Parasites, Pets, and Kids. Know the facts: Don’t expose your children!

Do you have a pet living in your home or just an outdoor pet that your child plays with on a daily basis? Parker County Mama Rebecca Walker owns Lucky Paws Housecalls...Rebecca is a mobile small animal veterinarian serving Aledo, Weatherford, west Fort Worth and surrounding towns. She has some great tips on how to keep your kids safe from parasites that family pets can carry.


. Hookworms and roundworms can be harbored by your dog or cat and transmitted to children. It is thought that 30% to 50% of dogs and cats carry gastrointestinal (GI) parasites. Dogs get infected with hookworms and roundworms by walking places where other dogs have defecated. The eggs and larvae end up on your dog’s feet then your dog licks his feet and infects him or herself with these GI parasites. If your dog licks his anus and then licks your child, or if your child pets your dog then puts his/her hands in her mouth, he or she can become infected with these parasites.

• Dogs can get ticks that spread lyme disease, anaplasmosis, rocky mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and tularemia, which can affect people if the ticks detach from the dog and attach themselves to your child.

• Cats get infected with hookworms and tapeworms by hunting prey. Even if your cat lives indoors, the ingestion of one house mouse can expose your cat to GI parasites. Cats with a flea infestation can also spread cat scratch fever to children.

How Can You Prevent the Risk of Spreading Parasites to Your Children?

• Keep your dog on monthly heartworm preventative all year. This medication helps to prevent hookworms and roundworms in your dog. In addition, keep your dog on topical flea and tick control all year.

• Scoop the yard where your dog defecates at least weekly, ideally daily, as worm eggs and larvae found in stool can contaminate the environment.

• Have your veterinarian perform a fecal analysis on your pet’s stool at least once per year. This ensures that the preventatives have effectively protected your pets.

• Keep your cat on heartworm/flea prevention year round. This medication eliminates hookworms that could be potentially spread to humans in the household. It also kills fleas, which can be culprits in spreading cat scratch disease (cat scratch fever).

• Teach your children to wash their hands before eating, especially if they have recently handled their pet.

Lastly, don’t forget about Rabies. In Parker County, it is required by law that pets be vaccinated for Rabies once per year. Keep your veterinarian issued rabies tag on your pets collar and save the vaccine certificate in a safe spot.

Give me a call if you have any questions or need to get caught up on the above recommendations. Lucky Paws Housecalls can come out to your home or you can come see us this Saturday July 16th at Tractor Supply in Weatherford for our LOW COST CLINIC.
www.luckypawshousecalls.com

Thank you Rebecca Walker for sharing your insight and valuable knowledge about caring for our pets and keeping our kids safe!