Parasites
Makawao Veterinary Clinic carries a variety of medication to combat parasites, but prevention is the key. Keeping your dog or cat on regular flea and heartworm prevention will dramatically reduce parasite infestation of your pet and you! Below you can learn about the most common parasites that can affect your pet.
HOOKWORMS
Hookworms are parasites that live in the digestive system in your pet. The hookworm attaches to the lining of the intestinal wall and feeds on your dog’s blood. Its eggs are ejected into the digestive tract and pass into the environment through your dog’s feces.
Larvae (young hookworms) that hatch from hookworm eggs live in the soil and can infect your dog simply through contact with and penetration of the skin and through eating the hookworm larvae. It is common for hookworms to infect the host through a dog’s belly or feet as well as to be ingested during routine licking (cleaning).
Hookworms suck blood and therefore cause internal blood loss. They are a serious threat to dogs, especially young puppies that may not survive the blood loss without transfusions. In older animals the blood loss may be more chronic, and the pet may have diarrhea and show weight loss.
Some hookworms of dogs can infect humans by penetrating the skin. This is most likely to occur when walking barefoot on the beach or other areas where pets deposit feces. Infection usually results in an itching sensation at the point where the larvae enter the skin and visible tracks on the skin. The condition is easily treated but can cause mild to extreme discomfort in the affected person. One species of hookworm that infects dogs is known to develop in the human intestine, too, where it may cause disease.
ROUNDWORMS
Roundworms are the most common of the parasitic worms found inside a dog. Almost all dogs become infected with them at some time in their lives, usually as puppies. Roundworms may be contracted in different ways, making them easy to spread and hard to control.
Your dog may be infected with roundworms from the time it is born because often the mother passes the worms to the puppy while it is still in her body. Roundworms can also develop in a puppy after it is born when the puppy eats larvated eggs from the environment or drinks worm larvae (young worms) in the mother’s milk. Another way roundworms are passed is when roundworm larvae are present in the tissues of a mouse or another small mammal and the puppy eats the animal.
Adult roundworms live in the affected dog’s intestines. Many dogs do not have signs of infection; however, dogs with major roundworm infections, especially puppies, show weight loss, dull hair, and a potbellied appearance. The dog may cough if the roundworms move into the lungs.
You may notice the adult roundworms in your dog’s feces or vomit. They will appear white or light brown in color and may be several inches long.
Because roundworms can enter your dog’s body in many different ways, it is essential to keep your dog’s living area clean, remove feces regularly, and, if possible, prevent your dog from eating wild animals that may carry roundworms.
To get rid of roundworms that are passed from the mother dog, puppies should be treated at 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age and then receive a preventive treatment monthly. Fecal (stool) examinations should be conducted 2 to 4 times during the first year of life and 1 or 2 times each year in adults. Nursing mothers should be kept on monthly preventive and treated along with their puppies. Many heartworm medications also control roundworms.
Roundworms do pose a significant risk to humans. Contact with contaminated soil or feces can result in human ingestion and infection. Roundworm eggs may accumulate in significant numbers in the soil where pets deposit feces.
Children should not be allowed to play where animals have passed feces. Individuals who have direct contact with soil should wear gloves or wash their hands immediately.
TAPEWORMS
Tapeworms are long, flat worms that attach themselves to your pet’s intestines. A tapeworm body consists of multiple parts, or segments, each with its own reproductive organs. Tapeworm infections are usually diagnosed by finding segments—which appear as small white worms that may look like grains of rice or seeds—on the rear end of your pet, in your pet’s feces, or where your pet lives and sleeps.
Dogs with tapeworm infections usually are not sick and do not lose weight from the worms. Contrary to popular belief, dogs that “scoot” on their rear ends are generally doing it for reasons other than having tapeworms, such as blocked or irritated anal sacs (pouches located in your dog’s rear end) or other skin inflammation of the rear.
Try to keep your dog from coming in contact with intermediate hosts that contain tapeworm larvae. Because fleas are an intermediate host for the most common kind of tapeworm, consistent, safe, and effective flea control is an essential prevention measure.
