fed a raw meat diet the risk is seen as high for round worms. To be safe a dog should then be wormed monthly. If the dog is purely indoor, fed dog food and does not hunt then the risk is minimal for round worms.

Tapeworms have a number of risk factors. The more serious tapeworms are found in the Hebrides and Powys and the surrounding area. Animals living or visiting those areas regularly MUST be wormed 4-6 weekly for tapeworm. The other high risk factors are hunting, having fleas or lice and being fed raw meat and in these cases again monthly treatment is necessary.

Most dogs with effective flea control, fed normal foods and not hunting are best wormed quarterly.

The best advice is to worm from three weeks to twelve weeks at intervals decided by the drug type. We usually advise to continue then at monthly intervals until 6 months, especially if there are any doubts as to whether the breeder wormed the kittens correctly.

The best advice is to worm from two weeks to twelve weeks at intervals decided by the drug type. We usually advise to continue then at monthly intervals until 6 months, especially if there are any doubts as to whether the breeder wormed the pups correctly.

Opinions vary a little on this. In an ideal world the dog would be allowed to fully develop normally and castration would take place at 12-18 months. Unfortunately undesirable behaviour i.e. aggression, mounting, is more likely to become engrained the longer if it is left untreated and also might be totally unacceptable if the dog is biting people. There might be a management reason such as an entire female dog in the house. Sometimes then it is necessary to castrate earlier. It is seldom necessary to castrate before 6 months of age.