Love your pet… love your vet Worming worries...
Unlike infectious diseases that we can vaccinate against, your pets are likely to be continually encountering worms!
There are three major types of worms that can affect our pets and as owners we should be aware of.
Roundworms – these are long, white worms seen in dogs and cats. The worms live inside the intestinal tract and can cause a ‘pot-belly’ appearance in young animals, tummy upsets and a failure to thrive. Roundworms produce thousands of eggs every day, which are excreted (via the faeces) into the environment. Animals can become infected by eating contaminated material such as fox poo, eating infected hosts like mice, rice and some birds, and even drinking their mother’s milk, which makes early exposure common. The eggs can survive for many years in the environment and can also pose a risk to humans being unwittingly ingested from soil, food and even from our pet’s coats.
Tapeworms – these are long segmented worms, which live inside the small intestines. They can cause diarrhoea and an itchy bottom in infected pets. You may sometimes see small white segments in your pet’s faeces which could indicate tapeworms are present. These segments pass out in the faeces and release their eggs into the environment. These eggs are often eaten by fl eas and small rodents, which act
as intermediate hosts and are a common source of infection for dogs and cats (cats eat rodents and all pets swallow fl eas when grooming).
Lungworms – also known as Angiostrongylus Vasorum – cause life threatening disease in dogs. Slugs and snails act as intermediate hosts and are commonly infected with immature lungworm larvae. If infected slugs and snails are eaten by a dog, the larvae migrate to their lungs. Here they develop into adult worms of up to 2cm in size. The adults live and lay eggs inside the vessels of the lungs and the right side of the heart, causing symptoms such as coughing and exercise intolerance. Larvae migrate into lung tissue, causing blood clots, bleeding problems and in some cases sudden death! The larvae are coughed up and pass out in the faeces where they are eaten by slugs and snails, and so continuing the lifecycle. Lungworm is also prevalent in the fox population.
The good news is that there are a variety of treatments to prevent worm infections which are easy to apply and suitable for dogs and cats. We always recommend preventative treatments and advise speaking to your vet about the best protection for your pets.
Chris Devlin BVSc MRCVS Vet and Partner at Hillside Veterinary Centre
Love your pet… love your vet
1st
vet consultation FREE with this voucher
Visit us at 116 Wareham Road Corfe Mullen Wimborne BH21 3LH t: 01202 698899 e:
mail@hillsidevets.co.uk www.hillsidevets.co.uk
Simply cut out the voucher and present on arrival at reception. Offer limited to one voucher per household and applicable to new client registrations only – Nov17 UL
Please mention The Upton Link when responding to adverts 19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
