Deworming Your Dog

Overview

Parasites pose a significant threat to a dog’s health, and certain types can be transferred to humans as well. It is a general rule that all puppies need to undergo deworming every two to four weeks until they reach twelve weeks of age.

They should then receive treatments to eliminate and prevent the parasites once a month until six months of age. After six months of age, an adult dog should be prescribed a deworming every one to six months, or according to your veterinarian’s advice.

Deworming in dogs, sometimes known as worming is the giving of an anthelmintic drug (a wormer, dewormer) to a dog to rid them of helminths parasites, such as roundworm, flukes and tapeworm.

These dewormers come in many forms including a granular form to be added to food, pill form, chew tablets, and liquid suspensions.

Your vet may suspect worms if your dog has diarrhea or is vomiting, coughing, chewing or licking under their tail, short of breath, or losing weight.

The symptoms and treatments depend on the type of worm and where it’s living in your dog’s body. Worms can be picked up from your dog’s stool and contaminated soil. They can infect other dogs, and in some cases, people can contract certain types of worms. That’s one reason it’s important that you always carefully clean up your dog’s stool.

There are many options available to help you treat worms in your dog, the most common being tablets and spot-on treatments. Once you’ve found the right product for your dog, administering it is easy.

Common types of Dog worms

Roundworms

These are spaghetti-like worms that usually reside in the dog’s intestines. The fact remains that roundworms are prolific egg-layers, which means that a few worms can lay large numbers of eggs and cause more trouble.

The eggs pass through the dog’s feces, and for that reason, they can infect other dogs and pets.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms are another type of worms that are very common in puppies and elderly dogs. They’re flatworms with a couple of segments.

Tapeworms will always look for another different host to complete their life cycle. This shows that they may end up on your rabbits, sheep, and other pets in the households.

Hookworms

This common parasite has hook-like teeth, which accounts for the name. They attach themselves to your dog’s intestinal lining and breed thousands of eggs within just a few days.

Your dog can pick up hookworms easily by walking through wet grass or contaminated soil.

Heartworms

Of all of the types of worms in dogs, the most worrisome — and the most preventable — are heartworms. Mosquitoes transmit the parasite, and since avoiding mosquitoes is nearly impossible in most places, vets recommend regular heartworm preventatives to keep your dog safe.

Heartworms grow and multiply within the heart, causing severe lung disease, heart failure, other organ damage, and ultimately leading to death if left untreated.

Signs Your Dog May Need Deworming

While each parasite affects dogs differently, there are some general warning symptoms that dog owners should be aware of. Intestinal worms may cause:

• Diarrhea

• Abdominal pain

• Weight loss

• Vomiting

• Poor coat appearance

• Pot-bellied appearance

• Lethargy

• Dehydration

• Deficiencies in nutrition and anemia

• Intestinal blockage or pneumonia

• Blood in stool (either bright red or darker purple)

Heartworms can also be accompanied by respiratory symptoms such as coughing, exercise intolerance, weak pulse, weight loss, abdominal distension and in extreme cases, labored breathing, pale gums, and death.

Deworming Procedures in Dogs

There are many safe ways to de-worm your dog. The sooner the worms are gone, the sooner your pet will get healthy and feel better.

Your vet will give your dog medicine by mouth or in a shot to kill the worms. Many of these drugs are described as “broad-spectrum,” because they’re good for treating a wide range of parasites, including worms that live in the gut.

They’re poisonous to pests, but safe for pets.
Because worms are so common in puppies, vets recommend de-worming them for the first time when they’re 2 to 3 weeks old.

Treatment is much the same for adult dogs with worms. The same kinds of drugs are used, but your dog will get more of the medicine.

Deworming at home

It’s a good idea to deworm your pet at home where your pet is comfortable. Worming your dog is a relatively simple process, much like giving your pet a treat. In fact, if you use a tablet-based worming treatment, it can be helpful to hide the pill in a treat like cheese, peanut butter, turkey or wet food to help make sure your dog completely swallows the tablet.

Some tablets are already flavored to taste like a treat to your pet, so they may not need to be hidden in food. However, some dogs may try to spit out a tablet immediately or even several minutes after you give it to them — even if it’s flavored — so disguising the pill as a treat can make the process easier for you and your dog

Prevention

The best way to protect your pet is to control the pests that carry worms, including fleas and mosquitoes, and keep your home and yard clean.

You’ll be doing yourself a favor, too, because some types of worms can be passed to humans.

Follow these simple steps to ward off worms:

• Make sure your vet checks your dog for all kinds of worms at least once a year (two to four times for puppies).

• Keep your dog flea-free. You can buy flea collars or medicine to put on your dog’s skin. There are also flea control treatments that you can give to your dog by mouth.

• Get a prescription from your vet for the drug to prevent heartworms, and give it to your dog once a month. Never skip a dose. Ask your vet about a heartworm prevention drug that can be.

• Wash your hands often, including after you pet animals and especially after picking up their waste