Lakeside FAMILY Magazine / February 2012 / Worms, Worms, Worms

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Worms, Worms, Worms

Let’s talk about worms, or those slimy parasites that can affect your pet. Since some of these parasites can also affect humans, this is an important topic. It is also a fun topic. When I talk to school groups, I seem to get the most “oohs and ahhs” when I bring out samples of these somewhat unpleasant looking creatures.

Here, I will touch on some basic facts about the most common parasitic worms we see in dogs and cats. Please visit your veterinarian to obtain more detailed information for your pet’s and family’s benefit.

Roundworms

Roundworms are one of the most common pet parasites. These “spaghetti” worms can enlarge a puppy’s belly. Cat or dog mothers will often pass these parasites through the milk to their newborns or across the placenta to the fetuses. Pets can also become directly infected from roundworm eggs that have been passed in the stool of already infected dogs or cats. These eggs can survive in the environment for a long time under harsh conditions. Fresh stool will not have infectious roundworm eggs. The eggs have to develop for at least 30 days to become infective. Therefore, after playing outside, children can ingest roundworm eggs on dirty fingers, or dogs and cats can pick the eggs up and transport them on their paws. If the roundworm larva makes it into a child’s mouth, it can cause partial and permanent blindness through an inflammatory reaction behind the eye.

Hookworms

Like roundworms, hookworms can be transmitted to nursing puppies, across the placenta and through environmental contact. A heavily infected puppy can become anemic and die. Humans can get a skin disease by contacting the worm larva in the soil. The larva can cause inflamed and itchy skin lesions. Another source for human infection would be from unwashed vegetables. This can lead to intestinal infection.

Tapeworms

The most common tapeworm we see must go through a life stage within a flea. Therefore, good flea control products can prevent this parasite. Dogs and cats must groom and eat fleas to become infected with this common tapeworm. This parasite is identified when a small white segment either passes with the pet’s stool or sticks to the fur on the back end. When freshly passed, the segment can stretch and move. Eventually, it dries up to look like a sesame seed. The entire worm, that owners usually do not see, is attached to the small intestinal wall. The worm can be larger than six inches.

Ringworm

This is not a worm. It is actually a fungal infection of the skin. Veterinarians can do special tests to confirm if a skin lesion has resulted from ringworm infection. It is important to identify if a pet has ringworm because the infection can be passed on to humans.

Whipworms

These small worms are usually not seen by pet owners. They live in the large intestine of the pet. If large enough numbers are present, colitis or bloody, mucousy diarrhea can result. It takes up to four weeks after the eggs pass in the feces to become able to infect a new host. Therefore, pets become infected by grooming and licking their paws after walking through contaminated soil. Whipworms do not tend to cause problems in cats or people.

Heartworms

These long, greater than 12 inches, parasitic worms live in the pulmonary arteries of an infected dog, cat, coyote or ferret. One worm can cause severe signs in a cat such as respiratory distress. Even though the parasites cause damage, a dog could have many heartworms without any signs of infection. A mosquito is required for heartworm transmission. Veterinarians can run blood tests to detect heartworms.

Best ways to prevent the above mentioned parasites:

• Visit a veterinarian regularly. He or she will provide the information and medications to help keep your pet and your family free of many parasites. Make an appointment with a veterinarian before you bring a newly acquired pet home.
• Use heartworm preventative 12 months a year for the life of your pet. Heartworm preventatives protect against not only heartworms, but many intestinal worms, too.
• Use a flea preventative to keep your pet free of fleas. This will help avoid tapeworms.
• Have a veterinarian run intestinal parasite screens (fecals, stool samples) regularly on your pet.
• Use a deworming medication regularly on pets that hunt other small creatures.
• Teach children to wash their hands after handling pets.