How do I know if my pet has worms?

Cats: A number of intestinal parasites will produce no visible symptoms in your cat at all – or at least not at first. Other parasites such as the tapeworm will usually be visible in your cat’s feces and in the hair or on the skin around his anus.

Other symptoms of worms in cats may include:

* Vomiting
* Persistent dry cough
* Swollen abdomen
* Anemia
* Diarrhea
* Persistent scratching around the anus
* Weight loss
* Eating a great deal without putting on weight
* Breathing problems
* Bad breath

Dogs: In many cases you may not even know that your dog has worms without having a sample of his feces analyzed. Certain intestinal parasites such as tapeworm however are usually clearly visible either clinging to the skin or hair around the dog’s anus or in a fresh feces.

Other symptoms of worms in dogs may include:

* Weight loss
* Gastrointestinal disturbances
* Diarrhea
* Anemia
* Scratching, particularly around the base of the tail
* Vomiting
* Mild to severe coughing
* Eating a great deal without putting on weight
* Bad breath

Feline parasites, such as roundworms infest cats in almost the same way as worms in dogs. This process is usually completed in three ways.

* The cat can consume worm eggs from the soil. These roundworm eggs generally come into the environment from the excretion of other infected dogs and cats. The eggs have the capacity to withstand environmental changes and are immune to mild disinfectants. The sticky egg shells cling to the paws or to the fur of the pet. Cats generally ingest the eggs by licking the places where these eggs cling to.
* Most kittens are infected through their mothers. Roundworms have a long migrating lifecycle inside the body of a cat. Larvae get encysted in tissues and can remain there for years. The litter of an infected mother is already infected in utero. Larvae can also be passed on to the kittens through milk during the lactation period.
* A cat can ingest an infected host animal like a rodent. Larvae in the host develop into roundworms within the cat’s body.

The first stage of the roundworm lifecycle is while it is dormant in the environment. This is the period before it actually infects the host. This fact means that fresh feces are not infectious.

Tapeworms are intestinal parasites that can infect cats and dogs alike. However the kind of tapeworms that cats are most susceptible to are different from those that infect dogs in most cases. Cats are most likely to be infected by three groups of tapeworm species.

* Dipylidium caninum
* Taenia
* Echinococcus

In most cases the manner in which each of these groups infects the cat is different. The Taenia species infects a cat when it eats a prey that is already infected. Dipylidium caninum infects cats when they eat lice or fleas that carry larvae of tapeworms. Echinococcus infection is through eating raw meat or carrion of an infected host.

Tapeworms comprise of segments. The segments towards the extreme that carry eggs are shed off and these reach the environment when the host excretes. Tapeworms require a minimum of two hosts to survive. The intermediary carries the larvae that live in the tissues of the host. The larvae develop into adults when the secondary host is eaten by a primary host like a cat or dog.

The dog tapeworm, Dipylidium caninum, is the second most common tapeworm after the Taenia species in cats. Its typical lifestyle comprises of the following stages:

What is Lyme Disease and what are the symptoms?

Lyme disease is an infectious tick-borne disease that mainly affects dogs, although it is not unknown in cats and other animals. It is caused by a type of bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi.

Studies suggest however that only about 10 percent of animals exposed will actually contract the disease and the severity of the disease appears to vary with the animal’s age and the strength of their immune system.

Arthritis may develop in the short to long term and a few dogs develop severe progressive renal disease, which often leads to death.

The most common initial symptoms of Lyme disease include:

* Fever
* Joint Swelling
* Lameness
* Lethargy

What is the conventional treatment?

The conventional treatment of Lyme disease usually involves antibiotics (usually for a period of between 14 to 30 days, but sometimes extended antibiotic use is recommended). In fact, a notable symptom of Lyme disease is that it does usually respond to appropriate antibiotics.

However antibiotics have a general weakening effect on the immune system which can cause further problems, especially in the long-term.

Roundworms are common feline parasites that can infect cats of all ages. During a lifetime practically all cats get infected at one time or another because roundworms can even transmit to kittens through the lactating mother.

There are two species of roundworm that predominantly infect cats.

* Toxocara cati
* Toxascaris leonina

Eggs of Toxocara cati pass through the feces of an infected cat. The embryonic worm in the microscopic egg needs a month in the open environment to reach its infective stage. Having reached the infective stage, Toxocara eggs can weather harsh conditions and survive for years.

This second stage larvae are ingested by a cat or by another animal. They hatch in the intestines. This is the primary host of the roundworm. The young roundworm then migrates and gets encysted in other body tissues of the host.

