What to Do if Your Dog Has Worms

[Updated Baronial 16, 2018]

Deworming agents are present in whatsoever number of prescription and over-the-counter treatments for dogs and puppies. If your dog shows signs of a gastrointestinal worm infestation, there are all sorts of products available that are made exclusively to rid dogs of various types of worms. But at that place are besides deworming agents included – whether they are needed or not – in many flea and tick treatments and in most heartworm preventive drugs; in fact, information technology'due south sometimes difficult to observe a minimalist flea treatment or heartworm preventive drug that does not contain dewormers. The question is, is this actually necessary? Are intestinal parasites that much of an ongoing threat to most dogs – and their owners?

Yes, many of the worms that tin can infect dogs are zoonotic – that is, they can infect humans, too. (Run into "Which Worms Can Infect You or Your Human Family?" on page 10.) Now that we have your full attention, permit'due south start with a description of the near mutual gastrointestinal parasites that can infect dogs.

Roundworms

Ascarids, more commonly known as roundworms, are the nigh frequently detected parasite in dogs. The most common species is Toxocara canis, probably considering it has the virtually strategies for infecting dogs of whatever of the internal parasites, and because the females are such prolific egg-layers (a single worm can lay 100,000 to 200,000 eggs in a twenty-four hours). Toxascaris leonina, another ascarid species, is establish less commonly.

Typically, roundworms live in the small intestine, though their larvae may drift and "encyst" – become walled off and inactive, sometimes for months or even years! Adult worms are commonly 3 to 4 inches long, although some T. canis roundworms can be up to 7 inches. Seen in cross-department, they are indeed circular and resemble thin spaghetti noodles. Occasionally, adult worms will be expelled in the carrion (and more rarely in vomit), just it's generally the eggs and larvae that are expelled and pose an infection threat to other canine hosts.

Roundworm eggs tin can exist in soil for years, making them a persistent threat. The parasite is found in every part of North America.

Roundworms can steal much of the beneficial content of what you feed to your dog, absorbing nutrients in the domestic dog'south small intestine and interfering with digestion. Dogs who host only a couple of roundworms may display no symptoms at all, but dogs (and specially puppies) who are more than heavily infested may be thin, with prominent shoulder, spinal, and hip bones framing their constitute, bloated bellies. Their coats are usually quite irksome and their energy levels are low and lethargic. They may suffer from diarrhea or constipation, gas, and/or vomiting. Very astringent infestations can really block the intestines and cause the death of their host.

Almost all of the anthelmintic (worm-killing) agents that treat roundworms are constructive against simply the adult worms living in the dog's digestive tract; encysted or migrating larvae won't be harmed by deworming preparations. This makes a skilful case for occasional treatment with an appropriate deworming agent.

Hookworms

At that place are actually three species of this nasty parasite commonly infecting dogs in Due north America: Ancylostoma caninum (canine hookworm), Ancylostoma braziliense (canine and feline hookworm), and Uncinaria stenocephala (Northern canine hookworm). They accept notably unlike geographical concentrations, nevertheless; A. braziliense is institute in the southeastern function of the U.Due south. in twice the prevalence it is institute elsewhere, and U. stenocephala is found more commonly in northern climates.

Despite their small size (adults are just 1/ii to three/4 of an inch long), hookworms are highly destructive parasites. Their name comes from a description of the mouth-parts they use to attach themselves to the wall of the dog's small intestine and feed on his blood. Their aggressive feeding habits can cause obvious evidence of disease in a fairly short time, including anemia and serious diarrhea.

Hookworms produce an anti-coagulant that prevents their feeding sites from clotting and healing, so their hosts lose more and more blood every bit the infection progresses. The chronic bleeding causes the severely infested domestic dog to produce black, tarry stools and grow weak. His coat will become crude. Puppies' growth will be stunted. Without handling, dogs with heavy infestations may become emaciated and die.

