Parasites don’t take a season off in the Northeast. Keep your pet protected year-round with veterinarian-recommended prevention, annual testing, and prompt treatment if the worst does happen.
Dogs, cats & exotic pets • Same-week visits • On-site pharmacy
The idea of your pet being infested with parasites is disturbing, and the consequences can be serious if prevention isn’t in place. Heartworm disease, tick-borne illnesses, and intestinal worms are all preventable, and prevention is far easier, safer, and cheaper than treatment. In Yorktown Heights, exposure is year-round: ticks stay active through mild winters, mosquitoes return early in spring, and wildlife in our wooded suburbs carries parasites into yards every day.
What Is Parasite Prevention?
Parasite prevention is a proactive plan that combines routine testing with monthly or long-acting preventives to keep parasites from ever establishing in your pet. Depending on species, lifestyle, and risk, the plan may cover heartworm, fleas, ticks, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, tapeworms, Giardia, and Coccidia. We tailor each plan individually, because a 4-pound chihuahua, an outdoor cat, and a rabbit don’t face the same risks. For a full rundown of each parasite and the diseases they carry, read our in-depth guide to parasite prevention.
Why Is Parasite Prevention Important?
Heartworm disease is deadly, and it’s spreading. Transmitted by a single mosquito bite, heartworms grow up to a foot long inside the heart and lungs. Treatment is expensive, painful, and not always successful. Monthly prevention costs a fraction of treatment and is nearly 100% effective.
Tick-borne diseases are a real threat in our region. Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Babesiosis all occur locally. Some present months after the bite, when the tick is long gone, and diagnosis is difficult without a preventive and testing history to work from.
Intestinal parasites can infect people too. Roundworms and hookworms are zoonotic, meaning they spread from pets to humans, especially children. A simple fecal test twice a year, paired with broad-spectrum monthly prevention, protects your pet and your household.
Fleas cause more than itching. A single infestation can trigger flea allergy dermatitis, transmit tapeworms, and cause life-threatening anemia in small or young pets. Once fleas are in a home, eradication takes months. Prevention is far simpler.
What to Expect
Before Your Visit
Bring a fresh stool sample if possible (a walnut-sized amount in a sealed bag or container is enough), and a list of any preventives your pet is currently receiving. If you’ve recently moved to the area or adopted from a shelter, let us know so we can factor in regional risks and travel history.
During the Appointment
We perform a nose-to-tail physical exam, draw a small blood sample to screen for heartworm and the most common tick-borne diseases, and run a fecal test through our in-house laboratory. We then walk you through the prevention options best suited to your pet, including Simparica Trio, Milbeguard, Advantage Multi, Bravecto, and Vectra, and answer any questions about safety, cost, and dosing.
Follow-Up and Aftercare
Most dogs and cats stay on a year-round monthly or every-12-weeks schedule. Refills are available through our on-site pharmacy, and we recheck testing annually to confirm prevention is working. If a test ever comes back positive, we build an individualized treatment plan the same day.
How Often Should Pets Be on Prevention?
- Puppies and kittens: start prevention as early as 8 weeks old; fecal test at each wellness visit during the first year.
- Adult dogs: annual heartworm test plus fecal test, with year-round monthly or long-acting prevention.
- Adult cats: annual fecal test and year-round flea, tick, and heartworm prevention (yes, indoor cats too).
- Senior pets: same schedule, with added attention to weight-based dosing and any interactions with new medications.
- Exotics: species-specific protocols for rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, and reptiles; ask us what’s right for yours.
Schedule Parasite Prevention in Yorktown Heights, NY
Parasite prevention is the single best return on investment in veterinary medicine. We pair it with annual wellness exams and core preventative care so everything stays coordinated under one roof. Call us or schedule online to get your pet started, or switched, to a plan that fits their age, species, and lifestyle.
