Worm Your Pet to Protect People!
Did you know that you worm your dogs and cats to keep people safe from these parasites?
A lot of people miss worming their pet because they think they look happy and healthy, so think worms aren’t a big issue.
In puppies and kittens, we do see heavy worm burdens make animals unwell, which is why we worm young animals more frequently.
In adult cats and dogs, their immune system is strong enough to deal with a worm burden, but the worms they do carry can be very dangerous to people, especially kids and the elderly.
One type of worm in particular, Toxocara (a round worm) is very dangerous to people. This worm can be picked up by ingesting the microscopic eggs, or by the worm larvae penetrating through the skin. In a dog the worm would follow normal biochemical markers to end up in the gut where it wants to be to develop and continue its life cycle.
In people, these biochemical markers aren’t there so the worm can get lost in the body, ending up in places like the brain and eye, causing massive damage. These worms are actually one of the leading causes of blindness in children world-wide.
We recommend worming puppies and kittens fortnightly until 8 weeks of age, then monthly until 6 months of age. After this, they need worming every 3 months to stop them producing the infective stage of the worms.
Please keep your pets worming up to date, as the consequences can go far beyond your pets health.