Guide to Preventing Parasites.pdf - Royal Canin Canada

3.4 A program tailored to our conditions
The program tailored to our conditions reflects the climatic differences and the
differences in the prevalence of parasites. There are only minor differences and the
reasons for them are discussed below. The program can be summarized as follows:
Dogs:
Cats:
Rationale
Treatment at the ages of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks.
Monthly up to the age of 6 months.
Treatment of a nursing bitch at the same time as her puppies.
Treatment on as-needed basis thereafter.
Once a month, starting at the age of one month.
Monthly up to the age of 6 months.
Treatment of a nursing cat at the same time as her kittens
On an as-needed basis thereafter.
Age at first treatment. When they are born, puppies already have parasites that travelled
through the placenta from the mother during the last trimester of pregnancy. The number
of parasites can be high. Treatment should be administered as soon as possible. It should
be administered before the age of 3 weeks because certain worms will start laying eggs in
puppies as early as 17 days of age. Treating at the age of 2 weeks seems reasonable,
given that the parasites are still small and that we do not want to treat too early so as not
to risk toxicity. Kittens are free of parasites when born, but their mother excretes a few in
her milk, which can constitute the offspring’s first source of infection. There is no rush to
treat, especially since the number of worms transmitted in this manner is very small.
Starting the treatment at the age of 4 weeks seems acceptable.
Time interval between treatments in unweaned animals. In puppies, the maximum
efficacy of treatments is often not achieved because of accelerated peristaltis and very
frequent diarrhea. There are many opportunities for puppies to become infected: through
their mother’s milk, by chewing on objects, and by exploring their surroundings. The lack
of immunity provides very poor protection against these multiple sources of infection.
Very often, the prepatency periods are much shorter in nonimmune animals. Thus,
Ancylostoma caninum completes its development in 12 to 15 days in puppies but will
take 26 days in adult dogs. In the case of Toxocara development, it takes 14 days in
puppies and 30 to 34 days in adult dogs. The treatment should be repeated every other
week for the first three months of life. In kittens, the lactogenic transmission of larvae
decreases with time, and there is better hygiene, but the mother may bring infected prey
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