Of course we all want to take care of our beloved pets but is it possible that parasites are endangering their lives? Although dogs and cats are generally considered to be rather disease free, they are both susceptible to parasites such as hook worms. Otherwise known as Dipylidium Caninum, the hook worm is a particularly nasty parasite that can and will shorten the life of your pet unless properly treated.
Parasites like the hook worm actually have teeth that they use to attach to the small intestine of your dog or cat (actually, these parasites are also a danger to humans too!). Now these are rather simple parasites with three basic body parts: the head, neck, and tail. Every hook worm has only one head and neck, but they may have several tail segments.
The tail segment is very important to parasites like the hook worm because this is how they breed. Every tail section has the reproductive organs for the hook worm. Sections of tail break off all the time and are passed with other solid waste (in the animals feces). Fleas, who lay their eggs in feces, eat the tail segments and are thus infected with hook worm.
The parasites are passed on to the animal when...