Intestinal Parasites in Dogs and Cats (Part 2)

In the last article about intestinal parasites, we talked about two of the most common intestinal worms; roundworms and hookworms. We also talked about the importance of a doing a fecal sample once or twice a year to look for worm eggs. This time, we’ll look at four other common intestinal parasites. Just to review, roundworms live inside the intestine, but don’t attach to the intestinal wall. These worms feed on the nutrients that the pet eats. Puppies are often born with roundworms, and can lose weight with a worm infection because the worms compete for nutrients. Hookworms on the other hand, burrow into the intestinal wall and suck out blood and protein. Like roundworms, these worms only tend to be a problem in puppies.

Everyone has heard of tapeworms. Dogs and cats can get tapeworms too. The most common tapeworm is called Dipylidium caninum, or the ‘flea tapeworm’.

Designer Dog Breeds

Over the last decade or so there has been a lot of commotion about “designer breeds”. Goldie-poos (Golden retriever x Standard Poodle), Shi-poos (Shi tzu x Miniature Poodle), and Jugs (Jack Russel terrier x Pug) are some of the more commonly seen breed combinations. These cross-bred dogs (as we will refer to them in this article) have been advertised as having various desirable physical and personality traits. The claims run from non-shedding to “the best qualities from both breeds”. There has been a lot of attention, both praising and critical, given to these cross-bred dogs. We will try to distinguish myth from truth in this article.

Fixing Broken Bones with Bone Plates

Fractures (AKA broken bones) are common in pets and can be caused by a variety of reasons. Old animals can get ‘pathological’ fractures, which happen from osteoporosis causing the bone to weaken, the same way this happens to many elderly people who are deficient in calcium and/or vitamin D. On the other hand, young animals can break bones from jumping off places that cause too high an impact on their fragile bones. Accidents also happen, and many animals are hit by cars.

Bone plates are one of the strongest and most effective methods of fixing a fracture.

Overfeeding Fish

Overfeeding is the number one cause of fish loss, and it’s not hard to see why. It is easy to forget how small our pet fish really are, and the fact that their appetites are not the same as ours. …

Eyes – Dog eyes – Cat eyes

When the veterinarian looks into your pet’s eyes, he or she isn’t just checking the animal’s vision. The eyes are the perfect window into your furry friend’s state of health, and can reveal medical problems in addition to compromised vision.…

Von Willebrand disease in dogs – Pet tip 138

You may be familiar with the human inherited blood disorder Hemophilia A, in which affected individuals suffer from prolonged, spontaneous bleeding due to a missing clotting factor in their blood. What you may not know, is that a very similar …

Issue 6: May 2003

Welcome to our sixth issue of the pets.ca newsletter. We would like to welcome Petcare pet insurance as the featured sponsor this month. Their pet insurance plans will give you peace of mind if ever your cat or dog should …

Summer/Fall Issue: 2004

Featured Pet Tip – Dog drank antifreeze cat drank antifreeze

Antifreeze is a coolant used in cars that is deadly to cats and dogs even in small doses. Dogs especially like the taste of antifreeze because it is somewhat sweet. …

Vomit – Cat Vomiting – Dog Vomiting

When should you be concerned about a dog that vomits? You should be concerned if a). there has been any known exposure to toxins, garbage, perhaps a bone, plants, antifreeze, drugs etc. If there is repeated vomiting and retching, perhaps …

Tip – 27 – Cat scratching – cat scratching posts

Although many humans don’t appreciate this behaviour, kittens and cats don’t scratch to make us angry, they NEED to scratch. Scratching is a natural hardwired behaviour in cats (just like breathing or purring) and they do it for a several …