abifae
Abinormal Butterfly
LOL I would rather risk worms than go wash every time I pet my cats. What a hassle!Beekissed said:
So far I haven't had a cat with worms though. Which is honestly a surprise since I've taken in ferals.
parasites.....ugh
- Thread starter lorihadams
- Start date
So far I haven't had a cat with worms though. Which is honestly a surprise since I've taken in ferals.
patandchickens
Crazy Cat Lady
Are you suuuure humans can get pinworms from animals? AFAIK dogs (and I *think* cats too?) cannot even GET pinworms themselves, let alone transmit them to humans. Horses can have pinworms but my impression is that is a different species from humans' pinworms and not crossinfective.
The normal way for human kids to get pinworms is from floor, laundry, sheets, rugs, dust, etc on which pinworm eggs have 'spilled' from some other kid who DOES have pinworms. They are teensy and dustlike and can survive for a fair while waiting for some lucky kid to ingest them in one way or another.
Pinworms are basically just a nuisance and if you can take careful measures to prevent reinfection (frequent laundry and vacuuming, and improved hygeine, and avoiding scratchin' yer butt and that sort of thing) they will go away ON THEIR OWN in a couple weeks as the existing worms die of old age. Unless you reinfect yourself, they are gone for good, as they cannot reproduce *in* the human body.
There ARE a few parasitic worms that can be transmitted from dogs to humans, mainly roundworm and hookworm. They can cause problems in humans, especially in the (rare but nontrivial) event that the larvae migrate where they oughtn't'a gone in the human body, and IMO are definitely worth treating.
Pat
The normal way for human kids to get pinworms is from floor, laundry, sheets, rugs, dust, etc on which pinworm eggs have 'spilled' from some other kid who DOES have pinworms. They are teensy and dustlike and can survive for a fair while waiting for some lucky kid to ingest them in one way or another.
Pinworms are basically just a nuisance and if you can take careful measures to prevent reinfection (frequent laundry and vacuuming, and improved hygeine, and avoiding scratchin' yer butt and that sort of thing) they will go away ON THEIR OWN in a couple weeks as the existing worms die of old age. Unless you reinfect yourself, they are gone for good, as they cannot reproduce *in* the human body.
There ARE a few parasitic worms that can be transmitted from dogs to humans, mainly roundworm and hookworm. They can cause problems in humans, especially in the (rare but nontrivial) event that the larvae migrate where they oughtn't'a gone in the human body, and IMO are definitely worth treating.
Pat
MsPony
Lovin' The Homestead
Sometimes I do with ym dog because he's gross, but my horses never! Unless om washing poopy butts or sheath cleaning, I think a little horse funk makes you healthier.abifae said:LOL I would rather risk worms than go wash every time I pet my cats. What a hassle!Beekissed said:
So far I haven't had a cat with worms though. Which is honestly a surprise since I've taken in ferals.
- Thread starter
- #14
lorihadams
Always doing laundry
Yeah....worms are hard to get. Most of the time kids pick up worms from playing outside in the dirt or contaminated sandbox and getting an egg under the nails and then putting their hands in their mouths. My 3 yr old is constantly putting her fingers in her mouth and my 5 yr old is a thumbsucker. You usually never know they have them until they start complaining of itchy butt, especially at night and after bathtime (that's when the worms are more active and they will come down during bathtime for the water).
You usually will never know if you have them unless you actually see them. The most common ones for humans to get are pinworms, they are tiny and very hard to detect. She could have picked them up from another child anywhere or someone elses home where they happened to be. It's just like lice...it goes around school systems a lot more often than you think. Most of the time worms don't do a lot of damage but if the infestation goes on long enough and gets severe enough they can cause lethargy, dark circles under the eyes, disrupted sleep, abnormal appetite, and other symptoms. There are other parasites you can swallow via water. My children were playing on the edge of the pond out back over the summer and they tripped and fell in and probably swallowed some critters. Gross but it happens. That is why parasite infestation is so much harder to control in some other countries cause the only water sources are contaminated.
Hookworms and roundworms can be picked up from contaminated ground....hookworms can actually be transmitted through the skin...like bare feet.
I plopped my house down in the middle of an active cow pasture and there are dogs and cats that pass through here all the time in addition to my animals.
Hookworms and roundworms in dogs can be transmitted through mother's milk as well. That was something I learned from the vet. Tapeworms are a little more difficult to get because they come from ingesting fleas or their eggs. Easy for a dog to do but not so much for a human, although it does happen from time to time.