Hookworm eggs are expelled in the dog's feces, and develop into infectious larvae in two to 10 days. Hookworm larvae are extremely aggressive survivors; they can travel in whatever moist surround (rain-moisture or dewy vegetation) and swim in water.

This parasite also uses a variety of methods for entering its host. Dogs can become infected by ingesting larvae-contaminated food, water, vegetation, insects (including cockroaches!) or rodents; or by coming into skin contact with larvae (the larvae tin can couch through the pare and migrate through the dog's tissues). Puppies can become infected in utero (as larvae migrate through the mother'due south tissues into the developing fetuses) or through an infected mother'southward milk. Larvae that migrate through the dog's torso sometimes become encysted in muscles, fat, or other tissues and this can crusade pain and discomfort.

Hookworms pose a special diagnostic problem; infections are more often than not detected via exam of a fecal sample from the canis familiaris for the presence of worm eggs. Only hookworms tin can crusade serious illness in puppies earlier the worms are old plenty to produce whatever eggs. A diagnosis of hookworm infestation may take to be made from the observation of affliction, rather than a fecal exam.

Whipworms

Canine whipworms (Trichuris vulpis) are plant all over the world, and though their infections are much less likely to cause observable symptoms of ill wellness in a dog, a really severe infestation can cause bloody diarrhea and weight loss. They are not about as prolific reproducers as roundworms, with the adult females producing a much smaller number of eggs and much more than intermittently. All the same, these eggs are extremely resistant to dessication (beingness dried out), extremes in temperature, and ultraviolet radiation; they can remain viable in soil for years.

Dogs are infected by eating whipworm eggs that are present in feces or in soil, or on plants that came in contact with contaminated carrion. Larvae hatch from eggs in the pocket-sized intestine and move into the cecum (the first part of the dog's big intestine) as they mature into adult worms. The adults are rarely expelled into the canis familiaris's stool, and so the worms are seldom seen, making it more difficult to diagnose a whipworm infestation.

Adult whipworms are much smaller than roundworms, but about xi/2 to 3 inches long. The "head" finish of the worm is threadlike and thin and the tail terminate is thicker; so the sum effect is that of a long-lashed whip with a sturdy handle.

The adults consume blood, tissue fluids, and tissue from the cecum's mucosal epithelium; their feeding habits tin trigger inflammation in the cecum, resulting in the overproduction of abdominal mucus, which can be observed in the feces of their host.

Tapeworms

There are ii major types and at least 10 species of tapeworms that infect dogs in North America – so many that we won't bore yous with all the names of them. They are considered ubiquitous wherever there are flea-infested dogs, only their prevalence isn't calculated like the other abdominal parasites, because they tin can't be reliably detected (and their incidence quantified) through fecal examination or fecal floatation tests.

Developed tapeworms live in the domestic dog'due south pocket-sized intestine, where they hook onto the walls of the intestine. Unlike hookworms, however, they exercise not feed on the dog's blood; they absorb nutrients through their skins (robbing the dog of nutrients in its diet) like roundworms. They can exist 6 inches or longer, but few ever run across them in this long form, because they grow in "segments" that sally from the worm's "neck" area, with older and older segments being pushed toward the worm's tail. Each segment is about the size of a grain of rice and contains a complete set of organs, but as the segments mature, all simply the reproductive organs deteriorate. These older segments at the end of the worm eventually transform into a sac of eggs and then separate from the trunk of the worm; they and so are expelled from the canis familiaris in its feces.

While these worms cause the least harm to the canis familiaris of whatsoever of the parasites mentioned here, they often alarm dog owners the nearly, due to one elementary fact: about owners will be able to see (and exist horrified by) tapeworm segments that accept emerged from their infested canis familiaris. The segments oftentimes stick to the hair and skin around the dog's anus, and upon close examination, can be observed to be moving! Many a startled owner has called her veterinarian to report that her dog has "maggots" on its bottom, just to larn these are tapeworm segments.

