The Skinny on Intestinal Worms

One day last summer my fearless sister-in-law plucked a "slug" from her cat Izzie's bottom and sent me a video of the little bugger crawling around on her desktop. Sarah launched into a tangle of theories of where Izzie could have picked up a tiny slug. I suppressed a giggle. "Uh, Sarah, that's not a slug. That is a tapeworm."


Cats and dogs share our beds and kiss our babies. They also prey on rodents, scavenge dead animals, eat stool and lick their bottoms. Yep. It's gross. Limit the grossness by regularly giving your pet a dewormer. There are more types of wiggly intestinal worms than you probably care to imagine with different types of medicines necessary for each. Here's the low down!


Tapeworm

• Tapeworms are a common small intestinal parasite in cats and dogs.
• Cats and dogs pick up tapeworms by eating infected fleas or rodents.
• Signs of infection are seeing tapeworm segments (e.g., grains of rice, sesame seeds or slugs!) in the stool or around the anus. A fecal float is rarely helpful in diagnosis unless the technician finds tapeworm segments in the stool sample.
• Some tapeworm species are contagious to people and can cause intestinal problems or dangerous neurological disease.
• It may be necessary to treat for flea infestation at the time of tapeworm diagnosis.
• Tapeworm dewormer is notoriously expensive and not included in most heartworm preventatives -- make sure you ask your veterinarian for advice on treating tapeworms.  

Whipworm

• Whipworms are a common cause of large bowel diarrhea in dogs.
• A heavy infestation can cause bloody stool, weight loss, anemia and dehydration.
• Whipworm infections are tough to diagnose on routine fecal floats because egg production is small, shedding is intermittent and the eggs don’t “float” well. Therefore, even with a negative fecal float, your veterinarian may still recommend aggressive deworming if suspicion is high.
• Whipworm eggs can remain hidden in the soil for up to 7 years! That means you must keep your dog on a monthly whipworm dewormer for a very long time to avoid reinfection.
• Whipworm dewormer is not found in most heartworm preventatives, but there are some that include it so ask your veterinarian.

Hookworm

• Hookworms are commonly found in dogs and cats.
• Hookworms feed on intestinal tissue causing blood loss and inflammation in the GI tract.
• Severe infection may lead to anemia, debilitation and even death, especially in young animals.
• Hookworms can infect people (Ewww!) by penetrating the skin or by being accidentally ingested. Infection in humans can cause an itchy rash or inflammation within internal organs.
• A routine fecal float performed by your veterinarian is used to diagnose hookworm infections.
• Many monthly heartworm preventatives also control hookworm infections, especially when used year-round. 

Roundworm

• Roundworms are the most common intestinal parasite of dogs and cats. Assume every puppy and kitten has a roundworm infestation even though worms are rarely seen in the stool. Some animals with very bad infections will pass "spaghetti-like" worms in the stool or vomit. 
• Adult worms live in the intestines depriving the host of nutrients. 
• Common signs may include diarrhea, weight loss, swollen abdomen, vomiting or no signs at all.
• Dogs and cats pick up roundworms from their mother or from infected feces. The potting soil in houseplants is a reported source of roundworm eggs for indoor-only felines! 
• Humans can accidentally ingest roundworm eggs. Infection in humans can cause blindness or organ damage (yikes!).
• Many heartworm preventatives are helpful in treating roundworms, but may need to be used year-round to be most effective.

Heartworm

• Not an intestinal worm, I know! Heartworms live in the heart and lungs of infected dogs and cats.
• Mosquitoes transmit immature heartworms from infected animals to healthy dogs and cats. Even "indoor only" dogs and cats are at risk...have you never been subjected to the whiny nighttime hum and nip of rogue indoor mosquitoes?
• Untreated, heartworm disease is fatal and treatment itself can have dangerous side effects. 
• In dogs, signs of infection may include coughing, difficulty breathing, sluggishness or no signs at all. Cats usually have signs of respiratory disease (similar to asthma), vomiting, lethargy or--you guessed it--no signs at all.
• Heartworm infection can be diagnosed with a simple blood test.
• Heartworm is easily prevented with a variety of safe medications that can be given orally or applied to the skin once a month. As discussed above, many heartworm preventatives do double duty as an intestinal dewormer and some also treat fleas! Your veterinarian can help you sort out the options.