We have taken a dose of wormer, as have the dogs. We get a second dose, as do the dogs, in 2 weeks. That should do it. I have washed anything in the house that I can possibly wash to the tune of 23 loads in the last 3 days. I am also more vigilant about my children washing their hands as well.
The dogs have frontline on them now and that will usually prevent hookworm and roundworm and prevent the fleas that cause tapeworm. Our puppy ended up with all three.
It is easier to get parasites when your animals are in a limited amount of space as well. More fecal matter=higher risk for contamination of the ground.
We are also making a new lid for the sand box and replacing all the sand just to be on the safe side.
It's probably overkill but rather safe than sorry, right?
You usually will never know if you have them unless you actually see them. The most common ones for humans to get are pinworms, they are tiny and very hard to detect. She could have picked them up from another child anywhere or someone elses home where they happened to be. It's just like lice...it goes around school systems a lot more often than you think. Most of the time worms don't do a lot of damage but if the infestation goes on long enough and gets severe enough they can cause lethargy, dark circles under the eyes, disrupted sleep, abnormal appetite, and other symptoms. There are other parasites you can swallow via water. My children were playing on the edge of the pond out back over the summer and they tripped and fell in and probably swallowed some critters. Gross but it happens. That is why parasite infestation is so much harder to control in some other countries cause the only water sources are contaminated.
Hookworms and roundworms can be picked up from contaminated ground....hookworms can actually be transmitted through the skin...like bare feet.
I plopped my house down in the middle of an active cow pasture and there are dogs and cats that pass through here all the time in addition to my animals.
Hookworms and roundworms in dogs can be transmitted through mother's milk as well. That was something I learned from the vet. Tapeworms are a little more difficult to get because they come from ingesting fleas or their eggs. Easy for a dog to do but not so much for a human, although it does happen from time to time.
We have taken a dose of wormer, as have the dogs. We get a second dose, as do the dogs, in 2 weeks. That should do it. I have washed anything in the house that I can possibly wash to the tune of 23 loads in the last 3 days. I am also more vigilant about my children washing their hands as well.
The dogs have frontline on them now and that will usually prevent hookworm and roundworm and prevent the fleas that cause tapeworm. Our puppy ended up with all three.
It is easier to get parasites when your animals are in a limited amount of space as well. More fecal matter=higher risk for contamination of the ground.
We are also making a new lid for the sand box and replacing all the sand just to be on the safe side.
It's probably overkill but rather safe than sorry, right?
Quail_Antwerp
Cold is on the Right, Hot is on The Left
Thanks to your worm posts, I had a dream last night that I had a tape worm!
- Thread starter
- #17
lorihadams
Always doing laundry
So my granny just called me and since she had kept my DD before the worm stuff and because we had stayed with her when we figured it out she called the doctor and got her and papa a parasite pill too.....yep, she pooped some out. 
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Now....she needs to follow that with some Wazine and %^$#**@U@* blah, blah, blah in two weeks or she may not have gotten them all and then in 6 weeks she needs to follow up with some blah, blah, blah and Ivermectin just to make sure.
Sorry...been reading on BYC lately......
Sorry...been reading on BYC lately......
JRmom
Lovin' The Homestead
Hookworm is not a nice thing to get (ask my mother! LOL)... she got them in one foot when I was a teenager, in Florida were bare feet are the norm. We had horses, dogs, cats, and rabbits at the time so not sure where it originated, but it was awful. Very painful and very, very itchy... especially at night when she would relax - then the worms would start moving about in her feet. Yeck!
Occamstazer
Almost Self-Reliant
Sounds like two different infestations, if that eases your mind any.
The short, white worms on your pets are tapeworm segments, and they get them from ingesting fleas. The flea control products from your vet are really the only thing that works and won't poison your pet. The sticker shock is intense because you have to get the whole box but it really is the cheapest solution in the long run.
A secret some vets won't share: Comfortis is effective for longer than a month. I give it to my own pets every 6-7 weeks and that's here in Alabama, the flea's paradise.
The short, white worms on your pets are tapeworm segments, and they get them from ingesting fleas. The flea control products from your vet are really the only thing that works and won't poison your pet. The sticker shock is intense because you have to get the whole box but it really is the cheapest solution in the long run.
A secret some vets won't share: Comfortis is effective for longer than a month. I give it to my own pets every 6-7 weeks and that's here in Alabama, the flea's paradise.
