Worms
Worms
Pets can be contaminated by a number of different species of intestinal works. These parasitic worms can vary from a few millimetres to meters in length.
They live inside the animal taking their nourishment from it, growing and breeding.
Different parasitic worms include:
- Non-intestinal roundworms
- Trematodes Flukes (flatworm)
- Cestodes Tapeworms (flatworm)
- Intestinal roundworms (ascarids)
- Whipworms
- Hookworms
In the UK the most common types of worms that infect cats and dogs are tapeworms, whipworms, hookworms and roundworms.
Animals can pick up worm eggs on their nose or paws which are swallowed when grooming, or by eating something carrying a larvae.
Roundworms’ larvae feed on nutrients in the animal’s intestines where they mature into adults.
They can also migrate to the hosts liver, where they enter the blood stream and travel on to lungs and muscles.
Eggs are expelled into the environment in the animal’s faeces and the cycle continues.
Roundworm are prolific egg-layers with one adult female laying 100,000 eggs a day.
People as well as animals can become infected from a contaminated environment such as a sandpit where cats often defectate or from catching and eating a small animal host.
Choose a towel that will be your puppy’s own and have some treats ready to reward him or her after their first bath!
A cat will also need brushing and its claws clipping. They do tend to groom themselves so you would only need to bath a cat if it got into something dirty and smelly.
Small animals groom themselves and are not usually bathed unless they come into contact with something toxic that needs to be washed off.
Cats and dogs ingest an infected flea or louse when grooming and the tapeworm larvae then attach to the small intestine in the animal’s stomach.
They grow and mature and release egg-filled segments which can then be seen around the host animal’s anus and faeces. The segments resemble moving grains of rice.
This infestation can cause a change in appetite in the host, weight loss and an itchy bottom.
There are a number of different species of tapeworm and some can cause serious disease which can be fatal.
Regular worming treatment will help to keep your pet healthy as well as protecting humans.
Signs of worms include vomiting and/or diarrhoea, weight loss, growth problems and sometimes death in puppies and kittens.
For effective worming control choose a licenced veterinary medicine suitable for the individual animal. With so many different products on the market it can be confusing to choose the right one and we can advise you in store.
To ensure pets are full protected we recommend the use of a broad spectrum wormer to treat all species of intestinal worms plus a regular flea control regime.
