Do you need to worm pets in the winter?

MsFifers

Probably a stupid question! I just assumed that parasites would be killed off by the cold, but perhaps I'm wrong about that?

I haven't wormed any of the kitties in a while...

Themadhouse

Yes. U need to use flea drops and worm every three months regardless. Some will say the drops are not as important during the winter but i keep up with it just in case. U could use something like strong hold every 3 months and then a worm tab maybe every 4 to 5 months either.

Sigma Force

I thought or at least hoped the same but fleas do appear I guess they have to find a warm body to live on over winter or something? But I have had to treat for fleas before in winter. Although they don't seem to be as prolific in winter. Deffo worming in winter is important.
I find Parazole a good wormer and cheaper than the tablets, it prevents a number of diff. parasties and is gentle on the tum, it's suitable for dogs, cats , kittens, puppies and guinea pigs and rabbits so is very gentle.

Jack B. Badd

I was under the impression that you need to use worm and flea treatments once a month as a preventative measure. Is that too frequent if it's just to prevent an occurance?

boomerang

It depends on the product you use, Jack B. Badd... most flea treatments/wormers give protection for three months.

OP, if it answers your question, I rescued a little Jack Russell last Saturday night and he was walking with fleas.

Frontline, Advocate, Advantage and Pro Meris are all good flea-treatments for dogs and cats and Advocate also treats/prevents roundworm and mites.

(Advocate doesn't treat tapeworm though, so particularly if your dog or cat has fleas (the tapeworm is involved in the flea's life cycle) you should use a separate wormer as well.)

Worms are a year-round problem so you should always worm with a good wormer from your vet at least every three months. Good wormers would include Drontal Plus or Milbemax.

Flea collars aren't worth a curse and neither are the wormers you can buy in the supermarket - you need to go to your vet or you local chemist.


Edited to add: MsFifers I just saw that you have cats... The good news is that if they are indoor-only cats, then they don't need treatment for parasites as often as outdoor cats as they've no opportunity to pick them up!


I have lost faith in Parazole recently... and our vet has said that it is not as effective as it used to be. We had very wormy little puppies here at Christmas and we wormed them with Parazole at four/five weeks as it would be gentle on their tummies... We followed the instructions to the letter, and they passed not a single worm! So at six weeks we wormed them with Milbemax instead (a puppy-sized dose) and poor little Simon alone passed 37 worms over the course of the following week!

He'd been so bound up with worms up to that point, we nearly lost him. We'd given him liquid paraffin to help him pass the worms after we gave him the Parazole, as we couldn't understand why he wasn't passing any out. But the worms were obviously still alive and well after the Parazole because he didn't pass any - they were clearly still alive and attached to his bowel.

I used to worm all my foster kitties with Parazole, but not any more - it's gonna be Milbemax or Drontal all the way from now on.

Outkast_IRE

My vet reccomends a worming every 3 months and a flea treatment like stronghold every month .