• Me and My Pet
• Parasites

Monday, May 5, 2008

Pets, Parasites and People

posted by csenay at 14h17

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Tapeworms segments at a dog's rear end. Image.google.ca

I talked about heartworm lately. But your dog and cat can be victims to other kinds of  parasites: intestinal parasites  known as worms. Roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms are the most common one.

These parasites live in the digestive tract (most commonly in the intestines) where they feed on nutrients, robbing your pet of the nutrition it takes in.

These worms can cause a variety of undesirable symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, and a generally poor appearance. But these symptoms are not always present depending of the degree of infestation.

There are a number of ways that your dog or cat can catch any of these types of intestinal parasites. Here are some examples:

- your dog may pass the worms’ eggs in its feces. This is a strong argument for picking up after your pet as often as possible and not allowing your dog to eat feces whenever you can.

-Tapeworm eggs can be spread to both dogs and cats by fleas. Fleas eat the eggs and then pass them to your pet when biting it. It can becomes also accidentally infected by eating the infected fleas.

- Some roundworms will lie dormant in the body of a pregnant dog and activate just before it gives birth. The activated worms make their way into the intestines of the unborn puppies where they will thrive after the pups are born.

- Dogs, and outdoor cats can get certain types of tapeworms by ingestion of  infected rodents.

Worm infections can be difficult to detect. Some worms may be passed in the feces, but not all the time. If a dog is displaying symptoms that may indicate the presence of worms, you should consult your vet. A stool sample will be examined for the presence of worm eggs and a medication called a “dewormer” will be prescribed.

Stool samples are often collected as part of a routine dog physical examination in order to check for the presence of worms.

In the case of tapeworms, discarded tapeworm segments may be visible in the dog’s feces or attached to the fur around the anus or under the tail. To the naked eye these may look like small bits of white rice.

Intestinal worms can cause numerous health problems for dogs and cats, but also for humans. Roundworms are the most common intestinal parasites of pets and the most likely to be transmitted to humans. Humans can accidentally ingest infective worm eggs that have been passed through the pet’s feces and left in the environment. The eggs can then hatch in the human’s intestinal tract, and the immature worms can travel to various tissues in the body , including the eyes and brain, potentially causing serious infections.

So as for heartworms, taking measures to prevent infection is the right option. Here in Quebec, a minimum of 6 months preventive program is most effective to keep pets free of intestinal parasites. For more information, feel free to ask me questions, or consult your veterinarian as well as the following website: www.petsandparasites.org .