Tapeworms can infect the dog in ane (weird) fashion simply: they require an intermediate host. Fleas are the usual intermediary, but lice can exist, too. Larval fleas (or larval lice) consume the eggs that emerge from tapeworm segments (remember that they are nothing but egg sacs by the time they are expelled from the dog), and the eggs start to develop into tapeworm larvae inside the developing flea or louse.

The tapeworm larvae uses the flea like a Trojan horse; it gets into the dog inside a flea! Dogs accidentally (or incidentally) eat fleas when they groom themselves (or chew themselves to salve an itchy flea seize with teeth). Long story curt: your dog can't get infected with tapeworms unless he's exposed to infected fleas.

Tapeworm eggs don't often show upward on a fecal flotation test, even if a dog is heavily infested with adult tapeworms, because the eggs generally stay contained in the segments until those egg sacs intermission open up, which may take days later the segments passed out of the dog and his feces. But the presence of a tapeworm segment on or around a domestic dog'southward anus is a articulate sign that he needs anthelmintic treatment.

Taking Activity

Now that you know the players, how do yous end the game?

30 years ago, the prevalence of these intestinal parasites was two to 3 times what information technology is today. In decades past, dogs were routinely dewormed only as puppies, or if they developed obvious signs of an infestation and their owners sought veterinarian attention. Today, with anthelmintic agents included in then many products that are administered for control of other parasites (such as flea, tick, and heartworm preventives), the overall incidence of intestinal worms is much lower in the overall population of North American dogs.

That said, many dogs originate from or are raised in circumstances where little veterinary intendance is given. Dogs who are rescued or purchased from crowded and/or neglectful homes, shelters, hoarders, or puppy mills volition about certainly exist infested with every known variety of abdominal parasite. Puppies who were born to dogs from those circumstances will too be infested and require several treatments to be rid of worms.

In that location are a lots of anthelmintic products bachelor to dogs owners; there are products that you can buy over the counter, and drugs that require a veterinarian prescription. At that place are products that are targeted to treat intestinal worms only, and combination products that likewise control external parasites and/or prevent heartworm. (For more information about heartworm prevention, come across "Sick at Heart," WDJ July 2011.)

What kind of treatment you lot use should depend on your domestic dog's age and wellness. Treatment will need to exist repeated at certain intervals, depending on the parasite. Most anthelmintics bear on only the adult phase of worms; repeated doses (unremarkably in most three weeks, and once again in 2 to 3 months) will be needed to eliminate whatsoever worms that were present in the canis familiaris in larval stages and unaffected by before treatments.

If specific abdominal parasites have been identified in your canis familiaris, it's wise to use agents that are specifically indicated for those worms, rather than relying on broad-spectrum treatments.

Every bit simply a few examples, milbemycin oxime and moxidectin are included in a number of heartworm preventive drugs, and are also credited with effectiveness against roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms; pyrantel pamoate (the "plus" in Heartgard Plus) is effective confronting roundworms and hookworms only. Simply we've heard of dogs who have routinely received these heartworm preventive drugs and still were diagnosed with astringent intestinal parasite infections.

There's also the issue of the canis familiaris getting reinfected, especially if your dog eats feces, frequents areas where the soil has been heavily contaminated (such every bit dog parks), and/or if your yard was previously contaminated past neglected dogs. Environmental decontamination can be difficult, and the eggs of some of these parasites can persist for months or even years in the ground. Regular fecal exams (and treatment) for dogs in these situations are recommended.

Natural Deworming Remedies?

People who strictly attach to "natural" dog-raising practices frequently eschew veterinary deworming agents in favor of traditional remedies such as wormwood (artemisia), blackness walnut hulls, ground pumpkin seeds, food-grade diatomaceous earth, and others. In the view of many experienced holistic veterinarian practitioners, however, some of these remedies plow out to exist more than toxic – more dangerous to dogs! – than conventional veterinary treatments. They may be ineffective as well, particularly if not-toxic doses are used.

