Spring is fast approaching and with it will come longer warmer days and the chance for all to enjoy the outdoors, including our dogs and cats. The increased time outside will expose our pets to many different things, including parasites. Prevention is the key to protecting both our pets and ourselves from potentially serious health problems.

The most common intestinal parasites include roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. Transmission occurs mostly through ingestion of worm eggs passed in the feces of infected animals but also through eating intermediate hosts such as small rodents and in puppies and kittens through the mother’s placenta and/or milk. It is estimated that as many as 34% of dogs in the U.S. are infected with intestinal parasites. This becomes more concerning with the realization that a single worm can produce more than 100,000 eggs per day.

Humans are at risk of infection through direct interaction with pets as well as through contact with soil and sand. Eggs can remain infective in the environment for years. Children are at greatest risk for infection in part due to their play environments and under-developed hygiene habits. Infection in humans can result in larval migrans, which is the migration of worms through the body to places such as the eye, brain, liver and lungs to cause irreversible damage including blindness, brain and other organ damage.

Prevention in humans includes regular washing of hands, cooking all meat thoroughly, protecting children’s play areas from wildlife and pets, and picking up feces from our pets before it can allow the spread of eggs into the environment.

Prevention in pets is achieved through routine deworming with products recommended by your veterinarian. Heartworm preventatives such as Interceptor and Heartgard Plus can be used monthly for the deworming of many intestinal parasites and should be considered for year-round administration especially in households with children and immunocompromised adults. Broad-spectrum dewormers such as Drontal Plus (and Profender in cats) cover most intestinal parasites and should be given at least once yearly and more frequently in pets that have an increased risk for exposure (ie outdoor cats, dogs with off-leash privileges and active lifestyles and especially pets that hunt and eat things off the ground).

Please contact your veterinarian for information on how you can prevent parasites in both your pets and your family. You can also visit the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) at www.petsandparasites.org for more resources.