About Worms

Worms are the disgusting little things that are an alarm for help if present in the pets.

Worms are parasites that drain the pet’s blood and nutrition. It is one of the most common infections in the pets.

Different kinds of worms can be seen in the pet’s body like roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. Round shaped parasites i.e. roundworms, hookworms and whipworms are also known as nematodes. While flat ones i.e. tapeworms are known as cestodes, which are of 2 kinds - echinococcus and taenia. Dogs commonly get hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, and tapeworms. Cats commonly get roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms, but not whipworms.

The symptoms of the existence of gastrointestinal worms in dogs and cats range with the severity and the type of worms present. Some of the signs are:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Coughing
• Weight loss
• Lethargy
• Bloated belly
• Dry fur coat
• Anemia (in severe cases)

What do you think causes these infections in the pets? Reason about all that you can and especially about your canine and feline’s health. The cause of infection guides you to the proper treatment that will cure your pet at the earliest. There are several causes of gastrointestinal worms, some of which are:

Ingestion of eggs:

Worms lay eggs anywhere in the ground, soil, mud, bedding, flooring etc. A dog or cat at any moment can lick these surfaces and ingest the worm eggs. Since the eggs are microscopic they are not easily visible to the naked eyes and thus causes infection to the pet.

By birth

It happens a lot when the infection is genetic and is obtained in the womb of the mother. This can also be passed on to the newborn pup or kitten while feeding them at the initial stages of their life. The eggs once entered in the pet’s body causes intestinal distress.

From immediate host

Immediate hosts are a big threat in many ways. First, they themselves are harmful for the pets and secondly, they carry various parasitic infections and with one bite can infect the pet. Immediate hosts are generally small insects like fleas and ticks.

We will discuss about the types of worms in details in the next part.