The take home message is that parasites are almost never diagnosed by the naked eye. I hear it time and again: "My dog doesn't have worms. His poop looks normal." You will generally only see worms if your pet has tapeworms or has a really, really bad roundworm infestation! Next, almost all intestinal parasites require multiple courses of deworming medication to be effective. Like fleas, certain stages in the worm's life cycle are resistant to treatment, so you need to deliver the punch repeatedly! Finally, some parasites are contagious to people (especially children and immune-suppressed individuals) making preventative deworming that much more important in certain households.

Help! I turned my back for 3 months and my dog got FAT!

EdGrrr the Athlete, 2007

EdGrrr, my 6-yr-old Labrador retriever, used to have the body of an athlete. No. Not just an athlete. A marathon runner. He was lean and mean. He had a lovely hourglass figure and was he ripped! Some people thought he was too skinny because, unfortunately, the breed standard for Labradors has been a somewhat thick and chunky variety of dog. While I battled baby bulge myself, I was so proud of my young lab's fitness and physique.

Then this summer, while I was building my vet clinic, EdGrrr went and got fat. And not just fat, but I-finally-weighed-him-on-my-clinic-scale twenty pounds fat! I'm not sure how I missed it, but now that he is chubby it has been a true challenge to whittle away the pounds.

EdGrrr the Tub, 2011

Although I have always measured my dogs' food and fed twice daily meals, avoided people food and shied away from regular treats, EdGrrr had plenty of help in the additional calorie department. His chummy personality and eager expression earned him a sandwich (or two) a day from members of the clinic work crews. Of course, I didn't learn this until after the work was done. To be fair, they played more fetch with him in three months than he's had in the previous three years.

I can't blame the workers entirely for the obesity-fueling excesses. EdGrrr, a farm dog through and through, finds calories in the darnedest places: a little grain from the feedlot steers here, a few compost heap veggies there, and a dead deer for dessert. I'm starting to feel like EdGrrr will foil my best efforts at dieting him no matter what I do.

So in spite of my failure at keeping my own dog at a healthy weight, here are some tips for your pet's diet:

1. Feed your pet distinct meals each day rather than keeping the bowl full. Many pets just can't resist another trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet. (Sound familiar?)
2. Use a true 8-ounce measuring cup to feed a precise amount of food as directed on your pet food bag (or by your veterinarian). The range on the pet food bag is often quite broad (such as "For a 40-60 lb dog feed 3-5 cups per day") so you will have to use your best judgement. Remember the amount is the total daily amount and you will have to divide that by the number of meals you feed a day.
3. If your pet is on a diet, make sure that you are feeding an amount meant for her ideal or goal weight, not her current weight.
4. Make sure chubby is on an adult maintenance diet (see Nutrition 101 for help selecting a pet food). "All life stages" foods are essentially puppy/kitten diets and won't help an obese-prone pet lose weight.
5. Watch the people food. It's really hard to gauge how many extra calories are being consumed by pets that lick the plates clean after dinner or receive tasty tidbits from Mom, Dad or human siblings throughout the day. Some types of people food are outright toxic for pets, so best to avoid it altogether.
6. Go easy on the treats. Of course you can still give treats. But your pet loves receiving a gift from you not the gift itself! So, if you can break that Milkbone biscuit (a doggie "candy bar" incidentally) into smaller pieces do it. Or choose a low calorie treat; the pet stores are full of them! In the really hard cases, you should eliminate treats and just offer a few pieces of your pet's daily allotment of kibble (chances are he won't know or care it's just his regular food).
7. Exercise. Enough said.
8. Once you've made one or more changes to your pet's diet you can weigh her periodically (say, once a month) to monitor progress. If your pet is small enough and you have a bathroom scale at home you can weigh her by holding her and then subtracting your own weight. For bigger animals you may need to schedule a weight check at your veterinary clinic (there probably won't be a charge for this...just ask!)
9. If your pet is not losing weight and you've really -- and I mean, really -- implemented the above tips religiously, please have a chat with your veterinarian. There are several treatable medical conditions that cause unrelenting obesity that can be diagnosed with a thorough examination and blood tests.

As 2012 dawns and I make my own New Year's resolutions to eat better and exercise more, I vow to get EdGrrr to a healthy weight as well. I may not have his full cooperation, but I do know that if I go out jogging he will be my willing companion. Then I can at least cross #7 off the list!

Have a wonderful New Year!