If the primary host is a cat, larvae get encysted in the cat’s liver. From here onwards the larvae can take two routes depending upon the condition of the host cat.

If your dog shakes his head too often, don’t just shirk it off as a funny habit. Dogs do not shake their heads without reason. If your dog shakes his head too often, you have every reason to suspect an infection in the ears.

Ear infection is common in pets. One of the most prevalent causes of ear infections is allergies. These allergies are caused by wet ears that become damp, hot and humid due to the fact that most dogs have ear flaps that cover the ear canal. Dog ears should be kept dry and should be cleaned regularly to avoid wax build up and excessive hair growth. Ear mites are another major reason for ear infections.

The natural appearance of the cartilaginous structure of the external ear is pink and feels flat when touched. Any thickening indicates presence of an infection. You should be able to see the ear canal clearly. While a small amount of discharge and wax is natural, any abnormal accumulation of debris or a foul odor indicates an infection. A yellow discharge points towards yeast infection and a black debris indicates dog ear mites.

Parasitic worms in dogs and cats normally reside in the intestines. The one aspect of these parasitic worms is that worm larvae and eggs can remain dormant for years in tissues and wait for an appropriate trigger to surface and infest your pet. In many cases it is the stress factor that acts as a trigger for worms to migrate. Feline parasites like roundworms and hookworms can surface abruptly in advanced stages of pregnancy and transmit to the young ones.

Kittens can get infected while in the womb of the female cat or through the milk of the infected mother. Adult cats can get infected by ingesting worm infested feces. They can also fall prey to these parasites if they consume a prey that is infected. Larvae of roundworms can migrate to various parts of the body and can travel up to the eye and cause damage to vision. Vomiting, diarrhea, an extended abdomen, dehydration, weight loss and listlessness are other common symptoms that manifest themselves among cats infested with worms.

Out of the numerous intestinal parasites, roundworms and tapeworms are the most common feline parasites that infest cats. The connection between these two intestinal parasites ends here. Roundworms are round and slimy creatures whereas tapeworms are flat and segmented.

Both the worms shed eggs that are passed out in the feces of the cat. But roundworms and tapeworms look different. Roundworm eggs excreted in feces are microscopic, whereas tapeworm eggs are released as packets from the end segments that detach from the worm. These segments can be seen in the cat’s feces or clinging to the hair near the anus of the cat.

Roundworms

The two common species of roundworms found in cats are:

* Toxocara cati
* Toxascaris leonina

Eggs from both the species are generally eaten by a cat when they are still in their non-infectious stage. They may also be ingested by an intermediate host, say, a mouse or a rat.

Toxocara cati differs from the other roundworm in one feature. It has the capacity to remain dormant in female cats. A queen may harbor larvae from previous infections that remain encysted in various tissues in the body. At the time of pregnancy these larvae migrate to the mammary glands. Larvae transmit through milk too. That the litter of an infected mother will be infected as well is a foregone conclusion.

Worms in dogs and cats are tenacious parasites and treatment can be frustrating. In spite of the treatment that you may adhere to for your pet, there is always an underlying risk of re-infection. This is due to the fact that worm larva and eggs can stay dormant in the tissues and intestines for a long time before maturing. The above mentioned condition makes prevention a pertinent aspect of controlling worms in dogs. It is also important to note that some intestinal parasites can only be controlled and total eradication is not possible.

Prevention and treatment of worms depend upon the typical lifecycle of each type of worm. Dog tapeworm and cat tapeworm infest cats and dogs mainly when an infected flea or rodent is consumed. One species of roundworms need a foreign host to mature whereas others can infect cats directly. Some others can infect kittens through mother’s milk too.

Symptoms of worms in dogs and cats are not prominent except in cases of severe infestation. Tapeworms are mostly diagnosed by physical viewing. Small grain like segments that detach from the main body of the tapeworm can be seen crawling near the anus. This is a sure sign of infestation. Oral drugs or an injection will almost certainly kill tapeworms in the cat but there is a strong possibility of re-infection. Preventive measures for controlling tapeworms include

If you own a pet you will have fleas in the house from time to time. In some cases you may become infested with fleas. We have had as many as four cats at our house and we have been infested with fleas a few times. We only have two cats now so it is not as bad, but we still have to use the process I am about to tell you about.

You really don’t have any control if your pet goes out of your yard, but you will need to spray your own yard about two times during the summer months with a good flea insecticide. If you kill all the fleas in your house with out killing the little pest in the yard you will continue to have a problem inside.

One of the main reasons a house will become infested with fleas is, after you vaccum your house and put the vaccum away, every flea that was in the vaccum bag will crawl right back out of the vaccum cleaner and into the house and start multiplying.