Yes! Healthy adult and senior pets (even indoor cats) should have at least one fecal test every year. In regions where parasites are extremely common, your veterinarian may recommend more frequent testing. Puppies and kittens may also need more regular testing because they’re very prone to parasites. Lastly, your veterinarian may want to check a fecal test—separate from the annual test—whenever your pet is sick.

Yes! Most intestinal parasites can’t be seen in the stool with the naked eye. Only certain types of worms or extremely bad infestations will release visible worms in the stool.

Yes! Intestinal parasites have many tricky ways of getting to pets, even when pets spend most (or even all!) their time indoors. For example, visiting pets may bring parasites into your home, you may track parasite eggs on the bottom of your shoes or your pet may catch them from hunting mice or bugs in your home. If your pet spends even short time outside, they can be exposed to infection through the pads of their feet simply by walking over infected ground—no eating, sniffing, or licking necessary!

It’s a good idea to check a fecal test even if your pet is on year-round preventives in the case of missed doses or rare situations, like exposure to resistant worms. Plus, different preventive brands will cover different sets of parasites. A fecal test gives you peace of mind that your pet is healthy.

Cats who are secretive about their pooping habits can make collecting a fresh fecal sample tricky. On the day of the appointment, you can try either following your cat to the litter box to catch them in the act or checking the litter box hourly throughout the day for any new droppings. If you have several cats, separating them for the day is a good idea to make sure you end up with the right cat's sample.

Going on a walk right before the appointment is a great (and fun!) solution to getting fresh fecal sample. If that’s not possible, you’ll have to tag along on your dog’s backyard visits to get a sample. This way you'll know for sure you're bringing a fresh sample—and also the right sample, if you have several dogs. If all else fails, our veterinary team can try to collect a sample during the appointment.

Unfortunately, if it’s been more than six hours since your pet pooped and the sample hasn’t been refrigerated, we can’t use it. Fecal tests lose accuracy when samples aren’t fresh or refrigerated.

The fecal test takes one to three business days to get results back. We'll contact you with the results as soon as they’re available.