You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

The regular worming of pets is important for their own well-being, but also for public health because some for the parasites that infect cats and dogs can be transmitted to humans ie they are zoonoses.

In the United States of America three national Institutions - The AAVP ( the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists), the CDL (the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention)  and the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID) have developed treatment guidelines to minimise the risk of transmission of parasites from pets to humans. Their recommendations are as follows :

• Anthelmintic drugs should be given to puppies at 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of age if they are kept in an environment in which all helminths (ascarids and hookworm) are likely to be present.
• In environments where only ascarids are present anthelmintic treatment of puppies can be started at 3 weeks of age
• Anthelminitic drugs should be given to kittens at 6, 8 and 10 weeks of age
• Nursing queens and bitches should be treated at the same time as their kittens or puppies.
• Regular worming treatments should be given to adult animals - the timing to be based upon local factors, or the periodic examination of faeces samples for evidence of parasites.

Although the type of parasites differ from one Continent to another, and from one local geographical region to another, these guidelines will be appropriate for most countries. However, the recommendations made by these Institutions may or may not agree with current data sheet recommendations for drugs with licenses in different countries.

Notwithstanding these recommendations owners and in particular children that touch young pets should wash their hands properly after handling or stroking them.

There are a wide range of products available to treat helminth worms and your veterinarian can advise on the most appropriate product to give to your pet, and also on how frequently adult pets should be wormed in your geographical location.

Updated October 2013