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Crickets sound great at night when things are quiet. Their chirping adds some ambiance to this time of the day. Their sound can be relaxing and calming when you hear crickets! But what happens if a dog eats a cricket?
Has your dog eaten a cricket? Are you worried the cricket will make your dog sick? If so, you’ve come to the right place. We understand it can be scary when your dog eats something like this.
We’ve put together information about crickets and whether they can make a dog sick. Let’s get started!
What is a Cricket?
A cricket is an insect that’s related to grasshoppers. These bugs have a cylindrical body, round heads, and long antennae. They also have six legs. These insects are found all over the world and are mainly nocturnal.
The sound you hear crickets make comes from the males of the species. They chirp to attract females for mating. They produce the sound by scraping their two hind legs together. Male crickets are capable of producing a very loud chirp in their hunt for a mate!
However, what happens if a dog eats a cricket? Can the cricket make a dog sick?
Crickets & Dogs
Some dogs love to hunt insects, including crickets. Canines are known for eating just about anything, including insects! Dogs have a natural instinct to chase, capture, and eat prey. What’s more, crickets add more fun to this game because they can jump so high and in unpredictable ways!
Fortunately, crickets are a great source of protein for humans and dogs! They have about 121 calories, 12.9 of protein, 75.8 mg of iron, and more. So, crickets can be a healthy snack for dogs.
However, crickets can carry a parasite called physaloptera larvae. Eating a cricket infected with this parasite can cause some digestive issues. And in some cases, the infected crickets may lead to bleeding ulcers, weight loss, anemia, tarry dark feces, and more.
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Ask a Vet Live NowSymptoms of Physaloptera Larvae in Dogs
It can take months for symptoms to develop, but your dog may show the following symptom if he’s eating crickets:
- Vomiting
This is the main symptom in dogs, and it can take a while for the vet to find what’s causing your dog to vomit. If they suspect that the Physaloptera parasite is causing the problem, the vet may conduct a gastroscopy procedure on your dog. An endoscope tube is inserted into your fur baby’s stomach. Even so, the worms are so small it can be challenging to find them.
The vet may treat your canine friend with medications such as fenbendazole, mebendazole, pyrantel pamoate, or ivermectin to treat this condition.
The good news is that with treatment, your dog should make a full recovery! And you may want to curb his habit of eating crickets through positive reinforcement training methods. That way, you may be able to avoid this problem again in the future!
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Tom
Tom has always loved to write since he was little - he wanted to be either a writer or a veterinary doctor, but he ended up being a professional writer while most of his works are based on animals. He was born in San Francisco but later moved to Texas to continue his job as a writer. He graduated from the University of San Francisco where he studied biotechnology. He is happily married and a soon to be father!
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