Monday, December 6, 2010

All Wormer - How Worms Spread and Threaten Your Pet's Health

By Mark Maker


It's always good to stay informed, so for the pet owners who love their pets, here are deworming basics you should know about. A cursory survey of purge-type dewormers reveal these types: granular types for mixing with pet food, chewable tablets flavored or not, pills, and liquid suspensions.

There are multi-cellular organisms, like your pet, and single-celled ones, which can live in the intestines of pets - intestinal parasites so small and so damaging when left unchecked. The usual worms found in these places are roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, and tapeworms. Coccidia and Giardia are the common single-celled parasites - none of these names sound good to the ear, none of these should reside in a healthy pet.

What these intestinal worms do is steal - they live in the intestines, an efficient spot to rob the essential nutrients that should be enjoyed by your pet. In dogs, malnutrition is the usually noticeable symptom, along with potential intestinal problems. Respiratory problems are what usually develops in puppies, which are not as strong against intestinal worms compared to older dogs; the pups contract pneumonia and die.

Now for some bad news - humans can get these roundworms, too. Think about your kids - like pups, they are quite vulnerable. The kids' major organs are up for grabs to intestinal worms - brain, lungs, liver - and pose a serious threat to those organs. Wait till the worms get to the eyes, where they can cause partial or permanent blindness.

Signs your own pet may be worm-infected

The outward symptoms of worm infection, obvious to vets but not to normal people, are not easy to spot. It's easy to attribute small changes in how they look to anything but worms. Excessive coughing, a change in coat or appetite, or diarrhea would be enough for you to bring your pet to your vet. What detects the presence of worms is usually a routine fecal. Since your vet may ask for them, it's prudent to wrap up stool samples from your pet when you visit the vet.

In case some types of worms are detected in the fecal matter, it's standard for your vet to recommend some treatment. Listen to you vet when you are briefed about the current all wormer for dogs that are available today. Your scheduled will not be ruffled much since the treatments need to be administered only once a month. Since some of these need a vet's prescription, it's convenient to simply buy these from your vet.

Granted there are some good all wormer for dogs in the market today, but there's nothing that can compare to good old fashioned vigilance on your part and prevention via parasite infection preventives.

Disease transmission - protect your pets, and your family

Nursing female dogs and cats - and their litters - are a major source for the spread of eggs and larvae that can infect other pets and even humans. That you have any of the following is a warning sign - puppies, kittens, and pregnant cats or dogs. When you have puppies, kittens, and pregnant cats or dogs in your home - that's a bad sign. Having kids is a concrete reason to want to talk to your vet about deworming your dog.




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