Puppies should be regularly dewormed from birth. Intestinal parasites can lead to coat issues, decreased appetite, poor nutrient absorption, weight loss and even death in some instances.
Your vet will prescribe medication (by mouth, injection or food-grade granules added directly) that kills intestinal parasites in dogs and puppies alike. In addition, prevention medicines for heartworm are often given.
Contents
Roundworms
Roundworms are intestinal parasitic worms that cause diarrhea in puppies. Puppies typically acquire them either shortly before birth or through nursing from their mother; technically known as nematodes or ascarids, these eggs hatch into larvae in your pet’s intestines, leading to infections with weakness, malnutrition, loss of appetite and weight loss in young animals.
When dogs ingest infective larvae, they travel from their liver and windpipe through to the lungs where they are coughed up into the throat and swallowed; eventually maturing into adult worms that lay their own eggs before repeating this cycle. While older dogs typically possess immune systems that prevent such development from taking place, pregnancy compromises this immunity further and this leads to further infestation of adult worms forming and reproducing themselves – leading to the same vicious cycle repeating itself over and over.
Roundworms can be easily avoided by giving a deworming medication like Fenbendazole, Pyrantel, Milbemycin or Moxidectin to your dog as part of their monthly preventative medication. Such deworming solutions will eliminate them from their digestive tract while decreasing their number in the environment.
Tapeworms
There are various kinds of tapeworm (Cestodes) parasites that can infect dogs. Dipylidium caninum, more commonly known as flea tapeworm, and Taenia spp are two that commonly infest pets; both parasites feature long flat segments with hook-like mouth parts which shed segments as proglottids (small white particles in their feces that move around your pet) when moving from place to place, often visible stuck to bedding or rugs near their tail or rear end.
Once in the soil, these segmented packets break apart and are consumed by fleas – becoming immature tapeworm larvae that develop into adult tapeworms in your pet and produce eggs which they later shed through faeces or while grooming themselves.
However, unlike roundworms, tapeworms don’t usually produce visible symptoms, meaning many owners remain unaware that their pet has them. Your veterinarian should ask to see a faecal sample and use a microscope to spot any worms present.
Coccidia
Coccidia are protozoa that do not live inside your intestines; traditional dewormers such as metronidazole (Flagyl), pyrantel pamoate (Nemex) and fenbendazole (Safeguard, Panacur) do not kill these parasites. Coccidia can live in infected dog’s intestines before exudating into waterways or soil for long periods, leaving behind infectious spores which could then be consumed by other animals drinking water or eating grass that contains these parasites.
Puppies and adult dogs with immature immune systems typically suffer from severe, often fatal coccidiosis. Preventative measures include strict sanitation of kennels, runs and fenced yards to eliminate infective spores; prompt disposal of feces as well as regular disinfection of bedding, food bowls and crates are key in mitigating infection risk.
Fleas
Fleas can cause serious health problems for puppies, including allergic dermatitis and tapeworm infections. Puppies are especially prone to flea infestation because their bodies contain so few red blood cells – when fleas scavenge their blood it depletes resources further and may lead to anaemia in these fragile creatures.
Puppies often inherit roundworms from their mothers during gestation and birth, necessitating regular worming treatments to remove them. Your veterinarian will likely recommend Advantage Multi, which should begin treatment as early as 7 weeks old to kill and prevent various parasites including fleas, hookworms, whipworms lungworms and heartworms.
Or you could use topical treatments, like Frontline Plus, to kill and prevent fleas on your pet. These liquid solutions must be administered on the back of their neck at an accurate dosing weight; or use a double-sided flea comb that you can purchase from any pet shop – these options provide easy solutions with minimum downtime between use.
