2010 Volume 19 Issue 2 Pages 41-49
The prevalence of intestinal parasites in fresh feces of 270 private household dogs (1-6 months: 150 dogs, over 1 year: 120 dogs) and 216 cats (1-6 months: 112 cats, over 1 year: 104 cats) was evaluated using the ELISA for Giardia antigen and the formalin-ethyl acetate sedimentation technique for other parasites. The fecal samples were collected from 37 animal hospitals in 20 Prefectures of several regions in Japan. The prevalence of intestinal parasites in 1-6 months dogs (40.7 %, 61/150) was significantly higher than that of over 1 year dogs (5.8 %, 7/120) (P<0.001). Also, the prevalence of intestinal parasites in 1-6 months cats (22.3 %, 25/112) was significantly higher than that of over 1 year cats (3.8 %, 4/104) (P<0.001). Giardia was most frequently detected in both of 1-6 months dogs (33.3 %) and over 1 year dogs (2.5 %). In cats, Toxocara cati was most frequently detected in both of 1-6 months cats (15.2 %) and over 1 year cats (1.9 %). Giardia in dogs and T. cati in cats were detected in all of the regions. The results suggest that Giardia and T. cati are very common in private household dogs and cats, respectively, in Japan.
