Puppy Worms - 5 Things You Should Know

Of course puppy worms is a bit of a misnomer. There are no worms that only infect puppies - the same worms infect adult dogs and sometimes humans. However, puppies are more likely to be infected with worms than adult dogs for a number of reasons.

So here are 5 facts you should know about puppy worms:

1). Although puppies can suffer from a variety of worms, roundworms (ascarids) are the most common type of worm that are involved.

2) These roundworms can infect the puppy while it is still in the mothers womb and new born pups can acquire these worms through suckling their mother's milk.

3) The eggs of these roundworms can also survive in the environment for ages and this represents a third possible route of infection for puppies. And as we know, puppies are naturally curious and spend the best part of their early lives with their noses and mouths very close to the ground, investigating and chewing anything and everything.

4) Puppy worms are parasites - they feed off the animal that they parasitize. This can lead to a range of symptoms ranging from poor growth and a dull haircoat, to vomiting and diarrhea. Sometimes the worm load is so heavy that they may vomit up the adult worms or pass the worms in their stools - but this is not always the case and a puppy may have a heavy worm load without you actually seeing any worms.

5) A very severe roundworm infestation can physically block the gastro-intestinal tract (intestines) of the puppy. If not corrected, this state of affairs can lead to the death of the puppy as it cannot keep any food or water down.This causes a cascade of physiological changes within the body which ultimately leads to the death of the puppy.

So most puppies have worms simply because they are exposed to so many sources of worms at an early age when their immune systems are immature. Later in life they are less exposed to the sources and their immune systems are fully functional, making it less likely that they will suffer from a heavy roundworm burden - unless their immune system is compromised.