De-worming For Adult Dogs and Puppies

What Causes Dogs To get Worms?
Worms in dogs are usually caused by the digestion of rotten or contaminated foods. Dogs also become infected with roundworms by eating eggs from contaminated soil or stool, or by eating infected rodents like rat and mice. Hookworms are contracted by ingestion of microscopic larval by mouth or from larval entry through skin, usually on the feet. Once these worms get hooked to the stomach, they will live and reproduce if not properly treated.

What are the different types of intestinal worms in dogs?  

1. Roundworm in dogs. There are two species of roundworm which can affect dogs; Toxocara Canis and Toxascaris Leonin.  These two species of roundworm basically carry out the same destruction on your dog. Both are long, white and spaghetti-like in appearance and takes away much needed nutrients from the infected dog. These roundworms are commonly spread in feces or during pregnancy or nursing. The Toxacara Canis is a burrower and will move from the intestine to the dog's lungs for further growth.

It then will move up into the airway where it is coughed up by the dog and then swallowed again. Then the cycle of this roundworm continues. This worm may cause serious illness in your dog or worst, your puppy.  When you feed your dog which is infected with roundworm, you are basically feeding the worm also because it interns feed off the food of it's host. This can lead to diarrhea in your puppy and other ailments which can be fatal to your pup. The Toxascaris leonina do not move around the body of the infected dog and have a far simple and shorter life cycle.

2. Hookworm in Dogs. Hookworms are short, blood sucking parasites with teeth. Sounds like a vampire if you ask me. An infected puppy left untreated will loose blood and nutrient on a rapid basis and eventually die. On of the bigger problems is that these hookworms don't stay put. They have similar life cycle patterns to it's cousin parasite, the roundworm Toxocara Canis.They will move about the body of the pup to the lungs to mature before re-entering the intestine.

3. Whip Worms in Dogs. Whip worms live in the large intestine and don’t extract as many nutrients as other types of worms. Unless the worms burrow into the intestinal tissue, they pose few problems and rarely cause symptoms. They do occur in the UK but aren’t common.

Tapeworm in Dogs. They live in the small intestine of the infected dog. Like any other parasite, they grab on to the host and begins to absorb nutrients digested by the animal.  They are long – half a foot or more in length – and flat in appearance. Unless the dog is extremely active, the parasite does not harm the pet, as there are plenty of nutrients to serve both host and tapeworm. When excreted, the worm normally splits into segments which look like small grains of rice.

Heartgard Plus is a heart worm preventive treatment that also controls and treats various other worm infections. It also treats hookworms and roundworms. Don't wait till it's too late.

Heartworms. Are spread to dogs through mosquito bites. Up to 14 inches long, a heartworm lives in the heart and the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs. Heart-worms affect how the heart functions and how blood clots and is likely to cause death if untreated. Monthly heart worm preventives are effective. If infected, your dog may cough, have trouble breathing, and experience other symptoms. Treatment may involve two or three injections of arsenic-based drugs, followed by at least a month of res

How Often Should You De-worm Your Puppy?
Well, one has to remember that puppies are born with worms and must be dewormed early. Puppies are much more vulnerable to worms and other illnesses due to low immune systems, they will need to be dewormed much more often than large or adult dogs. Waiting until 6-8 weeks of age to worm puppies and kittens allows them to spread worm eggs that will contaminate the soil and re-infect them. Puppies should be dewormed once every two to three weeks up to age 3 month.  After they pass the three month period, deworming should be slown down to to once per month until age of 6 month.

Sanitization for Homes From Zoonotic Infection
If the home has residents of immune compromised persons, small children or baby.  Pets must be dewormed according to schedule to prevent the spread of Zoonotic infection. Zoonotic infections are occur in pets and can be transmitted to people. A zoonotic disease is a disease spread between animals and people. Zoonotic diseases can be caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi. People with zoonotic infections can be very sick but for some people, they exhibit  no symptoms and do not ever get sick. Symptoms of a Zoonotic infection includes:

• Diarrhea
• muscle aches
• fever.
• Tiredness

Revolution is a multi parasitic preventative, which kills fleas, flea eggs, flea larvae, eliminates gastrointestinal worms and prevent heart-worms. It also controls tick and reduces the chances of the occurrence of tick borne diseases.

Symptoms of Worms in Dogs
These are the most common signs that your dog has worms.

1. Diarrhea
   
2. Pot Belly
   
3. Coughing
4. Low Energy
5. Weight Loss
6. Vomiting
   
7. Lost appetite
8. Dull Coat

Controlling worms in your pet's environment

Clean up feces immediately. Don't let dog poop fester in the ground and lay eggs in and under the dog's feces. Dogs will become reinfected with worm even after a deworm simply because these worm eggs are living in the dog's environment.  If you suspect that worms are living in the soil. Dig up and use hot water to pour in the area where you think worms are breeding.  Or use bleach to destroy the infected area.  Ensure that your puppy or adult dog is not prone to swarms of mosquito bites. Get a good deworming treatment and deworm your large dogs once every three months to prevent infections and reinfection.

Get the right worm protection: You can get the right worm protection for your dog to mitigate against becoming infected or simply getting rid of worms in dogs.