Dogs (and cats) often fall victim to several common intestinal parasites known as worms. There are a large number of different types of intestinal worms, but dogs are most commonly affected by tapeworms, hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms. These parasites live in the digestive tract (most commonly in the intestines) where they feed on nutrients, robbing the dog of the nutrition it takes in. Worm infestations can cause a variety of undesirable symptoms including weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, and a generally poor appearance.

How do Dogs Get Worms?

There are a number of ways that a dog can wind up with an infestation of any of these types of intestinal parasites. An animal infested with any of these types of worms may pass the worm's eggs in its feces. This is a strong argument for picking up after your pet as often as possible and not allowing your dog to eat feces (something dogs will do) whenever you can. Tapeworm eggs can be spread by fleas. Fleas eat the eggs (quite a delicacy to a flea) and then pass them to a dog when biting it. Some roundworms will lie dormant in the body of a pregnant dog and activate just before it gives birth. The activated worms make their way into the intestines of the unborn puppies where they will thrive after the pups are born.

Detecting Worms in Dogs

Worm infestations can be difficult to detect. While some worms may be passed in the feces, betraying their presence, it is uncommon. If a dog is displaying symptoms that may indicate the presence of worms, a vet should be consulted. A stool sample will be examined for the presence of worm eggs (these are microscopic) and a medication called a "wormer" will be prescribed. Stool samples are often collected as part of a routine dog physical examination in order to check for the presence of worms. In the case of tapeworms, discarded tapeworm segments may be visible in the dog’s feces or attached to the fur around the anus or under the tail. To the naked eye these may look like small bits of white rice.

Treating Dogs for Worms

When a dog is found to have an infestation of worms, it should be prescribed a wormer immediately by a vet. Depending on the severity of the infestation, the type of worms, and the likelihood of re-infestation, the treatment may need to be repeated one or several times. There are over-the-counter wormers available, but most vets do not recommend them because they are necessarily weaker and may not kill all types of worms and their eggs.

Intestinal worms can cause numerous health problems for dogs, up to and including death in extreme cases. Taking measures to prevent infestation, detect it as quickly as possible, and treat it accordingly can help keep your dog safe from these harmful parasites.

Recently the Day-star Herald carried a borderline beside a California veterinarian who wrote on the thesis of heartworm illness and heartworm prevention.

In his piece, he mentioned that heartworm obviation may be elective representing your cat.

While that may be exactly in some share of the world, it certainly isn't championing the Southeastern Unified States.

We fully get that Your Pet's Physician is distributed worldwide, nevertheless our local imitation is on the Mississippi Inlet Coast. We don't hope for any cats getting heartworms, here or anywhere else, either.

Let's flash at the grounds in favour of using monthly heartworm preventing for your kitty: Heartworm sickness is lethal in cats.

It is a further treatable ailment in dogs, however there is no treatment of behaviour towards for cats, solitary prevention. In fact, the decease of the human race heartworm(s) is when the greatest complication starts.

So carnage the man worms, as we achieve in dogs, may launch a cat into crisis. In cats dispassionate only heartworm can be fatal. And quickly. Let's look why.

In an nonpareil parasite-host relationship, the landlady would conditions move sick, and the leech would be capable to boom in extensive numbers, spreading itself from hotelman to host.

Clearly, whether the landlord dies, there's not still fated for the parasite.

So, if the heartworm hanger-on were all things being equal adapted to the dog, they could aware there for the full heart of the dog and each would be happy.

On the contrary that's not the course it is, and no solitary is cheerful with heartworms in a pet's heart.

In a little while after heartworms make one's appearance in the ethical ventricle of the heart, motion into the awash artery that seize blood to the lungs and broadcast into the lungs themselves, a dog's oppose in to react.

It's that response that sooner origin emotions and lung hurt and non-performance that can be fatal.

As we testament see, incident are contradistinctive in cats.

Whereas heartworm malady has a easy trail in dogs, the most average syndrome we gaze in cats is unexpected death.

From http://sanluisobispo.com/526/story/180690.html