What can put your dog at risk?
Being a newborn puppy. Roundworm eggs can form cysts in adult dogs that remain dormant. These eggs cannot be removed by medication. When a female dog is pregnant, these dormant eggs will activate and infect the puppies. The mother’s milk can also pass roundworms to puppies.
Contact with contaminated soil. Roundworm eggs and hookworm larvae can reside in soil. If your dog comes into contact with infected dirt, he may pick up infective worm eggs.
Fleas. Young tapeworms can reside in fleas. If your dog swallows fleas while grooming, your dog will ingest tapeworms and be infected.
Hunting or eating wildlife. Wild animals may carry worms, including tapeworms residing in fleas on wild animals. If your dog hunts or eats wildlife, he may contract worms.
How to Get Rid of Worms in Dogs
Here’s what to do if you suspect that your dog has any type of intestinal parasites.
If you think your dog might have worms, you should schedule an appointment with your regular veterinarian right away.
If left untreated, intestinal parasites can migrate to other organs in your dog’s body, including the heart, lungs, liver, eyes and brain, which could lead to worsening sickness and even death in the most severe cases.
How do I know if my dog has worms?
Coughing, diarrhea, vomiting and lethargy are the general signs the dog has worms. Other symptoms depend on the type of worm. For example, if your dog has a tapeworm, clear identifiers can be rapid weight loss or what appears to be grains of rice in their stool.
Heres how to tell if your dog has worms based on each of the major parasites:
Even if you pay close attention to the moods and actions of your pet, sometimes it can be difficult to tell if your dog has worms. But if you want to give your vet an idea of what is happening with your pet, these are some of the primary symptoms to watch for.
While all worms are dangerous to your pets health, experts generally agree that heartworms are the most troublesome. Since most dogs acquire heartworm through mosquito bites, a regular series of heartworm treatments are recommended to maintain your dogs health. Heartworms can grow and multiply in your dogs heart, causing lung and organ disease and death if left untreated. If you suspect heartworm, your knowledgeable, local veterinarian will perform a blood test to determine if your pet is ill. Note that youll need to test for heartworms before simply giving them medication, as dead worms in your dogs heart can cause major complications.
How to tell if your dog has worms
Worms (internal parasites) are very common in dogs but, fortunately, they are also very treatable. Most pet owners choose to treat their dogs with a dewormer regularly to avoid potential health issues, and as they are widely available without a prescription, this is easy to do.
