The How to's of Keeping your Cat Worm Free

Let’s first start with how the indoor cat can get worms. Well, the most common way an indoor cat can get worms is by fleas jumping into your house from the outside. Fleas carry tape worm eggs in their lovely, little black bodies. Your cat grooms itself all day long, and will eat a flea or two here and there.

The cat obviously doesn’t go looking to flea graze off its own body, but ingests the fleas when trying to pick them of itself in the course of grooming. Or a cat will accidentally lap up a flea while licking its coat. The most classic sign of tape worm infestation is the appearance of small white tape worm segments around your cat’s back side or in its litter. As soon as you notice this you should contact your vet to receive strong tape worm medication that will eradicate the worm.

If you think that tape worm medication is poison, which I don’t know if it is or not as of this typing, you can also try herbal remedies. Garlic, black walnut hull and wormwood, are mentioned in many Internet sites as cleansing cat bodies of tape worms.

Do not use these unless you have done your own research first and have determined that it would be safe to administer to your cat. Scientific evidence of the effectiveness of these natural remedies may of course be hard to find, because it is very difficult to profit of off a naturally occurring substance.

The outdoor cat is exposed to a whole range of worms. They can get tape worms by coming in contact with the fecal matter of another cat. And this is extremely easy to do, a cat simply has to accidentally step in some, and then lick its paws to ingest some of the eggs of the tape worm. It is very easy for this to happen. That is why you should keep your cat away from areas inhabited by feral cats, because they will most likely have fleas which carry tapeworm eggs, and they will have tape worm larvae in their fecal matter.

Another way in which cats come in contact with worms is by eating other animals, like mice, shrews, squirrels, birds, and chipmunks. The roundworm for instance can be consumed by a cat when they eat the flesh of one of the aforementioned creatures.

Roundworms can be transmitted to humans from cats. So if you have children be sure to keep them away from any cat you suspect of being infected. And always keep your kids away from cat litter boxes. The roundworm is a very, very resilient creature infecting both flesh and intestines. They are not killed easily, thorough research needs to be done for the effective treatment of a cat when it is known to have a ringworm infestation.

If you trust your vet, then take their advice, and put your pet on a course of de-worming medication.

Cats in general can also get two other types of worms, hook worms and whip worms. These two types of worms are a bit rarer and more difficult to find with the naked eye. That is why you should always have a fecal sample from your cat examined.

The whip worm is a freak of nature, its eggs can survive freezing temperatures and remain in soil for many years. That is why you need to manage worms in your cats pro-actively. Worms have life cycles like no other creature, they infect flesh and intestines and can actually go dormant for long periods of time within the cat.

Some worms even awakening during pregnancy just to infect kittens. These are sophisticated parasites and should be taken seriously. Dispose of your cat waste properly so we can all keep worms away from our cats.

To read about how to properly protect your cat from serious illnesses visit this cat health insurance site to read about the most reliable cat insurance available.

Natural Ways To Help Keep Your Dog Flee Free

By Martha Hemblasit

The time has come to question the chemical cocktails that people pour onto their dogs and into their houses. For years, people have been talking about flee bombing their homes to eradicate the little black devils known as dog fleas. A flea bomb is an aerosolized canister that spews chemicals that should kill fleas. Should being the key word here. Fleas are very resilient, and have developed a resistance to some very potent concoctions.

Flea killing is a huge business. A company that sells you toxins to take out fleas really doesn't care if your house is flea free. All they care about is that your money hits the cash register so their retailers will buy more and more of their product. Flea bombing does not guarantee that your house will be rid of all its flee problems.

Especially if your house has egg laying fleas in all, or multiple rooms. Then you probably have a real problem, and then you probably think, well now I just need to buy more chemicals to treat more fleas. But again, there exists no guarantee of total flea destruction. Prevention is the key to the flea game, and it does not require the use of toxic, carcinogenic chemicals.

Fleas are in your house because they live near you and have access to your pets. The fact that your animal has fleas does not mean you are a bad owner. Flea infestation is a naturally occurring fact of pet ownership, and the animal kingdom. Attempting to control the problem with chemicals is not good for your pet, you, or your environment.

Other animals living around your dog will bring fleas to it, even if you are super careful, there is no way to control every animal that lives around your pet. You just can't do it. There are steps you can take, using natural products from the earth, that will help keep fleas at bay. What do you think people used to cut down on fleas before we had modern manipulations of chemicals? Did they just submit to all fleas, and die; I don't think so. They searched around for some leaves or branches or some other product of the earth to fight the nearly invincible little critters.

