Caring For Your Dog - Worm-Free

Because dog health care is such a vast area which would require a site with hundreds of pages, we have focused on those topics we thought you would be most interested in. Among the main dog health care problems the most frequent issues are worms, fleas and poisons. These common ailments If not professionally treated can lead to more serious health problems

Intestinal worms are only a few millimetres long and can live off the contents of the gut, others attach themselves to the gut wall. These parasites feed from the nutrients in the dog's gut and from the dog's blood. Worst of all these intestinal worms can infect people (some tapeworms can grow up to 5 metres in length) hence the importance in maintaining a regular de-worming program for your dog to keep it worm-free.

Roundworm (Toxocara canis) is probably the best known of the intestinal worms. But if you also have cats in tghe home they should also be treated for cat roundworm (Toxocara cati) . Human infection particularly children generally occurs when contact is made the worm eggs which have contaminated the soil. A common problem is gardens or public parks which have snadpits. So ensure that you keep your sandpit covered and don't let your children play in the public park sandpits.

Alarmingly the worm larvae can migrate through the human body and concern should be if they migrate to the eyes. As they can get behind the retina, where they can cause permanent damage to the child’s eyesight.

Prevention

• Regularly worm your pets to minimise any risk of worms

• You should always use a poop-scoop, and dispose of your dog’s faeces

Adult dogs should be wormed at least every 6 months. With pregnant bitches and bitches with young puppies requiring worming more frequently. It is essential that puppies are wormed when they are about 2 weeks old and then treated at regular intervals until they are at least 6 months old. But we recommend you always seek veterinary advice before worming your puppy.