Most of the time, nothing noticeable occurs. You might see a little bit of diarrhea as the worms are dying off and you may see a few of them dead coming out but other than that, you shouldn't see any other issues.

It depends. If they're on a heartworm preventative, a lot of times they already have the medication on board but if we're seeing them as puppies or brand new dogs, a lot of times we do have to start the deworming process beforehand.

We usually prefer to send home medication, so yes, you can deworm your dog at home but we typically use prescribed medications for you.

The medication used depends on the type of worm. Sometimes we'll use Pyrantel, sometimes Fenbendazole, sometimes Proziquantel. Depending on if they're resistant, there might be some other medications we have to use.

We test dogs for worms by using a fecal sample and we usually ask the pet owner to bring one in ahead of time.

The risk is not very significant. Heartworms aren't typically found in cats. Cats are not the normal host for heartworms, but they can get them. However, it can be fatal for them.