What did they find in their searches over all these centuries that helped to prevent flea infestation? Well many things that have nothing to do with modern chemical advances. The most interesting is actually the earth itself. Yes, that's right, the earth itself. Diatomaceous earth to be more precise.

Diatomaceous earth is actually earth that is composed of dead fossilized particles. These particles, when they come in contact with a flea, will dry the flea's skin out, causing it to dehydrate and die. Pretty interesting stuff. You can buy this product in various forms, make sure you find some that is ok for use on your pets.

So what other types of naturally occurring substances can help keep fleas away? Well, there is cedar, which fleas do not like. So you could find a cedar shampoo and use it on your dogs. Or you may be able to fill a dog bed with some cedar chips. Do not let your dog eat these chips though. Additionally, if you have a dog house, you can have it made out of cedar.

Or you could choose to get cedar floors in your house as opposed to carpet. Fleas will have quite a difficult time laying eggs on a cedar floor. And I haven't even begun to discuss the various plants that can be planted around your house to keep fleas away.



About the Author: More helpful information about natural ways to get rid of dog fleas And read about more natural cures for dogs



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Your Dog, Fleas, and Other Parasites

Your Dog, Fleas, and Other Parasites

Fleas and other parasites need to be given priority by the dog owners. The common incidences of flea bite allergy in case of dogs cause worries among the dog owners. Flea bite induces allergic reactions in the concerned area bitten by the fleas. Hence, the affected area looks like hairless area and the animal starts scratching.

Fleas cause severe dermatitis in dogs with severe flea infestations. Many times, the flea bite causes allergic reactions in the dogs. In many occasions, dogs experience severe discomforts due to these allergic reactions. Medicated collars are available to treat and prevent the infestation with external parasites like ticks or fleas.

Other parasites like ticks, lice in addition to the internal parasites like hook worms, round worms, whip worms etc. cause affections in the health status of the animal. For example, if hookworm affects the animal, most of the times, the dog has anemia. The anemic signs become more prominent depending on the degree of affection by the hookworm.

Hookworm larvae can pass directly through the skin and cause problems in the affected ones. Such dogs may reveal lesions pertaining to the dermatitis in the feet region and in the skin areas. Skin rashes may be seen frequently in such cases and the affected animal passes loose stool, which is of red tinged and mixed with blood material.

If the round worms are seen in more numbers, the affected puppies reveal a potbelly condition, which is easily recognized by the dog owners themselves. Piperazine salts are given by oral route for the treatment of this problem. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. are given to treat these conditions.

Many drugs have come in market to treat the fleas and other parasites. Nowadays, the medical agent called as ivermectin is highly preferred by many dog owners to treat the fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available in injection form and oral form. Even the drug is available for the external application also.

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

Fleas and Your Cat or Kitten

If your cat is allowed outside, chances are it’s going to bring fleas into your home. Most indoor cats will not have this problem.

Your first course of action should be to treat your yard. Bring in all pets and spray the yard with an insecticide to kill fleas, flea larvae and ticks. Next, you will need to treat your carpet and your furniture. Fleas will burrow into carpet as well as your seat cushions, slipcovers and bedding.

Begin by vacuuming your carpet and your furniture. Be sure to get all cracks, crevices and corners of the room. You will also want to use a powder, spray or fogger in your home as well. Powders are used on carpet and you simply shake and vacuum them back up. They can penetrate down into the matting to kill the fleas.

Sprays are short-term flea control. They kill adult fleas, but not the eggs. Foggers can be difficult to use because you have to leave your home for several hours and keep your pets out as well. You also have to be sure that they don’t get on food or appliances used to cook and prepare food.

After your home flea free, you will want to prevent any further infestations. Preventing is a lot easier than getting rid of fleas and you can begin by using these products:

Flea Baths & Dips: Flea baths use a medicated shampoo that is used to treat fleas. These are good for short-term, but they wear off quickly. Flea dips are more effective and last for several weeks. Flea dips should be a last resort as they often contain heavy chemicals.

Flea Powder and Spray Treatments: Flea powders and sprays are also a short-term defense. These treatments only affect adult fleas.

Flea Collars: Flea collars are also popular. These exude a gas that fleas do not like and is absorbed into the skin of the animal. They tend to only work in the vicinity of the neck.

Flea Medications: These are a pill that keeps eggs from hatching and reproducing on the cat. These do not kill adult fleas, but stop the reproduction process.

Absorbable Medications: This is a spot medication that is applied between the shoulder blades of the cat. They spread across their skin and kills fleas for about a month. They also halt the reproduction process.

Flea Combs: This is a good method to use on kittens and you don’t want to give her any unnecessary treatments. This is a fine comb that you use to pull the fleas off of the hair and then you have to kill the fleas by dousing them in soapy water.