Internal parasites are a microscopic threat to your family dog's health. It is impossible to protect your dog from exposure to these parasites but preventative measures can be taken.
The newborn puppy is the usual victim of parasite infestation. Puppies can be infected with internal parasites in the womb but also through mother's milk. Therefore, a regular worming schedule must be maintained for all newborn puppies as well as pregnant bitches. Mothers worming treatments need to begin at or before day 40 of her pregnancy and 2 days after whelping (birth). Puppies should be wormed starting at two weeks, again at weeks five, eight, and twelve weeks of age. Young dogs should be wormed monthly until six months and in three month intervals until 1 years old. After 1, discuss worming treatments with your vet. Treatments will vary due to your family dogs environment, activity levels, time spent outdoors, and mosquito and flea population in your area.
If you are like me and have rescued a puppy as a stray or from a shelter, you may not have a history of worming treatments. You should assume if no history is available, that no treatment has began. Take your puppy to the vet along with a stool sample for testing and begin treatments.
Internal parasites can cause no symptoms at all, or mild discomfort but can also cause diarrhea, vomiting, blood in fecal matter, dehydration, blood anemia, weight loss, listlessness, cough, breathing problems, heart failure and death.
There are 2 types of internal parasites. WORMS and PROTOZOA. First we will discuss Worms.
There are three sub-categories of worms.
Nematodes
Cestodes
Heart Worms
Nematodes include Roundworms, Hookworms, and Whip worms. They are cylindrical worms and cream colored.
Roundworms are the most common form of worm infestation in dogs. Although mostly found in the intestines, they can chew through intestinal wall and live in the lungs, blood, stomach and eyes. During a roundworm infestation you are feeding the worms that rob your dog of nutrients. Symptoms of roundworm infestation include mild vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, poor hair and coat, a pot belly and sometimes a garlic odor on the dog's breath. Your family dog may also pass spaghetti-like worms in vomit and stool. Transmission of roundworms is mostly through the womb or mother's milk but can also be contracted through contaminated soil.
Hookworms feed on blood and are most commonly found in hot humid climates. They are usually confined to the small intestine. In addition to mother's milk, your dog can be infected with hookworms by eating the meat of another infected animal and through the pads of their feet or belly. Because they feed on blood, symptoms include dark or bloody red diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, weakness and diarrhea.
Whip worms are the hardest to diagnose because light infections seldom show symptoms and these worms do not produce many eggs to be detected in fecal matter. Whip worms are transmitted only by ingesting the eggs. These eggs are very resilient and can survive in any climate. These worms are reason enough to 'pick up' after your pet and dispose of fecal matter so that soil does not become contaminated with whip worm eggs. Whip worms also feed on blood and symptoms include weight loss and bloody diarrhea.
Cestodes or tapeworms have for types but generally infect the same way. Tapeworms feed off the nutrients from your dog's intestines. They grow by forming chain-like lengths. Segments of these chains break off and pass through dog's feces. These broken chains can move and are full of eggs. They will appear like grains of rice and may be seen crawling near your dog's anus. Tapeworms may grow up to several feet and are really more of a nuisance than life threatening. Symptoms may include a bigger appetite, weight loss, poor coat, and diarrhea. Tapeworms are also passed from an intermediate host. The four types are distinguished by the intermediate host from which our dogs can become infected. I will not bore you with the Latin names of each but will let you know how it is contracted. Ingestion of flies or lice, rats, mice, rabbits, freshwater fish, sheep, goats, cattle, deer, moose, fox, or coyote. Hunting dogs or scavenging dogs are most likely to become infected by tapeworms. Are the most deadly of all parasitic worms.
Heart Worms are the most deadly of all parasitic worms. Heart worms are the only worm that is not ingested by your dog but is transmitted from a mosquito bite. A mosquito bites and feeds on an infected dog. The microfilariae or larvae develop in the mosquito between 2-3 weeks. When the mosquito bites another dog, larvae enter the wound and burrow under the dog's skin. For the next 2-4 months, larvae develop under the dog's skin into immature worms which then travel via the bloodstream to the heart. Worms occupy the right side of the dog's heart and develop into adults. The scary thing is that symptoms may not begin to appear until 6-7 months after the initial infection. Once worms are in the heart, they begin to produce more larvae which means more worms.
Left untreated your dog will die of heart failure. Symptoms include reduced exercise tolerance, soft coughing, weight loss, visible pulsation of blood flow in the veins of the neck, fainting, sudden collapse and death. Treatments for heart worms are expensive, dangerous, and filled with side effects. The risks verses benefits must be weighed. This being said, the very best way to protect your dog is to protect him through preventative medicine.
Heart worm medicines, prescribed by your vet could be given year round, and is the preferred plan of action. These pills or chewable are given monthly and don't prevent the transmission of heart worms but rather kill the immature worms before they have time to mature to adulthood. If not medicated year round, treatments need to start one month before the mosquito season and continued until one month after the first winter freeze. Also keep dogs indoors especially at dusk during mosquito season. If indoors is not an option, treat your dog's coat with a natural mosquito repellent.
The pest thing about heart worm medication is that it also kills most other worm parasites. An excellent argument for maintaining a heart worm medication plan year round.
The second type of internal parasite is Protozoal Parasites. Protozoa are microscopic single cell animals. We know of at least 7 different species of protozoa. Because most of them cause little to no obvious sign of disease and are treatable with antibiotics we will just give a brief synopsis of each.
Coccidiosis
Transmits through animal feces
Infects the intestines
Symptoms are watery diarrhea that may become mucus covered and tinged with blood, loss of appetite and dehydration
Treat with antibiotics and antiprotozoal drugs
Giardiasis
Transmits through water that is contaminated by wildlife
Usually no obvious signs of disease
Symptoms are persistently bulky, smelly stools
Treat with antibiotics and antiprotozoal drugs
Toxoplasmosis
Transmits through undercooked or raw meat
Symptoms are fever loss of appetite, breathing difficulty, and swollen abdomen
Treat with antibiotics
Neospora Caninum
Known to transmit from mother to pup within the uterus via placenta
This is an emerging disease that is not understood. The life cycle is not established.
Symptoms appear in 3-6 month old puppies. They include muscle and nerve conditions ranging from lameness, sore muscles, muscle wasting and paralysis.
Drugs are being developed to treat this emerging disease.
Leishmaniasis
Transmission from Sand fly bites
The most serious infection caused by protozoa which causes the disease called Kala-Azar.
There are 2 types of this protozoa, the non fatal cutaneous form which causes crusty, dandruff y areas that may become discolored or ulcerated. And the almost always fatal visceral form which causes a loss of vigor, emaciated muscles, and damage to the liver and the spleen. Even when treated, the outlook for the dog is not good. It usually result in death.
Babesiosis
Transmitted by ticks
Symptoms include listlessness due to anemia and the passing of dark colored urine
Infection affects the red blood cells
Treated with antibiotics
American Trypanosomiasis
Transmits through a bloodsucking insect called 'kissing bugs'. The 'kissing bug' defecates while feeding which results in an itch. The host scratches and gets the feces into the wound.
Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, loss of coordination, may also affect heart muscles.
There is currently no treatments for this infection.
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