Pet Owners
Parasites. Protect your pets and family from these sneaky pests.
Pets love adventure, travel, and socializing. But these adventures and everyday life can expose our furry friends to parasites, both at home and in the places we visit.





Parasites are good at hiding.
Parasites come in different forms — some you can see, and some (the microscopic kind) you can’t. Certain parasites show signs and make it clear that your pet is sick (like diarrhea). Others stay hidden. In any case, your pet may not show any noticeable signs of infection, especially at first.
It’s a fact of pet life — almost every dog and cat will get parasites more than once in their lifetime.
Take a look at the parasites that could be hiding in your own backyard!
The two main types of pet parasites are intestinal and vector-borne.
- Intestinal parasites are usually contracted by the pet ingesting the parasite in food, water, or the feces of another infected pet or wild animal.
- These parasites settle in the intestinal tract of your pet.
- Some of these parasites are zoonotic, meaning they can be passed from pets to people. This poses a higher risk for young children, pregnant women, the elderly, or immuno-compromised people.
- Vector-borne parasites are spread by ticks, mosquitos, and other bugs.
- Ticks can spread infections that cause Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and anaplasmosis.
- Mosquitos can spread heartworm disease in both dogs and cats.

Parasites are sneaky. But they can’t hide from your veterinarian.
Your pet’s veterinarian is equipped with the training, skills, and tools to find parasites and help target treatment to eliminate these troublemakers – even before your dog or cat shows signs of illness.
Parasite prevention basics for dogs and cats. (Your veterinarian can guide on the specifics related to your pet.)
- Adult pets should have routine fecal screening for intestinal parasites — completed by their veterinarian — at least once, and sometimes twice or more a year based on household and lifestyle risk.
- Puppies and kittens should have routine fecal screenings for intestinal parasites four times in their first year of life.
- Pets should be tested annually for vector-transmitted pathogens like heartworm, and dogs for tick-borne concerns like Lyme disease.
- Pets should be tested before starting heartworm preventives (it can be dangerous to give pets heartworm prevention if they already have heartworm) and tested thereafter as indicated.

Learn More About Parasite Prevention
Visit petsandparasites.com from our friends at the Companion Animal Parasite Council.
The American Heartworm Society has helpful information at heartwormsociety.org.
And in Canada, the Canadian Parasite Expert Panel can help at research-groups.usask.ca/cpep.