What is Deworming and Why is it Important For My Dog?

What is Deworming and Why is it Important For My Dog?

Why Should I Care About Deworming My Dog?

Dogs explore by sniffing, and taking a lick at anything in their paths. Because of this, they’re bound to pick up parasites. According to Pet WebMD, since they socialize and interact with the things around them with their mouths, they can pass along these parasites to their fellow dog and human companions. Read on to find how deworming for dogs is of utmost importance.

Worms Start Young

Worms are common in puppies, which is why vets recommend deworming when they’re 2 -3 weeks of age. Worms can be passed on from the mother to the pup before birth or soon after (via her milk). The deworming for puppies takes more than one dose – the first round to kill the worms present, and the second dose for the worms that will hatch a few weeks later. Afterwards, you can get your dog dewormed every 3-4 months to be safe.

Your dog could be at risk of having worms if they have an active outdoors lifestyle. Better safe than sorry!

Worm Check

As PetMD explains, your dog may have worms when your dog starts passing loose stools, or is vomiting, chewing or licking under his tail, and is losing weight. Worms can cause serious health problems, and even death. But don’t stress! There are plenty of ways to safely deworm your dog. The sooner you do so, the sooner they’ll feel better.

If you think your dog has worms, bring a fresh stool sample when you visit your vet, so that they can check if there’s a presence of worms or worm eggs.

Then, it’s identification time. The symptoms (and corresponding treatments) will depend on the kind of worm inside, and where it’s residing in your dog. If your vet suspects hookworms, your puppy may be given blood transfusions to prevent anemia, as hookworms drain blood from the intestine walls.

Common worms include roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms. They live in the intestines, so that’s often the first place your vet will look. Heartworms however, can live in the heart, lungs, and blood vessels. They’re transmitted by mosquitoes which carry the worms’ babies from one dog to another. A blood test will be done on your pup to check.

Worms Begone

Next, your vet will provide meds to your dog, via oral medicine or via an injection to kill the worms. A lot of these drugs are “broad-spectrum”, which only means they’re good from treating a wide range of worms. Don’t worry, they’re safe for pets.

Check when your next deworming dose is now! You can use the free Sploot iOS app to track reminders.

Sploot View: Worm Free = Worry Free

Prevention is better than cure. Keep your home and yard clean to control the pests that carry worms (e.g. fleas, mosquitoes) so that your dog remains infection-free. Consider investing in flea collars, or medicine to be applied on your dog’s skin. Keep your pet’s health records updated to keep track of your deworming schedule. As per Dogspot, it’s recommended to always deworm your dog, with frequency done according to their age (ex. For dogs 6 months old onwards, they should get dewormed every 3 months). With these in mind, you can protect your dog and community from possible infection.

Remind your vet to check your dog for worms at least once a quarter (and two to four times for puppies). With these tips in mind, you can protect your doggo and your family from possible infection.

Psst – Have you downloaded the Sploot app yet?

We’re pet parents, so we know the pains of managing manual medical records and forgetting deworming and vaccination appointments. That’s why we made sploot – an app that doubles up as a pet-care assistant.

With the sploot app, you can:

  1. Store your doggo’s medical records in one place
  2. Set reminders for important events – such as that monthly anti-tick bath!
  3. Easily access all sploot blog content whenever you need it

Best of all? It’s free! Download Now: https://sploot.space/community

Tell your dog we said hey!