General Comments
1. As you well know, most of us consider “headache” to be an ailment, when in fact it is a symptom of an underlying illness. Similarly, in the pet world, many caregivers are convinced that, say, diarrhoea or vomiting is the real problem. However, this is not a correct assertion; in puppies and young dogs not prophylactically treated against worms, the true causative factor is really a worm infestation – often located in the gut.
2. Caregivers reading this column may recall that I had advised that worms infesting the pregnant mother dog can actually translocate themselves into the unborn puppies while those puppies are still in the womb. This means that puppies (and kittens as well) are already infested with worms at birth.
It is for this reason that I had advised that the bitch be dewormed at least twice during her pregnancy. If she is worm-free, it is highly unlikely that the unborn pups would be born with any great worm burden.
3. There are several different types of worms. The treatment would not be the same for all the worms that infest the mother dogs, the puppies, and the young adults.
4. Throughout their lives, our companion animals must be dewormed continuously, and at specific (as prescribed by your veterinarian) intervals.
Bearing this in mind, let us deal with the relevant follow-up questions.
Q: What type of worms affect puppies, young and adult dogs?
A: In no particular order relative to their incidence and degree of concern, they include:
* Hookworms
* Roundworms
* Stomach worms
* Threadworms
* Whipworms
* Tapeworms
N.B. While there are other worms that can infect dogs (cats even more seldom), these worms are hardly ever detected in Guyana, and there are no major symptoms associated with this infection. For example, the Oesophageal Worm creates some difficulty during swallowing, and may cause the animal to vomit repeatedly. Such less-common worms can easily be diagnosed via microscopic examination of faecal samples.
Q: How does the animal contract the more
ubiquitous worms mentioned?
A: Hookworms: Usually the larvae (developmental stages of the hookworm) will be transmitted to the young pup during nursing, or by direct penetration of the pup’s skin.
Roundworms: These worms are commonly passed from mother to her pups, even while they are still in her uterus (womb), and also when the pups are nursing. Besides, pups may ingest (eat) the tiny Roundworm eggs that may be on the mother’s breast and skin.
Stomach Worms: The adult dog, and even the young pup, may eat the hosts of the worms. Such hosts could be beetles, cockroaches, crickets, mice, etc.
Threadworms: In the infective stages of these worms, they usually reside in unhygienic environments, and can actively penetrate the dog’s skin. Animals would also swallow the infective immature stages of the threadworm.
Whipworms: These worms are shed in the dog’s (host’s) faeces. They later become infective, and are then eaten by vulnerable pups, young adults, and mature dogs.
Tapeworms: These are biologically interesting species of worms. Their anatomy and reproductive physiology are geared for survival. Their intermediary hosts are fleas. As the fleas create an itch on the skin (Flea Allergy Dermatitis), the animal bites at the flea infected areas on its skin, and can therefore easily pick up (orally) the infected flea. Also, if the dog eats an infected prey animal, the dog would itself become infected. Once the tapeworm reaches the intestines, it is not an easy task to get rid of this parasite.
Q: How does the
caregiver know if his/her ward is infected by any or many of these worms?
A: Very often, the caregiver can actually see the worms in the stool or in the mouth.
In the case of the Tapeworm, one can actually see the worm (looking like a grain of rice or like a cucumber seed) crawling out of the anus. The white worm is also seen on the stool itself – contracting and expanding its body.
Hookworms are about one centimetre long, and are visible as they move in the watery/bloody stool.
During migration within the dog’s body, one or more immature Roundworm larvae can find itself in the dog’s mouth, and can actually be seen and extracted by the caregiver before it is swallowed. But do not be fooled; if one immature Roundworm is found in the dog’s mouth, hundreds more may be in the dog’s body.
Generally, the actual symptoms can lead the caregiver towards making a correct diagnosis, just be keenly observing the worm-induced symptoms, which usually are:
* Anaemia
* Stunted growth in puppies/ unthriftiness/emaciation in young and older adult dogs.
* Diarrhoea (especially with blood accompaniment).
* A distended (“swollen”) abdomen.
* Loss of appetite.
* Vomiting: developmental stages of the worm can be seen in the mouth (especially in Roundworm infestation. (See previous paragraph).
* Fever – in severe worm infestation.
N.B. The bad news is that, very often, an infection with worms does not immediately exhibit pronounced and visible symptoms. The good news is that your veterinarian can easily carry out a microscopic test on the faeces of the pup and/or adult dog. But why go that way? Let us begin the deworming protocol as early as 3 weeks of age.
Q: What dewormer should I use?
A: We will discuss this very important topic next week.
