Thursday

Two Types of Pet Parasites

No doubt as an animal lover, you have heard about vital it is to prevent parasites from infecting your pet. However, if you are a cat or dog owner, do you know which intestinal parasites you should be protecting them from? There are several kinds of pet parasites and they can do great damage to your beloved pet if they are not taken care of or treated before they become a problem. Here are two parasites that are very harmful to your pet: Coccidia and Giardia.

Intestinal Parasite – Coccidian

The coccidian intestinal parasite can affect any domestic animals, whether it is a dog, cat, bird, etc. However, this parasite has different types that affect different pets. Should you have a dog or cat, you need to look out for the Isopora coccidia infection.

How Do Animals Get This Parasite

You are probably wondering how domestic animals would get this pet parasite. There are actually two ways your beloved pet can contract this parasite. First, they can eat the feces of animals that have been infected or they can eat animals that have the disease. For example, your cat loves to chase and eat mice. If the mouse they recently ate has the Isopora infection, chances are your pet “Shadow” does to.

Most coccidial infections are nothing to worry with. Researchers believe that most cats and dogs have had it at least once in their lives. While you won’t notice the minimum symptoms of the infection, more severe ones are animals with blood diarrhea. However, these usually occur where animals are closely housed together such as a pet store.

Intestinal Parasite – Giardia

This is a one-celled parasite that harms the small intestine of your pet. If your pet is young in age, symptoms of the infection include dehydration, water diarrhea, weight loss and bad appearance. Older pets may not show any infection at all.

How Do Animals Get This Parasite

A pet that drinks water that has been tainted with this infection is likely to get the disease. If you want to treat this infection, you will need to take them to a veterinarian some drugs can be given. This parasite can cause a pet to need long term assistance in order to be rid of it.

How can you make sure your pet doesn’t get the Giardia pet parasite? Keep your house completely sanitized. Be sure there are no feces in the water or the food. If they get infected again, treatment will have to be repeated.

Certainly there are more infections that can affect the pet member of your household. If it seems you pet is sick, always call the veterinarian for advice and treatment options.

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