Dog Internal Parasites

Dog internal parasites are creatures that feed off of your pet's intestinal tract. They consume nutrients essential to your pet's health. If left untreated, these worms effect all organs in your dog's body.

Prevention is always the best medicine. Take your dog's stool sample to your vet every six months for examination.

This can tell if there are parasites in your pet and what kind. You will be given a dewormer to give your pet and after a few doses, everything will come out in the end (excuse the pun).

Some of the most common dog internal parasites are:

Tapeworms These nasty creatures are visible to the eye and look like flat tubes. They are spread by fleas. Some parts of the tapeworm look like rice in the stool.

Your vet will give you medicine to get rid of these worms and good flea control should keep them away.

Roundworms Believe it or not, roundworms are so common that dogs are born with them. This is why breeders deworm their pups every few weeks until they are eight weeks old.

Roundworms can be passed from dogs to people, especially kids. The children become infested after putting their hands in their mouths after touching stool or grass or dirt with the parasites in it. Yuk!

Hookworms These worms thrive in warm, humid climates. And as the name implies, they have hooked teeth in their mouths that suck blood from the small intestine of your dog.

Signs of hookworm infestation are weight loss, diarrhea and weakness.

Whipworms These worms live in your dog's intestine and feed off it's blood. Again, the symptoms are diarrhea, weight loss and possibly anemia.

The best precautions for dog worms is to keep the yard picked up, don't let your dog get into other animal's feces and have stool checks done by your vet every six months.

Keeping your dog and children from being exposed these nasty parasites is much easier if you practice prevention from the beginning.