A dog offers friendship, companionship, unconditional love, protection and empathy. A dog owner's responsibility though goes beyond providing the pet with regular meals. Pet owners ensure the good health of the pet by providing premium quality feeds and regular veterinary checkups.
Most dog owners would be concerned if the pet shows the symptoms of intestinal parasite infestation. Dog owners must have an idea how to eliminate these worms from the dog's body as the risk that the infestation will be transferred to other pet and to humans is very high. A dewormer for one type of worm will not effectively eliminate another type thus for the treatment to be effective, proper diagnosis will be necessary.
Whipworms, roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms infest more that 30% of dogs. Heartworm, another type of parasite that is found in the dog's heart is even more deadly as by restricting the blood flow to the vital organs, this parasite can result to the death of the dog. Dogs generally have worms in their lifetime. Puppies are even born with worms contracted from the mother dog.
The process of ridding a dog of the parasites inside its body is not as easy as getting the dog to take the worming pill. Over the counter worming medications may not be very effective as aside from being dose dependent, the medication chosen may not be right for the type of parasite the dog has. Considering the life cycle of worms, a one-time treatment may not totally eliminate the infestation.
All puppies have intestinal worms thus they would need an assertive deworming treatment. Treatment must begin at 2 weeks old and repeated at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks of age. This course of treatment ensures that the life cycle of the parasite will be stopped as the first treatment will deal with the mature worms and the next treatments will be for the worms that are yet to be hatched. Puppies and the nursing dam must be treated simultaneously. Until the dog has reached the age of six months worming treatment must be done monthly. Internal parasite infestation can spread easily as infested dogs would excrete feces with the parasite's larva. The risk of reinfection is very high given the dogs tendency to eat poop and to play in areas where they have previously defecated. Broad spectrum anthelmintics given every three months for the rest of the dog's life will ensure that these pesky parasites will not affect the health and the quality of life of our beloved pets
Most dog owners would be concerned if the pet shows the symptoms of intestinal parasite infestation. Dog owners must have an idea how to eliminate these worms from the dog's body as the risk that the infestation will be transferred to other pet and to humans is very high. A dewormer for one type of worm will not effectively eliminate another type thus for the treatment to be effective, proper diagnosis will be necessary.
Whipworms, roundworms, hookworms and tapeworms infest more that 30% of dogs. Heartworm, another type of parasite that is found in the dog's heart is even more deadly as by restricting the blood flow to the vital organs, this parasite can result to the death of the dog. Dogs generally have worms in their lifetime. Puppies are even born with worms contracted from the mother dog.
The process of ridding a dog of the parasites inside its body is not as easy as getting the dog to take the worming pill. Over the counter worming medications may not be very effective as aside from being dose dependent, the medication chosen may not be right for the type of parasite the dog has. Considering the life cycle of worms, a one-time treatment may not totally eliminate the infestation.
All puppies have intestinal worms thus they would need an assertive deworming treatment. Treatment must begin at 2 weeks old and repeated at 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks of age. This course of treatment ensures that the life cycle of the parasite will be stopped as the first treatment will deal with the mature worms and the next treatments will be for the worms that are yet to be hatched. Puppies and the nursing dam must be treated simultaneously. Until the dog has reached the age of six months worming treatment must be done monthly. Internal parasite infestation can spread easily as infested dogs would excrete feces with the parasite's larva. The risk of reinfection is very high given the dogs tendency to eat poop and to play in areas where they have previously defecated. Broad spectrum anthelmintics given every three months for the rest of the dog's life will ensure that these pesky parasites will not affect the health and the quality of life of our beloved pets
