As we all know, intestinal parasites commonly cause signs such as vomiting and diarrhea. But parasites also cause “subclinical disease,” which means that they affect the health of the pet in more subtle ways. In fact, this is the more common form of the disease. You may see the subtle signs, such as a poor hair coat or you may see nothing at all, but pets should not have parasites. It does affect their health!

Testing
We always recommend an inexpensive yet highly effective fecal test with our annual exams. When performing a fecal analysis, we are looking for those 3 parasites, as well as Coccidia and Giardia. There are more intestinal parasites, but these are the “big five” in Richmond.

These parasites not only affect the overall health of the pet, but some also pose a significant health risk to humans. One of the more common parasites that we see is the Roundworm. Roundworms can pose serious health risks to humans, especially those whose immune systems are not functioning fully such as children, people with certain diseases or people on certain medications. The Roundworm larvae can encyst in the eye, brain, liver, kidney or elsewhere in humans.

We also find Giardia which causes Beaver Fever and this can cause serious intestinal upset in humans as well.

When running a fecal floatation, one of our Registered Animal Health Technologist (RAHT) first examines the feces visually before processing. Sometimes, she finds clues that something is not right, such as mucus on the feces or adult worms or segments of tapeworms. Then, the stool sample is processed by our RAHT using an involved and time consuming technique. They then examine the processed sample under a microscope looking for eggs, microscopic parasites or blood. We use the most accurate and sensitive technique which is considered the gold standard.

Control of Parasites
Even pets on monthly parasite control (generally, Sentinel, Interceptor or Revolution) need to have their stool assessed annually. We look for other parasites that are not controlled with the medication used and we also check to make sure that the medication is doing its job.If your pet comes up positive for one of the 3 parasites controlled by Sentinel/Interceptor, and you have been administering the medication monthly according to our recommendations, we will fully cover the costs of eliminating that parasite.