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| FOUR PAWS VETERINARY HOSPITAL 8401 Ranch Road 12 San Marcos, TX * Phone: (512) 396-7297 * Fax: (512) 392-7297 |
| INTESTINAL PARASITES |
- DO ALL PUPPIES HAVE WORMS?
become infected with parasites before they are born or later
through their mother's milk. The microscopic examination of a
stool sample will usually help us to determine the presence of
intestinal parasites. We recommend this exam for all puppies.
Even if we do not get a stool sample, we recommend the use of a
deworming product that is safe and effective against several of
the common worms of the dog. We do this because our
deworming medication has no side-effects and because your
puppy does not pass worm eggs every day so the stool sample
may not detect worms that are present. Additionally, some of
these internal parasites can be transmitted to humans .
Deworming is done now and repeated in about three weeks. It is
important that it be repeated because the deworming medication
only kills the adult worms. Within 3-4 weeks, the larval stages will
become adults and need to be treated. Dogs remain susceptible
to re-infection with hookworms and roundworms. Periodic
deworming throughout the dog's life is recommended for outdoor
dogs.
Tapeworms are the most common intestinal parasites of dogs.
Puppies become infected with them when the swallow fleas; the
eggs of a tapeworm live inside the flea. When the dog chews or
licks it's skin as a flea bites, the flea may be swallowed. The flea
is digested within the dog's intestine; the tapeworm hatches and
the anchors itself to the intestinal lining. Therefore, exposure to
fleas may result in a new infection. Tapeworm infections can
occur in as little as two weeks.
Dogs infected with tapeworms will pass small segments of the
worms in their stool. The segments are white in color and look
like grains of rice. They are about 1/8 inch (3 mm) long and may
be seen crawling on the surface of the stool. They may also stick
to the hair under the tail. If that occur, they will dry out, shrink to
about half their size, and become golden in color.
Tapeworm segments do not pass every day or in every stool
sample, therefor, inspection of several consecutive bowel
movements may be needed to find them. We may examine a
stool sample in our office and not find them, and then you may
find them the next day. If you find them at any time, please notify
us so we may provide the appropriate drug for treatment.
For information on hookworms and round worms, click here.