{"id":1480,"date":"2017-01-15T20:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T02:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/?p=1480"},"modified":"2017-01-15T20:15:33","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T02:15:33","slug":"pet-health-q-a-intestinal-parasites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/2017\/01\/15\/pet-health-q-a-intestinal-parasites\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Health Q & A: Intestinal Parasites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q \u2013 What types of internal parasites can my pet get from the environment?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Internal parasites live in the gastrointestinal tract of your pet and can include roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms.<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 How does my pet get infected with these parasites?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Roundworm and hookworm eggs are ingested in the environment from fecal contamination. Tapeworms are transmitted through ingestion of a specific insect vector, like fleas. It is important to note that certain worms can be transmitted between species in your household as well (example: cats to dogs and vice versa).<\/p>\n

\"cat-and-dog\"<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 What are some of the lifestyle factors that put my pet at risk of infection with internal parasites?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 For dogs, risk factors include acreage\/farm dogs exposed to wildlife or carcasses, coprophagia (eating animal feces), multi-pet households, or those who frequent dog parks, dog day care, and other public dog areas.\u00a0 For cats, risk factors include outdoor cats that hunt small mammals, coprophagia, and multi-pet households.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"mouse\"<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 How do I know if my pet is infected with parasites?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Most often, there are NO<\/strong> <\/em>signs associated with internal parasite infection. In severely affected animals symptoms can include: visualization of worms in the feces, weight loss, increased appetite or vomiting.<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 Can some of these parasites be transmitted from my cat or dog to people?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Yes. Internal parasites such as roundworms are transmitted through environmental contamination with infected animal feces. The risk level of parasite transmission to humans depends on many factors including \u2013 degree of parasite burden in the pet, personal hygiene\/hand washing, immune status, and age (children are at higher risk).<\/p>\n

\"dog-and-kid\"<\/p>\n

Q \u2013 What can I do to treat or prevent parasite infections in my pet?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A \u2013 Routine preventative deworming is the best way to keep your pet healthy and to prevent transmission of parasites to people. \u00a0Have a discussion about your pet\u2019s risk level with your veterinarian and that will determine treatment type and frequency.<\/p>\n

**Remember –<\/strong><\/em><\/span> Intestinal and external parasites are specific to the region you live in or travel to. Only a veterinarian can prescribe the appropriate treatment for your pet that will be safe and<\/strong> <\/em>effective.<\/p>\n

For more general information, please visit http:\/\/www.petsandparasites.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q \u2013 What types of internal parasites can my pet get from the environment? A \u2013 Internal parasites live in the gastrointestinal tract of your pet and can include roundworms, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[49],"tags":[33,28,38,34,41,35,36,39,40,24,23,27,37],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1480"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1488,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1480\/revisions\/1488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodridgevet.ca\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}