Internal parasites

The cats get the internal parasites from his environment. Especially, the cats of the exterior can consume them on having eaten infected preys, as small rodents, birds and beetles. The parasites live in the intestines and in other parts of the body of the cat and can produce symptoms of weakness, as abdominal pains, diarrhea, anemia and loss of weight. It is important to protect well the cat

against them. In order that the parasites do not propagate, it is suitable to throw always the dregs of the cat to the lavatory.

Worms. They are white and round, and being coiled and have up to 15 cm long. They are seen easily in the dregs of the cat that, sometimes, he vomits. In the cat they find two types: the toxocana cati, which is the most common and (much more strange) the leonine toxascaris. Since the larvae are present in the milk of the mother, almost all the kitties have worms of the first type when they have 3 or 4 weeks of age. Most of them infected are weaken, have diarrhea and the belly swells up. Between 3 weeks and 6 months of age, We should desparasite to all the kitties from time to time. Later, it is necessary to examine them and / or desparasite them every 6 months (cats of exterior) or every 12 (cats of interior), following the recommendations of the veterinarian. It is necessary to treat the females during the pregnancy and the lactation.

Cestodos or tape-worms. They are parasites with a flat and segmented body, which grows from a small sharp head lodged in the intestinal wall. The dipilidium, common in the cats, can get the measure of 50 cm. of length. As it is growing, there are becoming detached the last segments that go out across the anus. The segments are mobile and abundance of eggs go, but they dry off immediately and then they look like grains of rice; then, they burst, giving up the eggs around. The larva of flea eat these eggs, which form cysts. These remain latent until a cat eats an adult flea during the polishing and, later, the quistie transforms in an adult cestodo in the intestine of the animal. The only intermediate agent is the flea: there is no spread of cat to cat.

The solitary is a longer cestodo and thicker than the dipilidium and is acquired by infected prey, like mice and other rodents. If our cat is in the habit of walking hunting, he have to desparasite periodically. The preventive treatment against the parasites of the heart (dirofilaria inmitis) serves also for the tape-worm. It is necessary to give neither entrails nor crude meat to the cat.

Anquilostomas. They are intestinal parasites that are finding in in some places of USA and Australia; they acquired through the eggs that the cat lick from the floor or grass. The larva of the anquiostoma, can opened the way poking under the skin, especially of the legs, causing a strong irritation. The kitties become infected across the milk of the mother. If one lives in an infected zone, it is necessary to protect the cat of complete form.

Parasites of the heart. They are small worms parasites that live in the heart and affect more to the cats that the dogs. The cat acquires it with the larva of the worm and across the sting of an infected mosquito. They go in the circulation and mature in the heart., where they obstruct the blood current of the lungs and, finally, they produce a cardiac failure. The symptoms are a tiring breathing, loss of weight and accumulation of liquids in the abdomen. In the zones in which these parasite is endemic –among them, most of the USA and some zones of the Canada - the prevention is essential, in the way of a daily or monthly tablet.

Parasites of the lungs. They are nematodos of the family metastronglidea. They live in the lungs of the cat. In big concentrations, they provoke cough and respiratory diseases. Larva are transmitted by the dregs of the cat; the snail or the slug eat up them and, in turn, they are devoured by a bird or a rodent. Then, the cat consumes the larva in the hunted prey and the cycle is completed. It is necessary a complete desparasite realized by the veterinarian.

Toxoplasma. It is a minuscule parasite (a protozoo) that lives in the intestines of the cat. It uses as intermediate guests much mammals, included the man. The cat becomes infected eating animals of prey or crude meat infected, or by swallowing cysts present in the dregs of other cats. It is in the habit of presenting an acute diarrhea. To avoid the infection it is necessary to use disposable gloves on having handled the box of sand of the cat. You must throw the dregs daily, because the cysts of the toxoplasma that the cat spreads are not infectious in the first 24 hours. For the pregnant women it is a danger, because the toxoplasma can provoke abnormalities in the fetus of the baby.