Parasite control in Canadian companion animal shelters and a cost-comparison of anthelmintics.
Animal shelters have limited resources and must accommodate large numbers of animals at unpredictable intake rates. These dogs and cats are often parasitized, which can adversely affect the health of animals and expose shelter workers and adoptive owners to zoonoses. We analyzed survey responses from rural (n = 32) and urban (n = 50) companion animal shelters across Canada, and compared the wholesale cost of commercially available anthelmintics to identify cost-effective methods of managing parasites within shelters. Almost all shelters employed nematocides (98% to 99%), but cestocides and ectoparasiticides were used less frequently. Shelters identified cost as an important consideration in choosing to perform fecal diagnostic testing and administer anthelmintics, and this motivated many shelters to selectively perform testing (66%) or never to test (32%), and to use drugs extralabel (80%).
Department of Veterinary Microbiology (Schurer, McKenzie, Bouchard, Jenkins), Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Dowling), University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.
Janna M
JM
Schurer
Department of Veterinary Microbiology (Schurer, McKenzie, Bouchard, Jenkins), Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Dowling), University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.
Christina
C
McKenzie
Department of Veterinary Microbiology (Schurer, McKenzie, Bouchard, Jenkins), Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Dowling), University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.
Patricia M
PM
Dowling
Department of Veterinary Microbiology (Schurer, McKenzie, Bouchard, Jenkins), Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Dowling), University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.
Emilie
E
Bouchard
Department of Veterinary Microbiology (Schurer, McKenzie, Bouchard, Jenkins), Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences (Dowling), University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5B4.
Emily J
EJ
Jenkins
D000818:Animals; D000977:Antiparasitic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D002415:Cats; D003625:Data Collection; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D006799:Housing, Animal; D010273:Parasitic Diseases, Animal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000977:Antiparasitic Agents