Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Can Fencing Your Dog Can Protect Him From Parasites?

By Moses Wright

Fencing your dog can protect him from parasites. Fencing your dog can prevent many dangers including car accidents and eating toxic substances in garbage. Though a fence can help keep a dog safe, fencing will not protect the dog from all parasites.

A dog that is not fenced may be at greater risk for hookworms if the dog goes to an area where a dog with hookworms has defecated. The hookworms could be present in the feces or ground around the feces. Hookworms can burrow through the skin of a dog to infect the dog.

If a dog comes in contact with feces contaminated with threadworms, the threadworms can burrow through the skin. Infected dogs and other carnivores can pass threadworms through their feces. A dog fence protects the dog from being near feces from infected dogs, cats, or wildlife.

Gnathostoma is a potentially dangerous parasite that can infect a dog that eats an animal infected with gnathostoma. The gnathostoma burrows through the dog's stomach, travels around the dog's body causing damage before returning to the stomach. Since a dog fence keeps the dog isolated from most other animals, this is another parasitic infection reduced by fencing.

Like the gnathostoma, the spirocerca lupi is acquired by eating an infected animal. Spiocerca lupi lives in the dog's stomach after being ingested. Spirocerca lupi can cause damage to blood vessels and cancer of the esophagus.

When a dog is outside, the dog is at risk for certain parasites whether the dog is fenced or not. Mosquitoes obviously cannot be stopped by fences, but a mosquito bite is the common cause for heartworms.

Though fleas and ticks may live in a fenced area, the risk of fleas and ticks can be greatly reduced by a fence which keeps the wildlife and other dogs out that may carry ticks and fleas. Some dog owners also spray outdoor areas for ticks and fleas which can further reduce the risk of ticks and fleas especially if there is a fence to keep out animals.

Another parasite that cannot be prevented by a dog's fence is cuterebra. The cuterebra eggs may be found on rocks or in soil and may be ingested during grooming if they get on the dog's fur. The skin of the dog may be penetrated by cuterebra larvae.

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