The staff of Birdneck Animal Hospital in Virginia Beach supports the recommendations of the Companion Animal Parasite Council, which recommends that all cats and dogs be on a monthly de-worming and heartworm preventative year round. Birdneck Animal Hospital recommends and carries in stock for our patients Interceptor and Sentinel for dogs, and Revolution for cats.
As you may know, heartworm disease is transmitted to dogs and cats via the bite of a mosquito. It only requires the bite of one infected mosquito to transmit multiple heartworms into your pet. Mosquitoes can be active during every month of the year, especially in warmer climates such as here in Virginia.
Even when it gets very cold out, mosquitoes can find warm microenvironments to find shelter in, such as under a porch, under lawn debris or even in your home. When the weather warms up for a day or two, the mosquitoes become active and can infect your pet. Even strictly indoor pets need protection. We have all woken up and found that we had been bitten by a mosquito while sleeping at night. Your pet gets bit too.
Another reason for year round use of the preventatives recommend by our animal hospital is that they also help control intestinal parasites, such as roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms. These parasites are not only a year round hazard for your pet, but some of them have potential health hazards for humans also.