Preventing Worms In Dogs By Breaking The Cycle
Worms in dogs, although normally not serious, are one of those little problems that seem to come back a lot, particularly for puppies. This is because their lifecycle is designed to be hard to break. Because worms in dogs can cause health problems, to humans as well as dogs in some cases, it is important that as dog owners we intervene and try to break the worms in dogs cycle and keep it broken.
Because most puppies are born with an infestation of roundworm, this is the most common type of dog worm in the UK. It often causes puppies’ bellies to swell and may delay their growth, whilst in humans the worm larvae can cause blindness, although this is rare.
As is the case with all types of worms in dogs, understanding the lifecycle will allow it to be broken. At first, a female puppy is infected in the womb or through her mother’s milk. In the infected puppy, some of the worm larvae will move out of the intestine and into the blood before forming indestructible cysts in the muscles. In the event of pregnancy in later life, the larvae will be reactivated and will move through the blood to infect the puppies.
In young puppies, not all the worm larvae will form the cysts mentioned above. Rather, some will stay in the intestine and become adults. Once mature, after feeding on the partly digested food in the intestine, the adult worm releases eggs which are passed from the dog with the faeces. In the open air, the eggs are infectious to other dogs and even people. The risk of infection for people does not arise from handling puppies, but from touching soil which has been contaminated by puppies’ faeces.
There you have the cycle: to break it adult dogs muct be treted every three months. Puppies, being much more likely to be infested should be wormed every fortnight from the age of two weeks to twelve months, then monthly until the age of six months. However small and rare, worms in dogs can cause problems for human health, so dog owners must take responsibility for picking up after their dogs and encouraging good hand hygiene in the family, in order to break the cycle and reduce the risk.
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