giardia

A Pet Owner’s Guide to Summer

Summer is a time of fun adventures + memories in the making! And who better to share the sunshine with than your best furry friend? Although summer means a lot of wonderful things, pet owners have a responsibility to make sure their pets are safe + healthy in the hotter months.
Pets are treated more frequently in summer due to their increased exposure to the outdoors. Heat related injuries, parasitic + infectious illnesses, + injuries caused by unsupervised fun are on the rise in the summer.

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Know Your Parasites

Parasites may be small, but these creatures can cause life-threatening illnesses and wreak havoc on your pet’s health. The most common pet parasites include fleas, ticks, ear mites, heartworms, intestinal worms (like roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms, and whipworms), and single-celled (protozoan) parasites like coccidia and giardia.

Read on for more info on what each parasite is, how they’re spread, symptoms, treatments and preventatives available, and how prevalent they are.

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Giardia

Giardia is a microscopic protozoan that lives in the intestinal tract of many animals worldwide. Unlike other common parasites, it is not considered a worm. Rather, it is a single-celled organism that can cause gastrointestinal upset (i.e. diarrhea and vomiting) in some animals.

Giardia is more common in areas that are densely populated with animals. This includes kennels, daycares, shelters, and large cities. Because of this, it is frequently diagnosed in animals that live in downtown Indianapolis.

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