NEW medicines hit the veterinary market on a regular basis, and it is always interesting to hear about latest developments.

However, often, when that new drug is a parasite treatment, it just feels like another version of the same old thing - but every now and then a new product really makes us sit up and take notice. A new preventative for parasites in cats has been released that is genuinely exciting - only a vet could get excited about parasite treatment in pets – but let me explain.

When it comes to treating cats for parasites there are five creatures we need to prevent: fleas, ticks, roundworms, tapeworms and ear mites. Over the years the prevention methods have improved – long gone are the hideous aerosol sprays which cats hated and which contained organophosphates.

Initially safer sprays and tablets came along, then the manufacturers realised that cats still hate sprays and owners hate giving tablets, so they developed spot-on treatments and injections. The trouble was we never had one treatment, be it tablet or spot-on, that did everything. One spot-on would do fleas and ticks but you would need to give another for worms, meaning owners were having frequent battles to medicate their cats.

As medicating cats is not easy, the holy grail has been a treatment that prevents everything AND does not need doing too frequently….and it has arrived at last.

We now have a product called Felpreva that only needs to be applied to cats (as a spot-on) every three months and treats fleas, ticks, roundworm, tapeworm and ear mites. It feels like a real step forward and I would recommend you ask your vets about it.

*Alice Moore is a vet at Castle Veterinary Clinic, Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083