Why are we so preoccupied with checking your pet’s poop?
Consider the following facts:
- Most pets are born with roundworms.
- Roundworms and hookworms carried by pets can infect people. These infections have been known to cause eye disease leading to blindness in an eye in some people that are infected (primarily children).
- Hookworms can penetrate skin and foot pads to enter a pet’s body without even being ingested by your pet.
- Just like chicken pox in people remain in the body to cause shingles later in life, once a pet has roundworms, they can recur in their body without ever being exposed to an outside source. Indoor cats can redevelop this parasite in the intestines despite being indoors for years!
- Pets can also get parasites like tapeworms from ingesting a mouse or having fleas.
- The CDC reports that 14% of Americans show that they have been exposed to roundworms based on detection of antibodies in their blood.
- In addition to roundworms, pets can be parasitized by:
- Giardia, Tapeworms, Coccidia, Toxoplasma, Tritrichomonas, Strongyloides
Keep your pets safe and help keep your family safe!
- Have your pet’s fecal sample checked regularly. We recommend a fecal check every 6 months!
- Pick up pet waste as soon as possible from the yard
- Keep your dog and cat on heartworm preventative all year round. This helps prevent against intestinal parasites too!
- Teach kids to always wash their hands before eating especially after handling a pet.
Learn more at the Companion Animal Parasite Council at http://www.capcvet.org/
article written by:
Scott Petereit, DVM
Camp McDonald Animal Hospital, soon to be Companion Animal Hospital
Mount Prospect, IL
