Why is it so important to your family?
According to the Center For Disease Control, the prevalence of intestinal worms in children has increased in recent years. Worms don’t go to the intestines in children – their larvae migrate through the liver, lungs, skin, eyes and brain. Children get exposed to eggs and larvae through contaminated soil, usually from dogs and cats with undiagnosed intestinal worms, or from wildlife. Heartworm preventatives, with dewormers added, control worms, but don’t totally eliminate them from the environment. Therefore, if we do not do fecals at least yearly, in the last few days before the heartworm preventative is given, we do not know what parasites might be in the environment. We are surveying the environment, not just the pet when we do intestinal parasite checks, to see if there is a problem in the yard or other places where the pet goes. Children get exposed through the environment, as well as directly from the pets.
Why do we do strategic deworming?
A pet not getting a monthly heartworm preventative is getting no regular deworming. A fecal, even if done with adequate stool sample and centrifuge, is only 70% accurate. Puppies and kittens can have intestinal worms in various stages that don’t show up for weeks, therefore, we do strategic deworming to be sure the pet isn’t harboring worms. Adult pets may be harboring small worm loads or continually reinfesting themselves from their environment. Regular dewormings protect both the pet and children using the same environment. The Center for Disease Control has established deworming protocols – for more information go to http://www.petsandparasites.org/home.html or http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/pets/index.htm .