Nobody likes me

Nobody likes me, everybody hates me . . . WORMS!!!

Please get me checked for worms once a year!!!

Worms are nasty parasites infesting our beloved pets. A parasite’s goal is to live off their host, your pet, undetected and to ensure their immortality by reproducing in alarming numbers. For the welfare of your pet, it is absolutely necessary to have veterinary fecal exams. Always take a small stool sample to the pet’s first wellness check. It is routine for the animal to be given a de-wormer with his first vaccines.

Below is a helpful table on common types of worms:

	Roundworms	Hookworms	Whipworms	Tapeworms	Heartworms
Appearance	6” spaghetti-like, seen in stool or vomit	1/8” tiny, thread-like	3-5 cm Whip-like shape (thin tip/whip & thick end/whip handle)	Small, whitish “grains of rice” under pet’s tail or on bedding	Up to 14”, threadlike (species of roundworm)
Location in pet’s body	Digestive Tract	Liver,lungs, intestine	Large intestine	Intestine	Arteries of lungs and heart
Goal of parasite	Reproduce & steal nutrients	Reproduce & suck blood	Reproduce & feed on blood	Reproduce & steal nutrients	Reproduce & steal nutrients
Symptoms/Illnesses	Pot belly appearance, cough, weight loss, dull coat, stunted growth, weakness, intestinal damage	Weakness, weight loss, anemia, circulatory collapse, severe diarrhea, hemorrhaging, shock, death	Weakness, intestinal inflammation, hemorrhage, anemia, diarrhea, weight loss	Weakness, upset stomach, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, nervousness, lethargy, vomiting, convulsions, anal irritation (dog will often scoot rear-end)	Weakness, severe heart & lung damage, liver failure, sudden death, kidney disease, cough, exercise intolerance, abnormal/difficult breathing, black-outs, bloated abdomen, blood clots, aneurysms
Transmission	Eating infected host (such as rodents), or thru placenta before birth or while breast feeding. Every puppy and kitten is born with roundworms.	Walking over soil containing contaminated feces, then ingesting by licking paws. Hookworms can also burrow through the skin	Ingesting food and water contaminated with eggs. (Eggs are in the soil and can be dormant for years)	Fleas and subsequent ingestion by grooming. Eating an infected host (rabbit or rodent for example)	Mosquito bite.
Treatment (all treatment should continue until stool or blood is cleared by vet)	Naturally expelled by immune system by 6 months old; over-the counter de-wormer or vet prescription. Routine monthly preventive.	Initial oral or injected medicine, repeated every 2-4 weeks. Routine monthly preventive.	Oral medication.	Flea control & prevention in home and yard, oral medicine specifically for tapeworm (Interceptor does not prevent tapeworm)	Hospitalization, intensive drug therapy, injections, surgery, months of rest and months of limited activity.
Risk to Humans	*	*	*	*	* (only from mosquito bite)

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep pet areas clean, routinely pick up feces while wearing gloves and keep human hands, especially children’s, washed. Use a once-a-month preventive, such as Interceptor, to ward off whipworms, hookworms, roundworms, and heartworms.