December 2008
December 19, 2008
Here’s the scoop on pet poop!
What’s in Your Dog or Cat’s Poop Can Tell You a lot! You can learn much about your pets health from their poop! Intestinal Parasites. This article will be the first in a series.
Part One:
Intestinal parasites (including worms among other organisms) are a fact of life for animals even starting from birth. Some parasites are transferred directly from the mother to puppies or kittens. Others are acquired later because of contaminated environment or exposure to other animals (domestic and/or wild). Pets of all ages can be potentially infected. Nearly all puppies and kittens are infected with roundworms and/or hookworms. Adults can acquire these worms and whipworms as well.
Pregnancy hormones trigger migration of worm larvae in a female dog’s or cat’s body.
Roundworms are acquired from a mother before birth because larvae can migrate through the
placenta. After birth, puppies and kittens become infected when nursing because larvae migrate to the
Mammary glands and enter the milk. Worms reproduce and shed eggs in the stool (poop, feces). They become infective within a few weeks and can remain infective in the soil for YEARS. Secondary hosts, like rodents, can ingest eggs and infect their predators such as dogs and cats when eaten. Also, eggs can be ingested from soil or vegetation that is contaminated by feces. There are four types of roundworms. Their larvae migrate through body tissues causing damage to lungs, liver and intestines. The adults can be vomited up or expelled in stool. They look like coiled strands of spaghetti and are easy to see.
Hookworms are tiny in comparison to roundworms. They are less than one inch long. There
are several routes of infection. Larvae hatch out of eggs deposited on the ground in the stool in less
than one week. Infective larvae are ingested from contaminated soil or vegetation or through secondary hosts (small mammals). Alternatively, these larvae can penetrate animal or HUMAN skin and migrate through tissues causing damage. Adults reproduce in the intestinal tract and shed eggs within three weeks. Hookworms are bloodsuckers in the intestinal tract. They can cause significant blood loss in kittens, puppies and toy breeds.
The dog whipworm is another small worm that infects the cecum(like our appendix) and large
intestine and it feeds on blood. The eggs can live in the soil(even in cold climate) for YEARS. Pets can be
easily re-infected for this reason. Cats are rarely infected with whipworms. Unlike roundworms and
hookworms, whipworms have along pre-patent period( time from infection to shedding eggs in the
stool) of three months(vs. about 3 weeks for the other two worms). Immature whipworms can
survive dewormers which usually work against adults. Often whipworm infections do not show
symptoms. When they do, there is diarrhea, bloody stool, mucus, weight loss, and/or anemia.
Whipworm infection can be the hardest to diagnose on a fecal exam(looking at a slide with a
microscope) because eggs are infrequently shed. Also low numbers of eggs are shed. This commonly
leads to false negative fecal exams. The last main family of worms is the tapeworms. They have flat, tape-like bodies. They live is small intestines of hosts. Tapeworms consist of segments that are egg packets full of a lot of eggs. These segments are shed in stool, and then new ones are formed to replace the old. The most common tapeworm develops as larvae in fleas. When dogs and cats groom the fleas off of themselves and eat them, they become infected with the tapeworms. Therefore, if a pet has fleas, it is extremely likely to have tapeworms.
