Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Guest Post: The Roundworm Toxocara (part 2: prevention and treatment)

In yesterday's guest post The Roundworm Toxocara (part 1: pets and people), Dr. Anna M. van Heeckeren, founder and Executive Director of The van Bakeren Foundation, talked about the roundworm parasite in pets and people. Today, she addresses roundworm prevention and treatment...

_____________________________________________________________________________________

How can you prevent your dog or cat from getting roundworms in the first place?

Unfortunately, there are no treatments like a vaccine to prevent roundworm infection in your dog or cat, but if your dog or cat has these roundworms, there are great drugs available to kill the adult roundworms (and other nasty parasites). Your veterinarian would know best what treatment’s right for your dog or cat depending on several different things.

Do I have to take my pet to a veterinarian to get treated for roundworms?

Only if you want to make sure your pet will be healthy during the treatment. “Deworming” medications work very well and frequently kill other kinds of parasites, like heartworms. That’s a good thing. The problem is, if your pet is infected with heartworms and you give them deworming medication, you can end up accidentally killing your pet. I don’t think you want to take that chance. My recommendation is to take your pet to a veterinarian and get your pet checked out before treatment. Talk to your veterinarian about what’s best for your situation and your pet.

How does your veterinarian know if your dog or cat is infected by roundworms?

Simply put, they need to check the poop. Take a fresh fecal (poop) sample from your dog (when you walk your dog) or cat (from the litter pan) using a pooper scooper, place it in a small plastic bag pre-labeled with the animal’s name, your name, and the date it was collected, and wash your hands. Then take the sample to your veterinarian so they can look for the roundworm eggs under the microscope (they’ll also check for other intestinal parasites). Sometimes they’ll send the sample to a special laboratory that can look for more intestinal parasites. Then your veterinarian can tell you what medicine your dog or cat would need if they have a problem.

How do people prevent from getting roundworms?

Because you can’t see where roundworm eggs are- and they can be found just about any place an animal can poop- the Companion Animal Parasite Council has some easy steps you can take to protect yourself. Luckily, most are cheap and easy, and can also protect you from getting other diseases caused by parasites, bacteria, or viruses.

Washing your hands with regular soap and water helps keep you safe from many kinds of diseases, including roundworms.

These steps include:

1. Take your pet to the veterinarian regularly- depending on the age of your pet this can mean at least once a year or more if you have a puppy or kitten- and make sure they get all the recommended vaccines and deworming medicines.
2. Wash your hands after petting an animal, being outdoors gardening, or enjoying the great outdoors. Regular soap works just fine.
3. Don’t allow your child to eat dirt.
4. Cover sandboxes when your child is not playing in them. Nothing looks so inviting to a cat for a toilet!
5. Pick up your pet’s poop daily and throw it out in the garbage (not down the toilet!), and wash hands afterwards. Be especially careful if your immune system is not healthy.
6. If you eat meat, cook it well, especially if your immune system is not healthy.
7. Wash or thoroughly rinse fruits and vegetables before eating them.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Anna M. van Heeckeren has degrees in biology, genetics, and veterinary medicine. She is founder and Executive Director of The van Bakeren Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public non-profit with a mission to prevent the spread of diseases between animals and people through research, education and outreach, and providing veterinary medical care to animals in underserved communities using a One Health approach. She is also Chair of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, which is committed to embracing and advancing the well-being and medical care of animals. She lives her husband Ned and two children Marta and Elise, along with her two cats, Bing (pictured with Anna) and Eva (camera shy), her rabbit Wallace, and several fish.

Guest Post: The Roundworm Toxocara (part 1: pets and people)

Time to cap off our Intestinal Issue month at Embrace with an article on worms. Who better to write the post than someone who knows much more than I do (which is pretty well everyone!); hence a guest post by Dr. Anna M. van Heeckeren, founder and Executive Director of The van Bakeren Foundation.

Anna had so much "juicy" content, I split it into 2 posts. This one on roundworm in pets and people and tomorrow's on roundworm prevention and treatment. Now over to Anna...

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As a veterinarian researching and blogging about the problem of diseases that are spread from animals to people (zoonoses), I am happy to give you the straight poop about roundworms (pun fully intended).

What is the roundworm Toxocara?

