Yeah. Regular deworming is what we recommend, and the CDC recommends it. All veterinary organizations recommend a series of deworming treatments for puppies and then for adults to use a regular deworming product. Remember that about five percent of all dog fecals that we send in have parasites. Five percent is pretty high. For that reason, we recommend that all dogs have a preventative deworming protocol onboard all the time.

Yeah. There's a couple of parasites that are quite scary. Roundworm and hookworm can be transmitted to humans, and we never want children to be exposed to parasites. As veterinarians, we’re also concerned about your family's health. We make sure that there are no parasites and no one in the family would ever be exposed to them, so please come in and let us help you figure out the best deworming for all your animals in your household, and let us know about the ones that live outside. Sometimes people have an outdoor cat, and they fail to mention that, but that would mean a chronic source of parasites that the family can be exposed to.

By using a regular deworming protocol that your veterinarian recommends, as that will keep them from transmitting it between pets, and we don't want them transmitted to people, so that's the best way to go.

We have excellent medications these days. Like I said, if your cat's an outdoor cat, we're going to want them on medication once a month. If they're an indoor cat only, we may use medication once or twice a year.

Tapeworm is transmitted by fleas and flea dirt and flea eggs, so we want to keep fleas 100% under control, and therefore your cat will not pick up tapeworms.

It’s not likely that your indoor cat will pick them up, but we have found cats that have lived in households for up to two years, and they bring in a fecal, and they still are positive. The reality of it is, parasites can be pretty tenacious. The products that we use for deworming are safe and effective, and every cat should be dewormed a minimum of once a year, even if they're an indoor cat.

Cats can get intestinal parasites, and they can be transmitted in utero. When the kitten is still in the mother's uterus, they can be passed through the placenta, or after they're born, they can pick them up from other cats in the household, the mom, or from a humane society. They can also get internal parasites when they go outside, and they're out and about, as they can pick them up from other cats.

Yes, we can prevent all internal parasites by determining their type, treating them, and setting you up on a regular preventative program.

Dog exercise is vitally important. It’s the same for us. The more active you are, it's healthier for you in almost every capacity you can imagine—maintaining weight, maintaining the joints’ health, and muscle firmness and tone.

Dogs are also pack animals. By their very nature, dogs are pack animals who in the wild would be roaming and searching and all day long; they're either eating, sleeping, or hunting. And we try to domesticate them and ask them to stay in a house or a kennel, and we think they're going to be just fine. Well, most of them are. They adapt quite well, but they thrive in an environment where they can use that energy and use their senses and go out searching and exploring, so mentally, it's a big deal for them—even if it's merely taking a walk morning and evening, or playing outside if you have a big yard. I don't have time for walks, but I have a giant yard where I can let them go and run and play fetch. And we play little scent games with my little Dachshunds, as those are exercises that use their minds and create a healthier dog in general. I strongly encourage mental and physical activities for your dogs.

Go off of the feeding recommendations of the dog food that you're using. Pick up the bag you buy and turn it around. They're going to have a guide that says, "Oh, a 20-pound dog should get two cups a day. A 40-pound dog gets X amount of cups." If you follow that, you're going to be pretty close. There are a couple of exceptions. The first is that you want to feed them off their target weight, not what they currently weigh. And I'm only saying that because many dogs that we see are overweight, if I can put it politely. If you have a Labrador who weighs 100 pounds, but he's supposed to weigh 75 pounds, you want to feed him based on what a 75-pound dog should eat and not continue to maintain them at a hundred pounds.

The other consideration also depends on the activity level of the dog. I have friends that hunt with their dogs multiple days a week. Some of them almost every day of the week. They're running numerous miles a day in the field. That's an athletic dog. They're going to require more energy and likely more food.

Third, if you have a dog that spends a lot of time outdoors when it's colder, they require a higher calorie content in their food. Their metabolism is going to speed up. It takes energy to keep your body warm. And it's a proven fact that in the summertime dogs eating the same amount will tend to put on weight, whereas in the wintertime they will drop weight, so their food depends on all those factors—activity level, diet, and medical conditions.