The Bugs Around Us
Preventive medicine from a veterinary perspective can sometimes be envisioned as a battlefield – from a parasite view that is. Our pets bring such wonderful things to our lives: entertainment, exercise and unconditional love to name a few. But, they are also can bring an entourage of internal and external parasites.
If the thought of parasites makes your skin crawl, join the club. Then take a deep breath and remember that these critters are not typically targeting us, but are freeloaders on our pets.
First, the bombardiers of summer, mosquitos, will be arriving soon. We are lucky in Colorado that we’re not as terribly assaulted by mosquitos as other areas of the country, but they are here and carry heartworms. Heartworm microfilariae are the life stage carried by mosquitos that infect our dogs and cats with a bite. The most insidious part is that then the larval stages that come next take six to seven months before they can be detected with a heartworm test. The best preventive care against heartworm is a once monthly oral or topical preventative after a negative heartworm test in dogs – additionally, they are getting protected against intestinal parasites, more on them later.
Cats can also get heartworm via mosquitos, but at much lower rates than dogs and, additionally, are harder to diagnose due to the very small number of worms carried. For your outdoor kitty, consider applying a once monthly topical preventative. For indoor kitties, it’s not a bad idea to apply preventative.
Other creepy pet friends include the topical freeloaders such as fleas and ticks. Another bonus of being a Colorado pet is that we don’t have a lot of these pests affecting us, but know that they are here. But if traveling inside or outside our state or if an out-of-state visitor arrives, there are great topical treatment and preventive products from your veterinarian.
One unpleasant visitor that we’ve been seeing a bit more of lately is called walking dandruff or Cheyletiella. This mite causes itchy, flaky skin for a variety of species, including dogs. It can be easily passed from an infected animal, but the mites and their eggs also can survive days to weeks in bedding or other accessible areas.
Now the last and perhaps grossest parasite paradise – poop! Poop or feces is the end product of digestion, but it’s also a great means of transit for intestinal parasites. Some of these riders are what we call worms – hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms and whipworms. Others are single celled organisms such as Giardia or Coccidia or yeast. Many parasites find their way into our furry family members via oral-fecal contamination – visiting the dog park, hiking, camping and much more. And, cats are not immune, even if indoors; more than 15 percent of the potting soil mixes contain roundworm eggs – and even indoor kitties like playing in dirt.
One could write enough to fill all the pages of the Greater Park Hill News about individual parasites and how they’ve persisted, adapted and even flourished in our pets and our environment. However, we don’t want readers to be too creeped out. For more information and for the best treatment and prevention options for your pets, call or visit your veterinarian.
Dr. Margot can be reached at parkhillvet.com