Parasites and Why we Must Prevent Them

Heartworm disease is serious; it results in severe lung disease, heart failure, other organ damage, and death in dogs and cats. Heartworms are spread through the bite of a mosquito, making Texas an especially high-risk area. Year-round prevention is best! Talk it out with us to help you decide which preventative is best for your pet. The American Heartworm Society advocates to “Think 12.” Give dogs 12 months of heartworm prevention and get them tested for heartworms every 12 months.

Roundworms are active in the intestines and often cause a pot-bellied appearance. You may also see worms in your dog’s vomit or stool. Dogs become infected by ingesting worm eggs from contaminated soil. These eggs hatch in the intestine and the bloodstream carries the larvae to the lungs. Many puppies are born with roundworms, so deworming and fecal testing are key to ensuring your new puppy is healthy.

Hookworms are small, thin worms that fasten to the wall of the small intestine and suck blood. Dogs become infected by ingesting larvae in contaminated soil. Many puppies are born with hookworms or contract them from their mother through milk. Deworming and fecal testing are key to ensuring your new puppy and its mother are healthy.

Adult whipworms live in the first section of the large intestine. They look like pieces of thread with one end enlarged. Dogs contract whipworms by ingesting a substance, such as soil or feces, contaminated with whipworm eggs. Infestations are usually light, so fecal testing is the best way to know if your pet has whipworms.

Pets become infected with tapeworms by eating fleas. If your pet has tapeworms, you will likely see moving segments of the tapeworm in the pet’s stool or dried segments in your pet’s stool or stuck to the hair around their tail-end. These segments may be white or yellow and look similar to a grain of rice. Over-the-counter general dewormers will not kill tapeworms, but we offer an injection that will.

Flea infestations are extremely common in Texas. These small, fast, jumping insects live on your pet and take regular blood meals to produce eggs. A female flea will lay an egg about every 20 minutes! Many infested pets experience flea allergy dermatitis, causing rashes, skin infections, hair loss, scabby/scaly skin, and stubborn wounds where the pet excessively itches and bites. A once monthly prescription pill can start killing fleas in as little as 30 minutes, preventing fleas from reproducing and significantly reducing the population.  

Ticks are small crawling insects that bite and burrow their heads into the skin tissue of you or your pet and remain attached there while it feeds on blood. Ticks aren’t just irritating pests; they are carriers of dangerous viral diseases such as lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), which is spread by the lone star tick and commonly found in Texas. A once-monthly prescription pill will ensure that ticks are paralyzed, then killed, before they have a chance to cause serious damage to your pet.

Ear mites live in the ear canals and on the skin surfaces of cats, dogs, rabbits, and ferrets. They are highly contagious, spread through direct contact with an infested animal. They are tiny and may look like white specks moving against a dark background. These mites are very irritating, and infected pets often shake their heads and scratch at their ears.