It’s one of the parasitic intestinal worms that make us squirm at The van Bakeren Foundation. The reason we care about this creepy crawly is that Toxocara is the most common roundworm found in our pets and can accidentally be spread to people, causing some rather nasty consequences. So let’s find out more so we can protect our pets, our families, and ourselves.

What are the symptoms in pets?

It depends. According to the Companion Animal Parasite Council (the leading expert in providing veterinarians with guidelines about getting rid of parasites like roundworms affecting dogs and cats) most of the time you can’t tell by looking at them that they are infected; however, dogs and cats with lots of roundworm (usually puppies and kittens) commonly lose weight, their fur looks dull, and they may have a potbellied appearance. Your dog or cat may cough if the roundworms move into the lungs (which is one step to the roundworm becoming an adult). Also, you may notice the adult roundworms in your dog or cat’s poop or after they throw up. Yes, it's pretty gross!

What do roundworms look like?

The adult worms (pictured to the right) look a bit like spaghetti (the boys are smaller than the girls) that live in the intestines of dogs and cats; they are white or light brown in color and may be several inches long (hopefully I haven’t stopped you from ever wanting to eat pasta again!)

The adults lay a lot of eggs, which are also found in the animal’s poop. These eggs are very small (like a pinprick) so you cannot see them easily without the help of a microscope (pictured to the left).

They almost look like very small hen’s eggs with the yolk inside. After a week or so (depending on the specific kind of roundworm), these eggs become what’s called “infective.” (pictured to the right)  That is, the egg contains a young, immature roundworm, or larva, and then if accidentally eaten the worms can cause disease. That’s why it’s so important that you pick up after your cat or dog as soon as possible (daily is best). The bad news is that the infective eggs can live in the environment for a very long time (years), and are very hard to kill.

(pictures courtesy of CAPC)  

How do roundworms spread to dogs and cats?

Usually, it is something they accidentally get from their mother when they’re puppies or kittens. So you might ask - how many puppies and kittens are infected with roundworms? The answer is nearly all of them! That’s why the Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends treating puppies and kittens with worming medications that you can get from your veterinarian.

Dogs and cats can also get infected again by eating dirt containing the microscopic eggs, or by eating small animals like mice that are infected with roundworms. The Companion Animal Parasite Council recommends treating dogs and cats once monthly with worming medications that you can get from your veterinarian. Adult pets are much less likely to be infected (as few as 2.6% or 2-3 out of 100 of owned pets), especially if they see a veterinarian regularly. Homeless animals are much more likely to be infected.

How do roundworms spread from animals to people?

Usually it’s through indirect contact. That is, usually people accidentally eat dirt contaminated with infective roundworm eggs where dogs and cats have been pooping.

Who tends to get infected with roundworms?

Usually children ages 2-6 years old; however, people who cannot naturally fight off infections very well, otherwise known as those who are “immunosuppressed.” This would include the very young (i.e. children), pregnant women, people taking chemotherapy for cancer treatment (a.k.a. chemo), and the elderly (guess that would depend on your definition of elderly) can also be infected.

How many people get infected with roundworms?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are concerned about this often overlooked disease called toxocariasis because it’s more common than you may want to know. They cite research indicating that about 1 in 7 people (about 14%) in the United States are infected with Toxocara (or rather, have been exposed to it and their body’s immune system is fighting off the infection).

While this is very scary to learn, luckily it’s not too common that people have any problems if infected; one study indicates that up to one person out of 1,000 infected people actually get any signs of disease; however, in those few cases the disease symptoms can be terrifying, such as seizures and blindness, from worms penetrating the brain and eyes. It’s better to be safe than sorry and prevent from getting infected in the first place.

Which is our topic for tomorrow. Stay tuned...

________________________________________________________________________________

Dr. Anna M. van Heeckeren has degrees in biology, genetics, and veterinary medicine. She is founder and Executive Director of The van Bakeren Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public non-profit with a mission to prevent the spread of diseases between animals and people through research, education and outreach, and providing veterinary medical care to animals in underserved communities using a One Health approach. She is also Chair of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, which is committed to embracing and advancing the well-being and medical care of animals. She lives her husband Ned and two children Marta and Elise, along with her two cats, Bing (pictured with Anna) and Eva (camera shy), her rabbit Wallace, and several fish.