Worms

Critter Chat Worms
This week we’re tackling worms – not the good ones that live in your garden, but the nasty ones that can be uninvited guests in your pets intestines! We can all be a bit blase about them but they can cause serious problems in our pets and in our families.

Round, hook, whip & tapeworm all live in an animals gut. They latch onto the intestinal wall with specialised teeth and feed both on the hosts blood and also by absorbing food from the intestine.So not only are they blood-suckers, but they damage your pets gut and steal nutrition- not good house guests! These worms are all spread via eating of the microscopic worm eggs, which can be found in the soil, andon your pets coat or bedding. they are one of the many reasons it is a great idea to wash your hands before eating!!! Roundworms are also passed to foetuses in the womb of infected animals, so even new born animals are a potential source of infection. Roundworms in particular are dangerous to people as the juvenile form migrates throughout the body causing skin lesions and even blindness, with children being at highest risk because of the close contact they generally have with the family pet and their often less-than-perfect food hygeine practices!

The common tapeworm is caught by ingestion of fleas, and the harder to kill 'zipper' tapeworm is caught from catching lizards and frogs. And finally, the dreaded hydatid tapeworm, it causes massive worm cysts throughout the body causing potentially devestating organ damage where it lodges, usually the liver, kidneys or brain- pretty darn serious! Hydatids are transmitted through eating contaminated meat-which is only a problem for those animals that eat home-killed meat (or roadkill for some of the less selective pooches....) as all meat that has passed through an abbatoir (and our friendly local butcher) has been checked and is hydatid-free.

The symptoms that your pet may be carrying some unwanted guests are often mild and include ;diarrheoa, weight loss, general poor body condition, dry coat, occasional vomiting and the all time favourite, dragging of the booty along your lounge room carpet.

So a regular worming programme for your cat and dog is easy and essential, and effectively protects them and your family from these nasty parasites. Adult pets just need a tablet or chew (check that it kills all the worms mentioned- alot of the cheaper products don't kill all the worms) every 3 months, with puppies and kittens needing worming fortnightly until 12 weeks of age, and then monthly until 6 months of age. Pregnant pets should be wormed as normal during pregnancy to prevent roundworm contamination Something to remember also – while effective in killing adult worms that are present in the intestine at the time of treatment, worming is not a vaccine against future attacks, so it is something you need to maintain.

Please note, intestinal worming preventions do not standardly prevent Heartworm – which is spread by mosquitos, but this is a whole other subject....

As for us two legged creatures, to prevent worms living in our system there are a few tips we can do also. Wash your hands after playing with your pet, wash your hands after playing and working in your yard and avoid dogs licking you about the face. Remove dog droppings from your yard, clean kitty litter trays, and clean your pets sleeping areas regularly. All very basic but effective ways to keep your family safe from yucky old worms!