When considering the health of our animals, we need to be concerned about parasites. Parasites are creatures from many parts of the animal kingdom and vary from many inches, to even a single cell!
Many of the parasites, inhabit the intestines(guts) of your pet, and some of them can be contagious to people(especially the very young, the elderly and those who are immune compromised). To your pets, they can cause serious illness and even death, if untreated.

When purchasing or adopting a pet, one of the most important parts of your visit to your veterinarian is to identify any parasites that can be identified and the doctor will likely deworm the animal, to ensure it's health.
During the youth of your animal, the doctor may recheck the stool(poop) or repeatedly deworm your new family member. Adult animals are much less likely to get infected, especially when they are on their normal prophylactic heartworm preventative(another article), but they need to be checked routinely. All animals that have vomiting and diarrhea, need to be rechecked, unless your doctor believe the situation does not warrant it.

The common internal parasites (those in the intestines) are: hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, coccidia and with some frequency giardia. Each of these creatures has it's own life path. Some can be transfered to the young animals while they are in the mom. Some get transfered while the little ones are nursing. Some more commonly get transfered in the stool, which gets on the feet. Hookworms can even penetrate the skin. You will NOT see these creatures.
These are contagious when they are not visible to the eye and must be identified under the microscope.

Hooks, rounds and giardia are contagious. You and your children can only be exposed when there is exposed stool, that is not removed. But, if it is not removed and the yard gets contaminated, the soil will have a parasite population that can be zoonotic(contagious across species...to people). Whipworms are not commonly and coccidia even more rarely contagious to people.

Since contamination creates a source for infection, it is just as common that children and animals get infected from the same source (other infected animals). This happens frequently in the park or even down the street. Sand boxes are commonly used by stray, feral and wild animals, as a litter box! Any area can be contaminated.

One last parasite, the tapeworm, IS visible to the naked eye. Each segment looks like a piece of rice. These are acquired by eating an infected flea. They are NOT contagious to people, even if they are ingested.
If you'd like to get a tapeworm, it might happen if you eat a flea. ;)

Please ask your veterinarian to check your animal for identifiable parasites.

Cindy Rigg DVM