160 Bear Christiana Rd
Bear, De 19701
302-322-6488
Dr. Jim Berg
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Intestinal Parasites
As unappealing as it is, the truth is that our pets can
become infected with worms that live in their intestines. These worms are most
commonly transmitted to our pets by their mother or by ingesting them. It is not
at all uncommon for puppies and kittens to be born with worms that their mother
transmitted to them while she was pregnant and nursing. Some worms can have
dormant stages that are not detected in the mother until she becomes pregnant.
The added stress of pregnancy and nursing allows the worms to "come out" of
dormancy and infect the mother and/or her offspring. These parasites can be
harmful because they can cause damage to the intestines and other organs and
they also rob nutrients from your pet. Symptoms of intestinal parasites can
include a "pot-belly", vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the feces (sometimes this
can cause the stools to be black and tarry if the bleeding has occurred closer
to the stomach), constipation, anemia, and weight loss just to name a few.
Sometimes animals show no symptoms at all. Routine testing (called fecals) of
your pet's feces at our office can detect the worms and medications to rid your
pet of the worms it has can be dispensed.
When we do a fecal, we are looking
for the microscopic eggs the worm sheds into your pet's feces. Often times you
can't see the adult worms because they stay attached to your pet's intestines
and are not passed in the feces. Instead, the adult worms shed eggs into your
pet's feces that are only detectable with a microscope. We recommend two
negative fecals in a row at 4-week intervals in new or young pets to ensure the
pet is intestinal parasite-free. Why? Because since we are looking for the eggs,
they must be being shed by the adult worms (baby worms won't be shedding them
yet). After your pet has two negatives in a row, a yearly fecal should be done
to ensure that your pet has not become infected since your last annual visit.
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2002
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