Prevalence of Toxocara spp. and other intestinal parasites in dogs and cats

The prevalence of intestinal parasites was evaluated by fecal examination of 445 dogs and 105 cats from the Poznan area within one year (1997/1998), The most common parasitosis in dogs and cats was toxocarosis; Toxocara spp. eggs were detected in 140 dogs (31.5%) and 41 cats (39.1%). The highest prevalence of Toxocara spp, was found in dogs and cats up to the 3(rd) month of age. Some results and observations suggest that cats may play as important a role as dogs in soil contamination of Toxocara spp, eggs in the Poznan area environment. Additionally, in examined pets the eggs of Toxascaris leonina, Trichuris vulpis, Echinochasmus perfoliatus, some hookworms and tapeworms as well as oocysts of coccidia were detected.