Two broad categories:
- Roundworms (ascarids, hookworms, whipworms) - flatworms (tapeworms) Taenia spp, Dipylidium
Roundworms
Description and effects
- The roundworm, roundworms about 10 cm long, mostly infect puppies and kittens. They cause diarrhea, bloating, delayed growth, and decreased immunity.
- Hookworms are worms dangerous but rare. They cause fever and digestive problems (diarrhea, sometimes with the presence of blood)
- Whipworms The worms are most common in adult dogs. Adult whipworms encyst in the large intestine. The eggs can survive outside for several years.
Modes of contamination
- Ascaris: the placenta or breast milk
Ingestion of eggs from the outside.
- Hookworm: larvae penetrate the skin of the dog or cat
Ingestion of eggs
Breast milk
- Whipworms: Ingestion of eggs
Flatworms
Description and effects
The most widespread is the tapeworms Dipylidium.
You can see it when its last segments filled with eggs are present in the stool (like grains of rice)
Cause irritation, the animal rubs against the rear floor, causing food shortages
Modes of contamination
Transmitted by the chip when the animal ingests
Transmission to humans
Roundworms: Possible by roundworms (children playing in the sandbox)
Symptoms: fever, fatigue, impaired growth
Symptoms rarer migrant larvae encyst in the eye or brain.
Tapeworms: The tapeworm can cause zoonoses. The humans become infected by ingestion of eggs released by the dog in the environment, causing disease hydatid cysts (encysted larvae within vesicles, usually in the liver or lungs)
Why deworm regularly?
If the worms are harmful to the health of the animal, but they are rarely detected because the symptoms are often subtle. Furthermore, only the eggs pass in feces, so it is difficult to visualize
Finally, given the risk of zoonoses, deworming should be considered a gesture of Public Health and conducted especially when children are in contact with the animal
When deworm your dog or cat?
Young
15 days to 2 months: 15 days yous 2 months to 6
months: monthly
Adult
After 6 months of age: at least 2 times per year
Breeding female
2 to 3 days before mating 15 days before and after parturition
- We must deworm, preferably before the vaccinations because worm infections can cause a decline in immunity, causing a bad action of the vaccine.
- In the presence of tapeworms (Dipylidium), consider combining flea treatment.
- Dogs and cats do not carry pinworms. The human infections are not of canine and feline