Parasites!

Today I want to talk about some of the parasites that can be cared in an animal shelters environment.  Giardia, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms are some of the most common parasites that can be found in an animal shelter.  Some of which are zoonotic (can spread from species to species). One way to find out if your animals have these is to collect a fecal sample and  have it looked at under a microscope by a veterinarian.  Sometimes you can see the worms in the sample and all you need to do is identify them so that you can treat the problem.  To treat roundworms, hookworms and whipworms, you can use Panacur: given once a day for 3 days; 3 day treatment repeated in 3 weeks and again in 3 months.  If you are only dealing with hooks and rounds, then you can treat with StrongidT: 1 to12 weeks old: given every 2 weeks until 12 weeks old; 3-6 months old: dose repeated in 2 weeks, then given every 4 weeks until 6 months old; > 6 months old: dose repeated once in 2 weeks.  As you can see, neither one of these treat tapeworms.  That's because you must use Praziquantel.  This is a onetime treatment but it can be used daily or whenever needed, if needed. We haven't talked about Giardia.  You may be asking yourself what it is exactly.  Well, Giardia is a parasitic protozoan that lives in the intestinal tract of dogs.  They can be infected with giardia if they drink contaminated water or eat contaminated food.  Giardia gives them loose stool, with a foul smell and a mucus discharge.  This can be treated with Flagyl twice a day for 14 days.  All these medicines have certain measurements that need to be administered to your pet for these problems, so please, LEAVE THE TREATMENT TO YOUR VETERINARIAN!! And yes these are all zoonotic parasites.