A zoonosis (zoh-oh-NOH-sis) is an infectious disease that people can catch from animals, and vice versa.  Regular veterinary visits, preventive vaccinations and medications, and good hygiene can help prevent them. 

Tapeworms have a flattened, ribbon-like appearance. 

Signs
Dogs & cats:  Anal discomfort and itching that often results in pets dragging their hind ends across the floor.
People:  Most are without symptoms, but diarrhea, abdominal pain and anal itching are possible.
How it's transmitted
Dogs & cats:  Ingesting infected fleas and tissue of infected animals like mice and rabbits.
People:  Ingesting infected fleas
People most at risk
*Children under 8 years old
How to prevent it
*Make sure all family pets receive strict monthly flea control

A zoonosis (zoh-oh-NOH-sis) is an infectious disease that people can catch from animals, and vice versa.  Regular veterinary visits, preventive vaccinations and medications, and good hygiene can help prevent them.

Hookworms are short (6-12 mm), thick worms that are whitish to reddish brown with a hooked front end.

Signs
Puppies & kittens:  Anemia and pale mucous membranes, failure to gain weight, poor hair coat, dehydration, and dark and tarry diarrhea.
Adult dogs & cats:  Usually few signs; often source of infection for puppies; can cause severe anemia, diarrhea, and weight loss in extreme cases.
People:  Red, itchy, serpentine lesions on the skin.
How it's transmitted
Puppies & kittens:  Crossing the placenta and through the mother's milk.
Dogs, cats & people:  Ingesting them in feces and from the worms penetrating the skin (often from infected soil).
People most at risk
Farmers, gardeners, landscapers, sunbathers lying on the sand, plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and children playing in potentially contaminated areas.
How to prevent it
*  Promptly remove animal feces from the yard
*  Cover children's sandboxes when not in use
*  Wear shoes and gloves while gardening
*  Wash hands thoroughly after playing outside or exposure to soil    especially dirt under the fingernails)
*  Deworm puppies and kittens every two weeks until they can receive a monthly preventive and control product
*  To help prevent ingestion of infected animals or feces, keep dogs on leashes or in fenced yards and keep cats indoors
*  Monitor children playing outside in sandboxes and parks
*  Administration of monthly heartworm preventative helps to control these parasites!

A zoonosis (zoh-oh-NOH-sis) is an infectious disease that people can catch from animals, and vice versa.  Regular veterinary visits, preventive vaccinations and medications, and good hygiene can help prevent them.

Roundworms are large (3 to 18 cm) worms that are usually tightly coiled when passed and look like spaghetti. 

Signs
Puppies & kittens:  Failure to gain weight, poor hair coat, pot-bellied appearance, puppies of 4 to 6 months of age may expel a large mass of worms in their vomit.
Adult dogs & cats:  Vomiting.
People:  Pneumonia-like symptoms, skin staining from damage to internal organs, and irritated retinas from damage to the eyes. 
How it's transmitted
Puppies & kittens:  Crossing through the placenta from the mother, and ingesting eggs in feces.
Adult dogs & cats:  Ingesting eggs in feces and in infected animals like rodents.
People:  Ingesting eggs through feces in soil or on pets and ingesting items contaminated with infected feces. 
People most at risk
CHILDREN!
How to prevent it
* Deworm puppies and kittens every two weeks until they can receive a monthly control product.
* Promptly treat infected pets to prevent shedding of eggs, which are hardy and long-lived.
* Promptly remove animal feces from the yard and litterbox.
* To help prevent ingestion of infected animals or feces, keep dogs on leashes or in fenced yards and keep cats indoors.
* Monitor children playing outside in sandboxes and parks.
* Administration of monthly heartworm preventative helps to control these parasites!! 

A zoonosis (zoh-oh-NOH-sis) is an infectious disease that people can catch from animals, and vice versa.  Regular veterinary visits, preventive vaccinations and medications, and good hygiene can help prevent them. 
Signs
Dogs, cats & people:  Fever, shifting leg lameness, swollen joints, lethargy, depression and anorexia
How it's transmitted
Dogs, cats & people:  From the bite of an infected deer tick
People most at risk
EVERYONE!!
How to prevent it
*Strict monthly tick control for all pets
*Avoid tick-infested areas
*Keep grass closely clipped to discourage tick populations & wildlife that often harbor ticks
*Consider vaccinating dogs exposed to infected ticks