And while it'southward true that a healthy dog, fed a superior diet and living in a make clean, salubrious environs, should have the benefit of a robust immune system response to assist combat parasitic invaders, parasites, also, are capable of beingness quite robust. In our opinion (and that of many holistic practitioners) counting on the unverifiable "strength" of your dog's allowed system to prevent intestinal parasites is asking for trouble.
The natural approach may seem to prevent worm infestations in good for you, well-cared-for developed dogs who were produced by well-cared-for mothers, only the truth is, the incidence of worms in that lucky (and minority) population is bound to be depression no matter what. Handling of existing infections and prevention of reinfections in vulnerable dogs and puppies should be undertaken by more reliable, conventional anthelmintic agents.

"Fecal Float" Tests

Almost intestinal parasite infestations are diagnosed by examining a fecal sample from the dog. Sometimes, adult worms (or in the example of tapeworms, worm segments) can be readily identified in the poop itself. More than frequently, however, veterinarians perform what is called a "fecal flotation" test. The carrion is mixed with a solution that causes any worm eggs nowadays in the sample to float to the top; sometimes, the mixture is likewise spun in a centrifuge, to concentrate any eggs present. A sample of the floating fabric is then examined under a microscope.

If any eggs of any intestinal parasites are present in the sample, they are readily identifiable in a microscopic view. However, a dog may be heavily infested with worms that are non however onetime enough to produce eggs (this is specially true in immature puppies), or the sample may have been taken on a day when the worms did not produce eggs. Some worms produce only small numbers of eggs and only infrequently. For these reasons, many veterinarians recommend periodic "fecal float" tests – more than frequently when a domestic dog is immature, and especially if the dog shows signs of a heavy worm burden upon physical exam (including a thin, pot-bellied body condition; poor coat; or persistent languor).

Which Parasites Can Infect Humans?

Roundworms: Humans tin can become infected by unwittingly ingesting infective eggs. Roundworm eggs can build up in the soil where infected dogs eliminate. Infection can effect if y'all get these microscopic eggs on your easily (say, by getting dirt on your easily in the procedure of doing yard work), and so eating something with your easily.

If you become infected with roundworm larvae, you lot can develop a condition called "visceral larva migrans" – severe inflammation acquired by the migration of the larvae through your tissues. Signs of this disease include an enlarged liver, intermittent fever, loss of weight and appetite, and a persistent cough. Asthma or pneumonia may too develop. "Ocular larva migrans" is a status caused by roundworm larvae migrating through a human's eye, causing partial or complete loss of vision.

Hookworms: Humans can much more easily become infected with hookworms than roundworms, due to the hookworm larvae's power to migrate through pare (such as blank feet or hands) into tissues. As with roundworms, the migration of hookworm larvae through homo tissue tin can cause a serious inflammatory condition known as cutaneous larva migrans.

Tapeworms: Humans tin can become infected by tapeworms, but it takes some doing; merely as with dogs, a human has to ingest a flea that is infected with tapeworm larvae in order to go infected himself.

Preventing these infections is relatively simple:

Periodically care for your domestic dog for intestinal parasites. If your dog eats domestic dog and/or cat poop, care for him for parasites regularly.

Option up dog feces in your chiliad oftentimes. It would be ideal if you could choice up and dispose of your canis familiaris's poop immediately after he eliminated; this would minimize the chances of any worm eggs or larvae lurking in your yard.

Launder your hands. A lot! And especially after being in any surround where lots of strange dogs accept eliminated. And earlier eating, whatsoever time you lot've been around soil where dogs have been. Don't ever swallow food with your unwashed easily in a canis familiaris park, for instance.

Avoid blank skin contact with ground where dogs eliminate. Nosotros've been to enough of dog parks and off-ternion areas and witnessed people (worse, small children) walking barefoot – yikes! Remember, hookworm larvae demand only skin contact in social club to migrate into your body.

Protect your canis familiaris from fleas. And treat him for tapeworms (and fleas) immediately if you see tapeworm segments on him or in his feces.

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Source: https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/what-to-do-if-your-dog-has-worms/

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