The Scoop on Poop!

In a normal social environment most people try to steer clear of talking about bowel movements. In the veterinary profession though, we talk about it on a daily basis. There is good reason for this; in particular, intestinal parasites.

Most of us do not go around eating dirt or sniffing around outside, but unfortunately many of our pets do. This leaves them at a particular risk for picking up a number of different organisms. The main worry that we have is your pet being exposed to an intestinal parasite. The parasites that we see most commonly are roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms. These are particularly common in puppies or kittens, where they are passed from mother to puppy or kitten.

I have heard a number of people ask why they need to bring in a sample of their pet's poop. They don't see any worms or their pet isn't having digestive issues, so don't think their pet has a problem. While in some instances you can see actual worms come out when your pet is going to the bathroom, in most cases a pet is not showing any problems but is still harboring organisms in their intestines. This is why we ask that you bring in a poop sample every year, as many times your pet can look healthy, but still have a hidden problem with parasites.

The reason why it is important that we know whether your pet has worms is that over the long term these parasites can cause nutritional deficiencies and sickness, can be passed on to other pets, and more importantly can be spread to humans in the environment. When you bring a poop sample in, we perform a fecal floatation test. This test uses a liquid with a particular specific gravity that separates any parasite eggs from the poop. We then look at the sample microscopically to identify a particular parasite.

After we identify if there is a parasite problem, we can then determine the best treatment for the condition.

Over the course of the month, I will blog about specific intestinal parasites and what clinical signs you may notice in your pet and how we can go about preventing these problems or treating the problem if it is present.