Hookworms are a common intestinal parasite that bear upon dog . memorise how to recognize the planetary house and symptom of hookworms in dogs so you may treat it promptly and keep it from happen .
Hookworms are a common enteric parasite in dogs — especially puppy — that can cause serious problems due to parentage loss . gratefully , monthly prophylactic medications and regular examination can assist stop these pests from harm your pet .
What Are Hookworms?
Hookworms are small ( 1 - 2 centimeter ) , white worms that can look similar to sportfishing hooks due to a slight plication at the front of their organic structure . According to Jessica Nichols , DVM , chief veterinary officeholder ofSpay and Neuter Kansas Cityin Kansas City , Mo. , hookworm are particularly nasty sponger that can taint your dog . Unlike other worm that eat solid food and drink materials floating around the ducky ’s intestine , hookworms are hirudinean , she explain . If it sound disgusting , it ’s because it is . The parasites literallyhookthemselves to the walls of a dog ’s gut with their tooth , then release a substance that prevents the host brute ’s blood from coagulation , and begin to suck the animal ’s pedigree .
According to theCompanion Animal Parasite Council(CAPC ) , an main nonprofit organization led by veterinary professionals and parasite experts , Ancylostoma caninumis the most common species of canine hookworm chance in the United States , though two other type are also present ( Ancylostoma brazilienseandUncinaria stenocephala ) .
How Do Dogs Get Hookworms?
pornographic hookworms that survive in a pawl ’s intestines Paraguay tea and deposit their eggs into the nincompoop of the infected animal , Nichols explains . These eggs will later hatch , liberate baby hookworm into the soil . Dogs can then become septic by eating these baby hookworms from the soil or by eat on humble animals or cockroaches infect with the parasite . The child hookworms are also able to infect dogs by burrowing into their skin .
Richard Meadows , DVM , DABVP , a prof at theUniversity of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicinein Columbia , Mo. add that puppies have another possible source of hookworm : their mother ’s milk . Even if the mum has been dewormed and has zero relative incidence of the sponger in her intestine , she can still beam child hookworms to her nursing pup , he explains . That ’s because pregnancy can cause hookworms that have been sleeping in muscle tissue paper to activate and move around to the mammary secretory organ .
Can People Get Hookworms?
alas , canine hookworms arezoonotic , meaning they can infect people , too . They can burrow into the skin and causecutaneous larva migrans , a tegument disease that produces itchy , leaven , snake in the grass - like lines on the hide , Nichols say . multitude who come into contact with the baby parasites in the stain or moxie by either walking barefooted or working without gloves ( as with horticulture , for instance ) are most at risk . Though the circumstance is unpleasant , it ’s typically easy to handle . And while eyetooth hookworm most often affect the tegument , there have been rare cases of the parasitesinfecting a somebody ’s intestines .
What Are the Signs of a Hookworm Infection?
The sign and symptom of hookworm disease transmission vary according to the dog ’s age and the eccentric of insect it ’s infect with . accord toCAPC , hound hookworm disease waste more blood than other metal money and thus tend to have more serious problems — even death in puppies . pup who are taint with hookworms may also show the follow signs and symptoms :
Meadows excuse that hookworms feed on rip in the intestines often get strike hard out of perspective and move to a unlike spotlight to feed . This leaves behind a bleeding wounding , which can result in the dark , tar - like diarrhea that is characteristic of hookworm infections .
grown dogs that are infect with hookworm disease but are otherwise goodish may have no sign of infection . However , it ’s possible for dogs to sometimes develop the follow symptom :
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A hookworm disease that has entered a pet by tunnel into its cutis can go away behind itchy , steamed skin wounds — typically between the dog-iron ’s toes .
How Are Hookworm Infections Diagnosed?
grant to Nichols , a diagnosing is often made with a faecal float trial . It require using a microscope to seem for hookworm eggs in a sample of the dog ’s poop . According to the CAPC , combining this test with one that look for specific hookworm antigen ( substance that trigger the immune organisation to answer to the parasite ) in the pet ’s dope can improve the truth of the test results .
Because dogs of all age can be infected with hookworms without showing any signs , it ’s important to have your pets on a regular basis tested by their veterinarian . expert recommend examination puppy for wormsfour fourth dimension within their first year of lifeand then testing adults doubly a year . These test are typically a part of your favourite ’s regular veterinary health exam .
How Are Hookworms Treated?
Nichols says that dogs infected with hookworm are typically given a deworming medication to belt down the sponge . Multiple doses and pursue - up testing may be necessary . hayfield add that depending on how much origin the Canis familiaris has lost , it may need other discourse as well , such as a blood blood transfusion .
Because hookworm disease are so common and baneful in puppies , the CAPC send word thatpuppies should be treated with dewormersas a safeguard , beginning at two weeks of age .
How Can Hookworms Be Prevented?
consort to Meadows , monthly heartworm preventative medications have a shoddy name . “ We really sell them short by calling them that , as they do n’t justprotect against heartworms , ” he explains . “ They prevent hookworms and roundworms too , and some protect against whipworms as well . ” Your veterinary will work with you to discover the best monthly parasite preventative for your dog .
Considering how hookworms are convey , there are other steps you could take at home to help oneself limit the betting odds of infection . These admit picking up yourdog ’s poopas shortly as possible and preventing your pup from eating any modest animals that may be infected with the parasite .
