What are parasites?
There are a wide variety of parasites out there, however one thing they have in common is that sooner or later their presence will have an impact on your pets overall health and comfort.
A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another species and benefits by deriving nutrients at the others expense. Parasites spend their lives crawling around our pets and can cause serious health problems if left untreated. Common parasites in pets include fleas, ticks and worms.
Fleas
Fleas are external parasites that live on the skin and survive by feeding on the blood of animals. Flea bites are irritating and painful to your pet and frequent itching and biting can lead to skin damage.
Flea bites are the most common form of skin disease in pets. Some dogs and cats can develop a severe allergic reaction to flea bites. This is commonly known as flea allergy dermatitis, a painful skin condition that results in hairless itchy “hot spots” commonly seen on the base or back of the tail.
Heavy flea infestations can cause anaemia in very young or old pets due to blood loss. Fleas can also infect your pet with tapeworm larvae, causing a tapeworm infestation.
Fleas are most common on dogs and cats, but can also infest other pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice, chickens as well as wildlife and humans.
Ticks
There are several types of ticks in Victoria of which the most common are the brown tick and paralysis tick. Ticks burrow into your pets skin to feed, grow and reproduce. They damage the skin of animals when they bite creating wounds susceptible to secondary bacterial infection.
Paralysis ticks pose the biggest threat to pets. When they attach to our pets, they secrete a toxin that affects the nervous system, leading to a number of symptoms and potentially death. Paralysis ticks are most commonly found in bushy coastal areas along the eastern seaboard of Australia from North Queensland to Eastern Victoria.
If you find a tick, don’t panic. Remove the tick immediately and keep looking for more. Use your thumb and index finger or tweezers placed close to the skin to remove the tick by twisting and pulling. Keep the tick in a plastic container for identification by your vet. Next, take your pet to the vet. Even if they are not showing symptoms of tick paralysis, its important to get your pet checked over by a professional.
Intestinal worms
Intestinal worms live in your pet’s intestines and feed on blood or intestinal contents. Common types include hookworms, roundworms, whipworm and tapeworm. Pets generally pick up worms by eating parasite eggs or spores in contaminated soil, water, faeces or food.
Some intestinal worms that your pet carries can be transmitted to family members and cause serious illnesses in children or the elderly.
Heartworms
Heartworms are transmitted to your pet via infected mosquitos. An infected mosquito injects a larval stage of the worm under your pets skin. The larvae migrates through the pets tissues and circulatory system, eventually reaching the heart and lungs where adult worms grow and reproduce.
Unlike other worms, heartworms travel in the bloodstream and live in the heart and surrounding blood vessels for up to 7 years, growing up to 27cm in length.
Preventative treatment
Prevention is always the best medicine and the good news is that there are a number of parasite treatments available such as tablets and chews, topical medications, annual injections, shampoos and sprays. A great time to discuss parasite control is during your pets annual health check.
Our vets can help you determine the most suitable products and program to protect your pet from parasites. To make an appointment call us on 03 8784 4444.
