Worming Your Dog
Worming your pet every month or 3 months is essential to maintain your pet’s health and eliminate public health dangers.
We are worming against three main types of worms:
Dogs become infected with Aelurostrongylus abstrusus by ingesting intermediate hosts such as snails or paratenic (paratenic describes an intermediate host which is not needed for the development of the parasite, but nonetheless serves to maintain the life cycle of the parasite) hosts (birds, rodents etc).
After ingestion, the larvae pass into the intestine. The larvae penetrate intestine wall and migrate to the lungs in the blood, once they have matured to adult worms (approx 40 days) they lay eggs, these hatch into microscopic larvae which are coughed up, swallowed & passed in the faeces.
These can be transferred to your dog in three ways:
- In the womb
- Via the mother’s milk
- Contact with eggs in the environment
Signs of a roundworm infestation include weight loss, anaemia and vomiting. In extreme cases death, due to heart failure, may occur.
These are transferred to your dog when an infected flea or louse is swallowed; therefore regular flea control is also necessary. The tapeworm can also infect your pet if a contaminated bird, rodent or sheep is eaten.
A tapeworm infestation can cause vomiting and diahorrea.
Tapeworm segments are usually visible around the anus or passed in faeces.
Puppies
On collection of your puppy, it is vital that you check with the breeder if they have administered any worming or flea preparations prior to you taking the puppy home. This enables us to be clear on when your next worming dose is due.
Dogs from six months
The worming requirements for adult dogs will depend on what flea control you are using. Please speak to any of our healthcare team for details.
