When should my 8-month-old cat begin heartworm and flea prevention?

If they tested negative for heartworms within the last six months, then it should be fine to give them the heartworm medication. Just double check with their vet. The heartworm medication is prescription only, so they will have to see their vet to get more. Be sure to give it to them once a month. Set up a calendar on your phone with a monthly reminder to give it to them. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! We don’t start heartworm and flea/tick prevention until around 8 week of age. Nexgard is the only oral flea and tick preventative approved in the US for 6 months or younger. I would continue the Nemex every 2 weeks until they start heartworm prevention. I hope this helps!

Most kittens will need a dewormer for roundworms and hookworms like pyrantel: https://www.petcoach.co/article/cat-roundworms-ascarids-toxascaris-leonina-toxocara-cati/ I don;t recommend a flea shampoo because they can be toxic and they are not very effective. A better option is to apply a dose of revolution to Lokee which will last for 30 days and is safe on young kittens. Vaccines should start between 6-8 weeks of age. Lokee will also need to be checked for parasites (coccidia are common) and an Felv/FIV test. Here is great information about what kittens need: https://www.petcoach.co/article/routine-veterinary-examinations-for-your-kitten/ I hope this helps.

Yes, it is recommended to treat her but not as often as a cat that has access to the outside. i would probably recommend treating her once a year for fleas (before summer time) and once a year for worms as well, just to be on the safe side as fleas can brought from the outside by anyone that goes in and out of the house (and tapeworms are transmitted via fleas to your cat).

Cats do not require heartworm test prior to these medications. Drontal is a good idea to use with these as it covers tapeworms and those products do not. I like advantage multi as I feel it protects against fleas better

Yes it ia sbsolutely ok to treat her for fleas. I would use a spot on such as Advantage or frotnline Plus or similar spot ons. and you can get some Pyrantel Pamoate from your veterinarian to worm her (it is a liquid, that does not taste terrible) or a Drontal for cats tablet.

She is absolutely a beautiful cat. The gold standard recommendation in cats is to immediately start Revolution and then test for heartworm disease in 6 months. It takes about 6-7 months for heart worm disease to show up positive. Here is the website for the heartworm society. https://www.heartwormsociety.org/heartworms-in-cats The issue comes with cats is it is extremely hard to test for it. The simple blood test that is performed in dogs tests for the heartworm protein. The problem is to get a positive test the animal needs an adult female heartworm in them but in cats it is very unlikely for them to have the adult female. Since Heartworm disease is prevalent in your state I would recommend talking to your veterinarian to see if they would like to test him in 6 months. It is something to consider because of your location. Thank you for using PetCoach.