Has Your Pet Been Diagnosed With Intestinal Parasites or "Worms"?
Although that is unpleasant news, it should not be cause for alarm. Nearly all pets get worms at some point in their lives.
The good news is that proper Veterinary care can control these parasites. Medicines are available to remove the worms and, in many cases reduce the risk of re-infection. By following your Veterinarian's advice, you can protect your pet and your family from these potentially harmful parasites.
You, too, can help protect your pet. First, have your Veterinarian do at least an annual stool exam on your pet. Follow his or her advice for treating and preventing worms. Below we will list each parasite and its affects on your pet. Once you understand how parasites affect your pet, you can help protect your pet, and your family, from future infections.
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Hookworms are tiny, threadlike parasites that affect puppies and adult dogs. They are a particular problem in areas with warm, moist, sandy soil.
How Your Dog Gets Hookworms:
The cycle begins when hookworm eggs are passed in dog's stool to the soil. Your dog can swallow the young hookworms or they can penetrate its
skin, usually through the foot. Hookworms are also passed from females to their young. Hookworms present a slight risk to humans if larvae (young hookworms) in the soil contact skin. Painful skin sores can result.
Signs Of Hookworm Infection:
Hookworms feed on blood and tissue by piercing your pet's intestinal lining with tooth-like hooks. As a result, hookworms can cause severe blood loss. As few as 100 hookworms can kill a puppy. Dogs with heavy infections often have bloody diarrhea. Other signs include anemia, dehydration and apparent weakness. Some dogs show no outward signs of infection. This is why it is important to de-worm your puppy at an early age and to have the stool examined when recommended by your Veterinarian. The Veterinarian will examine the dog's stool under a microscope and look for eggs. If your Veterinarian can catch the eggs before the symptoms appear then your pet doesn't have to suffer the symptoms.
How To Prevent Hookworms:
To reduce the risk of hookworms:
* Take puppies to your Veterinarian at an early age
Follow the Veterinarians advice for medication and follow-up visits
* Provide your Veterinarian with your pet's stool sample at least once a year.
* Don't feed your pet on the ground. Use only clean food and water dishes.
* Clean up pet's stool before they can break down in soil.
* Wash hands before eating. This is especially important for children.
To kill hookworms in your yard, use sodium borate (10 pounds per 100 sq ft)
Nearly all puppies and kittens have roundworms. In many areas of the country, up to 70% of adult dogs are also infected.
How Pets Get Roundworms:
Infection usually begins when your pet accidentally swallows roundworm eggs in soil. These eggs hatch into tiny worms that move from your pet's intestine to its liver and lungs, and then back to the intestine where they mature. The adult roundworm lays eggs that are passed in your pet's stool to the soil. Roundworms can lay up to 200,000 eggs per day! Female pets can also pass roundworms to their unborn young or through nursing.
Signs Of Roundworm Infection:
Left untreated, roundworms can cause a potbelly and diarrhea. Vomiting, a rough coat and poor growth are other signs. Heavy infections damage your pet's liver, lungs and brain. Death is possible.
Canine roundworms sometimes infect people. Humans contract the disease by touching their mouths with hands contaminated by roundworm eggs in the soil.
How To Prevent Roundworms:
To control roundworms in your pet and limit your family's exposure:
* Take puppies and kittens to your Veterinarian at an early age.
Follow your Veterinarian's advice on treatment and follow-up visits.
* Have your Veterinarian do an annual stool test on your pet annually.
* Ask your Veterinarian about medication to remove parasites and reduce risk of re-infection.
* Never feed your pet on the ground. Feed and water only in clean dishes.
* Always clean up your pet's stools to reduce soil contamination.
* Wash hands after working in dirt that might be soiled by pets. Instruct children to routinely wash their hands after playing outside.
Dogs confined to small, outside areas are at highest risk of having whipworms
How Dogs Get Whipworms:
Whipworm infection occurs when your dog swallows whipworm eggs. After hatching in the small intestine, whipworm larvae move to the large intestine where they mature. Adult worms lay eggs, which are passed in your dog's stool to contaminate the soil.
