Humans love having pets and there’s no question to that. They adopt these different kinds of animals – dogs, cats, birds, fishes or even reptiles and spiders– for different reasons. Some have them for security purposes, while some for companionship. They share a bond to their pets that no one could ever fathom. In addition, this bond is built through the exchange of love and care.
Pet Diseases And Insurance
Because of this emotional attachment, people feel for their pets, they find it all right to share their bed with them and plant them “kisses” on their faces. There’s nothing really wrong about sharing the bed and the kisses if you are sure that your pets are clean…as in C-L-E-A-N. There are billions of things your naked eyes couldn’t see; and roundworms (ascarids for this matter), which nests inside your pets, are one of them.
Ascarids are the most common parasite found in the digestive tract of dogs and cats. These animals could be infected by various ways like ingestion of the egg (eggs are passed on through faeces), nursing from a mother cat or dog and consuming a prey animal that is carrying developing worms. Once outside the host’s body, eggs wouldn’t die easily for their shell is made to be highly resistant to external environment such as desiccations and dryness and can survive for a long time, which means that the stool would probably be decomposed yet the eggs are still “alive” waiting for its next host. Once inside the body of a host, eggs begin to develop into larvae to mature worms and then start to lay eggs again.
Pet Treatment
One of the most common nematode in cats is the Toxocara cati while Toxocara canis is for dogs. Both of these parasites are enough fatal to the said animals yet these are still considered to be hazardous to human health. Humans were infected by ingesting the eggs of the parasites usually brought by the pets.
After ingestion, eggs mature into larvae which will make its way to the gastrointestinal tract and there invades the mucosa to the portal system. Although the liver could have trapped some larvae, still some find its way to the lungs to be carried out to the circulatory system and be disseminated throughout the body including the heart and the brain. Because humans are not its primary host, after infesting in the tissues, it eventually dies causing the infected person granuloma – an inflammation due to damaged tissues which may be fatal or not depending on the person’s inflammatory response.
This case is called the visceral larva migrans (VLM) described for the first time in 1952 by Beaver. However, there are still two types of infection caused by the Toxocara parasites. The covert toxocariasis which is the milder version of VLM and the ocular larval migrans (OLM) which occurs when a microscopic worm enters the eye and causes inflammation and formation of a scar on the retina.
Pet owners, especially the parents, should be aware of the possible dangers dogs and cats could bring. Since the newborn puppies or kittens are the most susceptible to being infected with parasites, you should schedule with your veterinarian a deworming activity. Besides, going to a veterinarian is not that burdensome especially if you’re in ASDA Pet Insurance where you can cover up to £1,500 in vet bills plus covered for x-rays, surgeries and nursing care! It has always been said that prevention is better than cure. So pack those pets and go to your vet. Keep your family safe – get your pets safe.