Tapeworms are often SEEN by owners. They look like white, rice shaped worms around the
anus or on the feces and can be found moving. Most adult tapeworm infections do not cause major
health problems unlike the other worms listed above. However, since it is a very visible parasite to
owners, it is perceived as more of a major threat. One of the major signs is itching around the anus
which a pet tries to relieve by scooting on the ground( sitting and dragging its bottom). A fecal exam consists of looking at stool with the naked eyes to check for blood, mucus, color of the stool, consistency, foreign objects (pieces of toys, plastic, fibers, or bone fragments) that have been
eaten. This gives clues to the veterinarian who often needs to be a detective to determine what has
been eaten. A microscopic exam then needs to be performed. This can be done directly from a smear
that has been wetted down on a glass slide or after a flotation in special solutions. Most worm eggs will float in this solution, but the tapeworms are an exception to this and will not be seen under the microscope. Their eggs (packets) are relatively heavy and sink in the flotation solution. A microscopic exam checks for oval (eggs) and parasites (larval stages or one-celled organisms like Coccidia and Giardia) which float to the top of a test tube. This can be done in the veterinarian’s office or at an outside laboratory. Another test that laboratories can do is an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Antibody) test for expo-sure to Giardia( which is not a worm, but a one-celled parasite) which can affect dogs, cats, wildlife, and HUMANS. This can indicate previous or current exposure even if there are no organisms seen under the microscope. This parasite can be hard to find.
Next month, I will elaborate on Coccidia and Giardia, treatment and control of all of these parasites
above, and the zoonotic threats that they pose. Parasitic zoonoses are infections and diseases of
humans caused by parasites normally seen in animals.
Orange Roughy Italian Style
December 19, 2008
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp grated Romano cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powered
1/2 tsp salt
1 lb orange roughy fillets
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a medium baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
In a shallow bowl, mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic powder and salt.
Brush both sides of orange roughy fillets with butter and dredge in the bread crumb mixture. Arrange fillets in a single layer in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with parsley
Bake in preheated oven 10 to 15 min, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.
After a meal like this there really isn’t room for a heavy drink. This drink is very light and is a great compliment with fish. It’s called Minty Bubbles. Pour yourself a glass champagne ? full, let the bubbles settle and add a splash of white crème de menthe. Stir quickly and enjoy.
Tasty Tips from Tina - December 2008
December 19, 2008
The holidays are upon us. How do I know that? My neighbor and I made our yearly trip to Delallo’s Italian Marketplace in my hometown of Jeannette, PA. Delallo’s is to Italian food what FAO Schwartz is to toys. The first thing that grabs you when you walk in is the aroma. There is nothing that can trigger a memory more vividly than a smell. Once you wipe the tear from your eye you get past the registers and gaze upon yard after yard of every Italian cheese and meat imaginable. The place is organized chaos. There are at least a 15 people behind the counter slicing, chopping and sampling while chatting with the customers, answering all of their questions about the huge variety they have. If you can tear yourself away from the meat and cheese counter, past the 25 different homemade breads, some of them the size of a small watermelons, you run into the bakery. It’s not your American bakery with chocolate chip and sugar cookies.
This bakery has real Italians making real biscotti, pizzelles and tiramisu. As fabulous as all this is, I was on a mission. I was there for a special fish called baccala. Baccala is a dried cod fish that starts out as hard as a table top and after 3 to 5 days of soaking in cold water reconstitutes to a beautiful white filet. This is the corner stone of my Italian Christmas Eve feast or as Grandma called it, la vigilia [the vigil]. The Italians celebrate this feast with seven fishes. The significance of the number seven has said to be the number of days for Creation, the number of days in the week or the number of Catholic Sacraments. Growing up, the extended family got together at Grandma and Pap’s house. We had baccala of course, smelts which are tiny little fish, anchovies with linguine, fried calamari, another cod fish, clams and tuna. There was a ton of food which was a good thing because there was a ton of people. The house was small and the volume was loud. Sometimes stereotypes have a hint of truth to them. We could have been a scene off of the Sopranos. But what I wouldn’t give to walk into that kitchen and see my mom and Grandmother arguing over how much salt goes into the batter. The years have passed and so have many of the people who gave me a sense of tradition and heritage. I still honor la vigilia on Christmas Eve. For me it’s a bittersweet day. I get melancholy for the people who have passed through my life that I dearly miss but it’s also a day I treasure. My family looks forward to that night. They look forward to the “special food” they only get once a year. More importantly they enjoy the bonding and laughter that is shared with stories of past Christmases. I hope one day they too will celebrate la vigilia with their families and create their own memories.
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