Overview Of Internal Parasites In Pets And Symptoms

Intestinal worms like roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms are parasites that live in your pets body. Pets with intestinal worms may experience a range of symptoms from anemia, malnutrition, and death to no symptoms at all. Let's take the overview of intestinal worms how they get in the body of pets? What are the symptoms and how to prevent worms?

Internal Parasites in Dogs and Cats

Roundworms (Toxocara leonina and Toxocara cati)

Roundworms are the most common intestinal parasites in dogs and cats. This infection is transmitted through ingestion of eggs in an infected soil, rodent or milk from an infected mother. The worms can also be passed from mother to puppies or kittens in utero. When the worm eggs hatch, larvae are released in the stomach, and the larvae travel to small intestine where they mature into adults. The adults lay eggs, which pass out of the pet in feces. The eggs that the adult worms pass in the stool can now reinfect the animal or other dogs and cats if somehow the egg-bearing stool is eaten.

Even humans can get infected, so it is important to wash hands after handling dog or cat feces. Children should not be allowed to play in the soil where pet's defecate.

Symptoms of roundworm infection include the following:

• Bloated belly
• Diarrhea
• Lethargy
• Blood or mucus in the stool
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting

Hookworms (Ancylostoma and Uncinaria)

Hookworms are small in size and they attach to the canines and felines intestinal lining with hook like teeth and sucks the host blood for sustenance. They usually live in soil, where eggs have been laid. These worms easily enter the body through the feet and travel throughout the system until they reach the small intestines, then they mature, mate and lay eggs. The eggs pass into the soil through the dog's feces. Hookworm can also be transmitted through a nursing mother's milk.

Symptoms of hookworm infection include the following:

• Anemia (severe cases)
• Diarrhea
• Diminished strength and vitality

Whipworm:

These worms are long, whip-shaped worms that are ingested from the feces of infected animals or spread through other bodily fluids. As they reach the host, they lay eggs into larvae that move to the large intestine and embed their long, whiplike tail into the intestinal wall.

Whipworm infection does not always cause symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they may include the following:

• Anemia
• Dehydration
• Diarrhea, especially recurrent bouts of diarrhea with stool that has blood or mucus
• Diminished strength and vitality
• Weight loss

Tapeworms:

They are long, segmented worms that can live in a pet's small intestine. These worms can be easily seen when the worms start to shed segments full of eggs. They are mainly found around the anus or in stools. These segments look like grain of rice but are squishy and may be moving when fresh. Tapeworms are spread by ingesting fleas that have eaten the eggs, or by ingesting egg sacs from feces.

Symptoms of Tapeworm may vary depending on the species, severe infection may cause :

• Abdominal discomfort
• Nervousness
• Severe itching around the anus
• Vomiting
• Weight loss

How To Prevent Worms?

It is really important to do fecal exams on regular basis at veterinary clinics, to diagnose any of these worms are present in your pet or not. However, there are many types of preventatives available in the market to prevent all types of gastrointestinal worms in your furry companion. Here are some of the best brand names of the preventatives Drontal, Revolution, Cazitel, Endogard, Milbemax etc. Make sure that you purchase this product according to the species, as it formulated differently by keeping in mind the needs of pets.