Health Education Is An Important Part Of Pet Ownership

By Nancy K. Crevier

Dr J. Chris Mixon is the father of two young girls, but he is also a veterinarian. It gives the owner of Newtown Animal Medical Center on South Main Street multiple reasons to be concerned about the number of zoonoses that can affect people, and the lack of education that could lead to serious illnesses, especially among children.

Infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans, zoonoses, can cause illnesses that range from intestinal distress caused by the parasitic protozoa Giardia, to blindness from a roundworm infestation, to death in the case of undiagnosed and untreated rabies.

Lyme and other tick-borne diseases can be debilitating and the symptoms may carry over for years in some cases. Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, horses, rats, and goats are among the many domesticated animals that can harbor diseases. If a pet owner is not on top of preventative measures, zoonoses can create havoc. To Dr Mixon and other veterinarians, educating pet owners before anyone gets ill is a priority. Part of educating clients is finding out their risk, according to Dr Mixon, and that means finding out what pets and wildlife a family is in contact with, what precautions the family takes to stay healthy, how healthy family members are, and what the pet environment is like.

“You could very well be harboring roundworms if you are a dog owner,” said Dr Mixon. It is probably the most common parasite transmitted from cats or dogs to their owners, but in a healthy adult it often goes unnoticed. Roundworm burrows through the skin and into organs. Because it is species specific, though, meaning it only reproduces in the intestine of dogs and cats, the thin spaghetti-like worm cannot reproduce in the human intestine and eventually passes through without problem.

Children, however, said Dr Mixon, are more at risk for complications from roundworm and are more likely to contract roundworm than are adults. Roundworm is transmitted through infected feces. If the feces of an infected animal are left on the ground, the soil can become infested with parasites. One roundworm adult in the intestine of a dog sheds 300,000 eggs a day if left untreated, said Dr Mixon. “Children play outside in yards and in the soil and are more apt than adults to have their fingers in their mouths,” he said. If the roundworm burrows into the eye, retinal detachment and blindness can occur. “[Roundworm] is a cause of blindness in children,” he said.

Not nearly as prevalent, but still a hazard to outdoor loving adults or children, are hookworms, tapeworms, and whipworms, all spread through contaminated pet feces, and again, most likely to be picked up by children.

Ringworm is another contagious disease that can spread from animal to human handler, but it is actually not a worm at all, explained Dr Mixon. “Ringworm is a fungus that grows on cats, dogs, and people,” he said. Contact with an infected animal can lead to the ring-shaped, itchy patch on the skin or scalp. Like sarcoptic mange, the tiny mite that causes itchy skin and rashes, and a scraggly appearance, the fungus is not terribly common in Newtown, said the veterinarian, but he has treated cases of animals rescued from unsanitary conditions with both of these conditions.

Tick-Borne Diseases

What most people in this part of Connecticut worry about, and with good reason, Dr Mixon said, are tick-borne diseases like Lyme and ehrlichiosis. However, he said, “Everyone wants to make sure they are protecting their pets against ticks, but very few are concerned about parasite infection. Lyme is the biggest problem here and the most known, so people forget about other diseases.”

He estimates that 75 percent of new clients are undereducated about zoonoses, and asked, “Who falls into the category of being the educator? Parents? Pediatricians? Veterinarians?” It is not common, he believes, for family doctors to ask a family about pet ownership and how that is handled, or if a family’s lifestyle takes them into the wilderness where other animal to human infectious diseases might be contracted. Many pediatricians never ask parents if they even own a dog or cat, said Dr Mixon. The bulk of educating pet owners seems to fall on veterinarians, said Dr Mixon, and while he would prefer that families and family doctors share that role, veterinarians are willing to fill in the gaps in education.

Families and their pets that spend a lot of time in the great outdoors are susceptible to other zoonoses. Hunting dogs or dogs that drink from standing water or rivers can be infected with the leptosporosis bacteria, which untreated can lead to liver or kidney damage. Humans who do not treat water collected in the wild before cooking with it or drinking it may also get leptosporosis. “If an infected wild animal defecates upstream, that bacteria washes downstream and anyone or any animal that then ingests it is going to get sick,” Dr Mixon said. Giardia, a parasitic protozoon that causes severe stomach cramping and diarrhea, is also found in contaminated water sources. Families who love the outdoors must be sure to treat pond or river water with iodine tablets or by boiling the water before using it. Pets should never be allowed to drink from standing water.

