Parasites don’t just affect your pets!

They can affect you and your family too!

 

 

Worms are a fact of life when you own a cat or dog. Pets of all ages are at risk of picking up worms. Puppies are born with intestinal worms, and kittens are often infected early in life from their mother’s milk, and they don’t outgrow the risk. Cats and dogs continue to be exposed to worms, picking them up by from worms shed by other pets, from fleas, and from eating infected wildlife.

 

Worms live in the intestines of animals and are expelled in the stool. If left untreated in pets, homes and yards can become contaminated from worm eggs that are passed in animal feces and hatch in the soil. If your animal has worms, get it treated and clean up after your pet promptly. Touching the stool or contaminated soil then touching the mouth or handling food are common routes of transmission of worms to humans. Even though you can’t see the parasite, pets infected with worms are at risk of

health problems and you may be too. That is because they are

Zoonotic, which means they can be transmitted between animals

and people.

 

Some people are more likely than others to get zoonoses: the elderly,

pregnant women, infants and children less than 5 years old and those that are immune-suppressed from cancer treatments, organ transplants or living with Lupus or AIDS.

  Children are at risk for acquiring Zoonotic diseases if they walk barefoot or play in contaminated dirt or on the floor where the pet may have tracked in dirt or feces. It is estimated that between 5 and 20 percent of children have been infected by dog roundworm at some time in their lives. Just one roundworm larva has been known to damage the retina of the eye and cause blindness. 

Prevention and early treatment are the best defenses against worms. The CDC (Center for Disease Control) has set guidelines for prevention…ask Dr Taylor and his staff what’s best for your pet.

Guidelines for Deworming

Cats and kittens

From 3 weeks to 3 months-               Deworm every 2 weeks

From 3 months to 6 months –           Deworm once a month

From 6 months and older –               Deworm 4 times a year 

Dogs and Puppies

From 2 weeks to 3 months-               Deworm every 2 weeks

From 3 months to 6 months –           Deworm once a month

From 6 months and older –               Deworm 4 times a year

 

Simple and inexpensive products like Interceptor (eliminates roundworm, hookworm, whipworm as well as heartworm) prevent problems your pets and your family, and products like Drontal, Milbemax and Cestex can eliminate tapeworms. Talk to the staff and Dr Taylor to asses your family’s risk and put in place your Deworming.

 

Now appearing: Heartworm

Heartworm is an insidious disease that has spread to virtually all parts of the US and many parts of Canada since the early 1970s. It is spread only by mosquitoes; thus, areas heavily populated by these insects tend to have a greater incidence of Heartworm disease.

 

Heartworm can strike both dogs and cats, although it is much more commonly seen in dogs. As its name implies, Heartworm lives in the blood of a dog's or cat's heart and adjacent blood vessels. When a mosquito "bites" an infected pet, it sucks out blood containing the microfilariae. When the mosquito bites another pet, the infective larvae are transmitted.

 

A small amount of blood is all that's necessary for a preliminary Heartworm screening test that is very accurate in detecting the presence of Heartworm. This test is recommended every year for pets regularly exposed to Heartworm and prior to those staring prevention medication.

 

While here in BC we do not have a rampant heartworm problem, should you travel to or get a dog from the United States, Eastern Canada, the Okanogan or Mexico, you need to test and prevent Heartworm. Also note the influx of rescued animals from Hurricane Katrina come from an area heavily riddled with heartworm, and many of the poor souls have tested positive, introducing positive dogs to BC population.  Prevention is easy and comes in pill or topical form and can also prevent fleas and internal parasites.

 

 

At Abbotsford Veterinary Hospital, our mission is to serve our community by providing the finest in compassionate veterinary care for your pet. We believe that the most gratifying acknowledgment we can receive is the referral of your family and friends.

Here at our Abby Vet website, you will find information about our practice, the various services we can provide, informative columns on pet health topics, helpful forms, instructional videos to assist you and an extensive Pet Medical Library for you to search for additional information.

Feel free to browse through our site. If you'd like more information please go to the Contact Us page and use one of the convenient methods to communicate with us.

Thanks for visiting and we look forward to serving you.

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