Per A Què Serveix La Prova Fecal De La Vostra Mascota?

2024 Autora: Daisy Haig | [email protected]. Última modificació: 2023-12-17 03:06

Llavors, per a què serveix aquesta vergonyosa prova de caca?

És prou estressant com si la barra de plàstic infringeixi la part posterior de la vostra mascota, oi? Quin sentit té, doncs?

Vostè diu: si l'objectiu és fer que la meva mascota sigui més sana i lliure de paràsits, confiaré en el seu judici, però he de dir que els controls de femta són una mena de càstig cruel i inusual. No tinc cap mena d’humiliació fins que tinc quaranta anys, oi? I els fecals no són útils, oi?

Jo dic: per començar, no cal que la vostra mascota sucumbeixi a la canalla. Normalment s’obté una mostra fresca fàcilment el matí (o la tarda) abans de la visita anual o en qualsevol moment que la seva mascota tingui símptomes gastrointestinals. En realitat, no és tan dur. I si el moment no és exactament adequat (les femtes no haurien de tenir una hora superior als millors resultats), el vostre hospital veterinari segurament no us negarà el dret d’aportar una mostra super fresca a la vostra conveniència. Promesa.

I sí, els exàmens fecals, tot i que són relativament econòmics i rutinaris, són indispensables. Però, com demostrarà aquesta publicació, també és cert que no totes les proves fecals detectaran una infecció paràsita a les vostres mascotes. És per això que poden ser necessaris exàmens fecals anuals i / o serials.

Ara per a l'objectiu principal de la prova:

Els veterinaris sempre busquen paràsits que puguin entrar en el tracte gastrointestinal de les vostres mascotes. Per descomptat, els humans també podem obtenir paràsits, però els nostres estils de vida moderns solen ser menys propicis per a la infecció paràsita. (Quan va ser l'última vegada que va anar a fer el tabac al pati, amb els llavis cap a terra, només per poder inhalar un o dos gats de felí?)

Sí, les mascotes tenen molts paràsits. Aquí teniu un mostreig dels paràsits gastrointestinals més comuns que veig aquí [al cel del paràsit que és semi-tropical al sud de Florida]:

Cucs rodons en gossos i gats.

Hookworms en mascotes

Whipworms en mascotes

Giardia en mascotes

Resultats del fetge en mascotes

Resultats del fetge en mascotes

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.