Toxoplasmosis is a parasite that causes flulike symptoms in otherwise healthy adults. It can cause birth defects, though, in the unborn child, so pregnant women who own cats must be cautious. “Toxoplasmosis is contracted from cat feces. Cats get it from eating mice. I usually suggest that pregnant women let their husbands change the litter box, but there is no need to get rid of the cat.” If the litter box is cleaned every day, the chances of getting toxoplasmosis are slim, he said. A pregnant woman is as likely to get this illness from eating undercooked meat as from a cat, he said. “Toxoplasmosis is stored in the muscle of many animals — like cows — so it is advisable to eat only well-cooked meat during pregnancy.”

Prevention is the best way to avoid any zoonoses, said Dr Mixon. “The people who are most at risk are children and people with compromised immune systems. Others at risk are people who don’t go to a vet regularly and get their cat or dog dewormed, and get them on a deworming protocol,” he said.

Even the most conscientious pet owners are often unaware that the heartworm tablets they give to their pets are protecting the animals against roundworm and other parasites, as well, that pose a much higher danger to pets and pet owners than the rare occurrence of heartworm in this area. Because of the four- to six-week life cycle of the roundworm, for instance, said Dr Mixon, it is essential that a pet be dewormed every 30 days, and he recommends a yearly broad-spectrum dewormer, as well. “People skip a month or two of the heartworm medication, or stop it during the cold months because they feel there is no need to worry about mosquitoes passing on heartworm during that time. But dogs, especially, that are allowed to run around outdoors, are still likely to pick up parasites. It does not get cold enough, long enough, here [in Connecticut] for the roundworms in the soil to be killed off,” he said.

Keep It Clean

Two simple ways to keep kids and pets free of parasites, said Dr Mixon, is for cat owners to clean the litter box daily and owners of outdoor pets to keep the yard free of feces. “Always dispose of cat or dog feces. Do not let feces get ‘rained into’ the soil. The eggs will survive in the soil for several years and the yard can’t be treated once they are in the soil,” he cautioned. Also, by giving heartworm medications on a year around basis, parasite infestations can be avoided, said Dr Mixon, as most heartworm medications contain parasite preventatives. Because of the 30 to 40 day roundworm cycle, for instance, he said, skipping a month or two of medication can put a pet — and family — at risk of parasite diseases.

Vaccinations can protect pets and people from transmittable diseases, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rabies is a “viral disease of mammals most often transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal. The vast majority of rabies cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, and foxes. Domestic animals account for less than 10 percent of the reported rabies cases, with cats, cattle, and dogs most often reported rabid.”

In Newtown, said town health director Donna Culbert, she has seen only a few positive cases of wild animal specimens, and never a human case of rabies. “People have had prophylactic treatment for rabies, though, in cases when they have come in contact with what they believe could be rabies,” she said. Generally, it is when a family pet unknowingly tangles with a rabid raccoon or bat and the homeowner then handles the pet. Rabies, she explained, is transmitted via saliva, so any contaminated saliva on a pet’s fur could carry a hazard for the owner.

Connecticut law requires dog, cat, and ferret owners to vaccinate for rabies every three years.

The animal to human transmission Ms Culbert most worries about in Newtown is that of pets passing on Lyme-infected ticks. A recent survey conducted by the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance found that ticks collected at specific sites in town tested between 65 and 75 percent positive for Lyme. “To me, this tells me that you should anticipate that you are going to have positive ticks anywhere in Newtown where there is woods, shade, or leaf litter that ticks love to hide in. Anywhere you have mice, chipmunks, or rodents, you will have ticks. I wouldn’t say that it is 100 percent, but of the ticks brought in to the health department, 25 to 30 percent of them test positive, and that’s not across the board. That’s just the few that we see,” said Ms Culbert. Keeping pets tick free is an essential piece of keeping pet owners tick and disease free.

Newtown residents should not be complacent about tick prevention, said Ms Culbert. “If you’re outdoors, use protective clothing, use repellent, do a tick check — year around. The one day you don’t check is the day that tick is taking a blood meal from you,” she warned.

In educating clients about zoonoses, Dr Mixon does not mean to alarm pet owners or suggest that they are in imminent danger. Common sense, good hygiene practices, and periodic and regular veterinary care can eliminate nearly all threats of illness, he said.

 “The most important thing to know,” said Dr Mixon, “is that [zoonosis] is a lot more common than people think, and they are by far not getting enough information on the subject.”