Signs Of Whipworm Infection:
Light infections of whipworms are difficult to diagnose, but they can lead to more serious problems. Large numbers of whipworms irritate the lining of your dog's intestine, causing weight loss and pain. Watery, bloody stools may result. Severe infections can cause life-threatening dehydration and anemia.
Whipworms are not dangerous to people. But once dogs become infected, whipworms are difficult to eliminate without medication programs.
How To Prevent Whipworms:
To protect your pet from whipworms after your Veterinarian's treatment:
* If your dog returns to the same infected ground, treatments will be required every 3 months. A new site is preferred.
* If your pet lives in a pen with a washable surface, sanitize the area before returning your dog to its quarters.
* Don't feed your dog on the ground. Feed and water in clean dishes only.
* Ask your Veterinarian for medicines that remove and control whipworms. A daily prevention program should be started-both through medication and daily cleanup of dog stools.
Tapeworms are common intestinal parasites in pets. The most common tapeworm is transmitted to pets through fleas.
How Pets Get Tapeworms:
Your pet becomes infected with tapeworms by eating fleas, or rabbits, mice, rats and other animals that carry tapeworm larvae. Adult tapeworms live in your pet's intestine and release segments filled with eggs through stool.
Tapeworm eggs are often consumed by fleas, making them carriers. An infection occurs when your pet eats the infected fleas. The tapeworm larvae develop into adults in your pet's intestine and shed more egg segments.
Signs Of Tapeworm Infection:
Tapeworms irritate your pet's intestine and reduce food absorption. They can be passed on to humans (by accidentally eating an infected flea), but they don't pose a significant human threat.
Preventing Tapeworms:
To minimize tapeworm infections:
* If your pet is exposed to fleas or if it hunts outside, regularly look for tapeworm segments in your pet's stool. In a fresh stool, these segments may be alive and moving. In older stools, or around the pet's bedding, they look like grains of rice. If your pet has fleas, he is at risk of a tapeworm problem.
* Begin a flea-control program to prevent flea-carried tapeworm infections. Follow a total flea control program. We highly recommend Frontline or Revolution to control fleas. Also treat indoors and outdoors to rid fleas wherever the pet may go (your home and entire yard areas).
* Try to prevent your pet from hunting and eating prey.
* Unfortunately, no tapeworm preventives are available. See your Veterinarian about regular treatment of your pet if you live in a flea-problem area or if your pet roams freely.
** Remember fleas cannot live on humans. They may jump on humans and bite, but they cannot survive on humans. The host for a flea must be an animal. If you prevent the fleas from having a host to live on then you prevent the flea from surviving. Talk with your Veterinarian about Frontline or Revolution for your pet today. When you buy a six-month supply you get 1 month FREE!
Coccidia are small organisms that infect dogs, most often those in kennels, pet stores or wherever many dogs live together.
How Dogs Get Coccidia:
Adult coccidia in an infected dog will pass tiny egg-like organisms called "oocysts" through the dog's stool. These oocysts are accidentally eaten by your dog. The oocysts break open in the intestine and release new organisms which, move to the intestinal wall. There these new organisms multiply rapidly and become either new oocysts to be passed out again with the still or they return to another cell and multiply. Your infected dog is both increasing the number of internal coccidia organisms and contaminating the environment at the same time.
Signs Of Coccidia Infection:
When they reproduce, coccidia destroy your dog's intestinal cells. Some can move to the liver and brain and destroy cells there.
Signs include bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, listlessness, and dehydration and weight loss. Some dogs show no outward signs of infection. As with all intestinal worm infections, puppies are most at risk.
Preventing Coccidia:
To minimize the risk of coccidia infections:
* Clean up stools
* Consult with your Veterinarian. Although no preventives exist, your Veterinarian can prescribe medicines that kill coccidia.
* Sanitize your dog's kennel or pen. If this is not practical, change the kennel site.
* Prevent your dog from eating prey if possible. If you're a hunter, don't feed your dog prey scraps unless fully cooked.
The good news is that proper Veterinary care can control these parasites. Medicines are available to remove the worms and, in many cases reduce the risk of re-infection. By following your Veterinarian's advice, you can protect your pet and your family from these potentially harmful parasites.
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