Hvad Er Dit Kæledyrs Afføringstest Til, Alligevel?

2024 Forfatter: Daisy Haig | [email protected]. Sidst ændret: 2023-12-17 03:07

Så hvad er den pinlige caca-test til, alligevel?

Det er stressende nok at få dit kæledyrs bagside krænket af en plastikstang, ikke? Så hvad er pointen?

Du siger: Hvis målet er at gøre mit kæledyr sundere og parasitfrit, så stoler jeg på din dom, men jeg må sige, afføringskontrol er en slags grusom og usædvanlig form for straf. Jeg får ikke den slags ydmygelse, før jeg er mand og fyrre, ikke? Og fækal er ikke så nyttigt, ikke?

Jeg siger: For det første behøver du ikke have dit kæledyr til at bukke under for den ubehagelige stang. En frisk prøve opnås normalt let om morgenen (eller eftermiddagen) før dit årlige besøg eller når som helst dit kæledyr lider af gastrointestinale symptomer. Det er virkelig ikke så hårdt. Og hvis timingen ikke er nøjagtigt korrekt (afføring bør ikke være ældre end en time for at opnå de bedste resultater), vil dit dyrlægehus helt sikkert ikke nægte dig retten til at medbringe en super frisk prøve, når det passer dig. Løfte.

Og ja, fækal undersøgelser, selvom de er relativt billige og rutinemæssige, er uundværlige. Men som dette indlæg vil demonstrere, er det også sandt, at ikke alle fækale tests opfanger en parasitinfektion hos dine kæledyr. Derfor kan det være nødvendigt med årlige og / eller serielle fækale undersøgelser.

Nu til det primære mål for testen:

Dyrlæger er altid på udkig efter parasitter, der kan finde vej ind i dit kæledyrs mave-tarmkanaler. Visst, vi mennesker kan også få parasitter, men vores moderne livsstil har tendens til at være mindre befordrende for parasitinfektion. (Hvornår gik du sidst i snus i haven, læber til jorden, bare så du kunne inhalere en kattekat eller to?)

Ja, kæledyr får masser af parasitter. Her er et udsnit af de mest almindelige gastrointestinale parasitter, jeg ser her [i parasithimmelen, der er semitropisk Sydflorida]:

Rundorm hos hunde og katte.

Hageorm i kæledyr

Piskeorme hos kæledyr

Giardia hos kæledyr

Leverfluk hos kæledyr

Leverfluk hos kæledyr

coccidia in pets

i’ll not go into the gory details on each but you can click on the links and check out the info for a better understanding of how these parasites can potentially affect your pets and even your human family.

sure, pet-popular parasites don’t often infect humans in the so-called, “developed” nations all of you reading this likely live in, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. roundworms and hookworms are still a factor in humans in the us, as is giardia, which will give you the nastiest case of diarrhea you can imagine short of amoebic dysentery.

since veterinarians are also on the front lines when it comes to public health, consider that fecal exams are not just necessary for healthy pets, they’re essential for healthy humans, too, more so if your family members are very young children, very old adults or otherwise immunocompromised (transplant patients, hiv-positive humans, chemo recipients, etc.).

how do we identify these critters in the fecal exam?

the short answer: with a microscope.

the long answer: we take a tiny sample of your pet’s stool (very fresh is always best). a few grams is enough (think an eighth of a teaspoon if that’s easier). then we put it through one of three processes.

1. the smear: we take about a half gram of stool and smear it onto a microscope slide to search for parasites (and bacteria) directly. many times we’ll see them swimming about. finding evidence of parasites in a simple smear is often indicative of severe infection.

2. the float: this method relies on mixing the stool with a special solution. it filters out the big pieces of stool in a tube or other cylindrical vessel and allows the eggs and other small critters to float up to the top, buoyed by the solution’s specific gravity. a microscope slide’s cover slip is typically used to recover the floaters. some parasites, however, aren’t amenable to flotation. eggs seem to do best through this method.

3. centrifugation: spinning the heck out of stool in a centrifuge when it’s mixed in a sugar solution picks up about 50% more parasite eggs and oocysts than through flotation. therefore, i like this method best for worm eggs, giardia, and coccidia––though i’d never go without a smear. problem is, most hospitals don’t yet use this method. it’s more expensive than others and research demonstrating it’s much greater efficacy is fairly recent.

so now you know the truth: not all fecal exams are created equal. not only does this test rely on careful selection of materials and methods, it also requires a trained eye. in our practice, for example, one of our techs detects parasites about 50% more often than the veterinarians and other techs/assistants. (that’s why we also do floats so that she can check them all at her convenience when she comes back from her day off.)

it’s also true that even a parasite-infected animal will often not come up positive on a fecal test. human error and equipment choice are factors, but so is the parasite itself. sometimes they do not make themselves known in the stool. worms sometimes aren’t shedding their eggs and subclinical (low-grade or smoldering) infections may not reveal much, either.

again, that’s why it’s important to perform this test as often as is reasonable. for all dogs and cats at least three times during the first few months of life. i want to see at least two negative tests in a row, a month apart, before i’ll feel comfortable that my patient is parasite-free.

for adults, once a year is great––that is, unless they show gastrointestinal illnesses. in this case, serial fecal tests make sense––or at least one every time the symptoms recur until a definitive diagnosis is made (whether it’s parasites or something else).

ultimately, fecal tests are a critical component of our veterinary hat of tricks. doing without may seem like the economically wisest thing in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms, but consider: parasites can wear pets down in ways you might not expect. and it’s never wrong to be too safe in the presence of diseases that may also affect your family. ‘nuff said.