Hookworms are an intestinal parasite that can cause serious symptoms or no symptoms at all in your dog or cat. Keeping yourself educated on these 5 things can keep this nasty worm away from you, your family, and your furry best friend.
1. Prevention is the Best Treatment
There are some great treatments out there for hookworms, so if your dog or cat is already infected, you’ve got options. Still, prevention is incredibly easy. If you keep your pet on a once monthly preventative medication like Heartgard, you’re preventing more than just hookworms: this medication will keep heartworms and other gross parasites at bay.
2. Your Environment Might Pose the Greatest Threat
Cases of hookworms have been found all over the globe in all kinds of climates. Still, your pet is at greatest risk if you live in a warm, humid climate. Larvae thrives in the heat and humidity, so if it’s the summer or if you live in the southeastern United States, you’ll want to be extra careful about prevention.
3. Hookworms have crafty infection methods
Hookworms are doing their best to get into your pet’s intestines. Still, they can get into your dog’s body through their skin. Hookworms will most often crawl through the pads of your pet’s paws, where they travel through vessels and veins to get into your pet’s lungs. From there, your pet can swallow these little worms where they attach to your pet’s intestines.
4. Humans Can Get Hookworms Too
While there have only been a few cases of intestinal hookworms in humans, hookworms can travel through your skin and cause a skin infection called creeping eruption. This itchy skin disease generally clears up on its own, but it’s uncomfortable and a little unsightly for some. Human hookworms are just one more reason you’ll want to keep this parasite away from your pet.
5. It’s Not What They Take, It's How They Take
Most hookworm infections don’t show signs because of the blood they’re taking from your dog’s or cat’s system. Rather, these worms, which can grow as large as an inch in size, will reattach to a new part of your pet’s intestines every few hours, leaving behind ulcers in their wake. Additionally, these worms release an anticoagulant when they bite that keeps your pet’s blood from clotting. While some species of hookworms suck more blood than others, the real threat to your pet comes from the way these worms bite, not how much they suck.
This information is for informational purposes only and is not meant as a substitute for the professional advice of, or diagnosis or treatment by, your veterinarian with respect to your pet. It has, however, been verified by a licensed veterinarian for accuracy.
Hookworms ni wadudu wa matumbo ambao wanaweza kusababisha dalili mbaya au hakuna dalili yoyote kwa mbwa wako au paka. Kujifunza juu ya mambo haya matano kunaweza kukuweka mbali na mdudu huyu mbaya, familia yako, na rafiki yako bora mwenye manyoya. 1. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Ulinzi ni matibabu bora Kuna baadhi ya matibabu kubwa nje ya hapo kwa hookworms, hivyo kama mbwa wako au paka tayari imeambukizwa, una chaguzi. Hata hivyo, ni rahisi sana kuzuia ugonjwa huo. Ikiwa unaweka mnyama wako kwenye dawa ya kuzuia mara moja kwa mwezi kama Heartgard, unazuia zaidi ya hookworms tu: dawa hii itaweka heartworms na vimelea vingine vya kibaya katika bay. 2. Uwezekano wa kupata Kwa sababu ya hali ya hewa, kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba kuna aina ya hookworms duniani kote. Hata hivyo, mnyama wako wa kipenzi yuko katika hatari kubwa zaidi ikiwa unaishi katika eneo lenye joto na unyevu. Larvae hufanikiwa katika joto na unyevu, kwa hiyo ikiwa ni majira ya joto au ikiwa unaishi kusini mashariki mwa Marekani, utataka kuwa makini zaidi kuhusu kuzuia. 3. Uwe na mtazamo wa kweli Hookworms wana mbinu za uambukizi za ujanja Hookworms wanafanya kila wawezalo kuingia ndani ya matumbo ya mnyama wako. Hata hivyo, wanaweza kuingia ndani ya mwili wa mbwa wako kupitia ngozi yake. Hookworms mara nyingi kutambaa kupitia pads ya paws pet yako, ambapo wao kusafiri kupitia mishipa na mishipa ya damu kupata katika mapafu pet yako. Kutoka hapo, mnyama wako anaweza kumeza minyoo hii ndogo ambapo huambatana na matumbo ya mnyama wako. 4. Uwe na uhakika Watu wanaweza kupata hookworms pia: Ingawa kumekuwa na kesi chache tu za hookworms ya matumbo kwa wanadamu, hookworms inaweza kusafiri kupitia ngozi yako na kusababisha maambukizi ya ngozi inayoitwa mlipuko wa kutambaa. Kwa kawaida ugonjwa huu wa ngozi unaosababisha kukwaruza hupona wenyewe, lakini ni usiofaa na usiofaa kwa baadhi ya watu. Mimea ya binadamu ya hookworm ni sababu moja tu ambayo utapenda kuuweka vimelea hivi mbali na mnyama wako wa kipenzi. 5. Uwe na mtazamo mzuri. Si kile wanachokunywa, ni jinsi wanavyokunywa Maambukizo mengi ya minyoo ya ndoano hayaonyeshi dalili kwa sababu ya damu wanayochukua kutoka kwa mfumo wa mbwa wako au paka. Kwa kweli, minyoo hii, ambayo inaweza kukua kwa ukubwa wa inchi moja, itaunganisha sehemu mpya ya matumbo ya mnyama wako kila baada ya masaa machache, na kuacha vidonda nyuma yao. Kwa kuongezea, minyoo hao hutoa dawa ya kuzuia kuganda kwa damu wanapologa ambayo huzuia damu ya mnyama wako isifanyike. Ingawa aina fulani za minyoo huchukua damu nyingi kuliko nyingine, hatari kubwa kwa wanyama wako wa kufugwa ni jinsi wanavyouma, si kiasi wanachochukua. Taarifa hii ni kwa madhumuni ya habari tu na haikusudiwa kuchukua nafasi ya ushauri wa kitaaluma, au utambuzi au matibabu na daktari wako wa mifugo kuhusiana na mnyama wako. Hata hivyo, imethibitishwa na daktari wa mifugo mwenye leseni kwa ajili ya usahihi.