Worming Puppies
Unweaned puppies are hardly ever infected with tapeworms, but they are particularly at risk from roundworms, transmitted both via their mother’s milk and from other pups in the litter. That’s why puppies should be wormed every fortnight, up to 12 weeks of age, and then every month until you pup is 6 months old, and then every 3 months.
If your puppy is thriving well, you can start worming at age 2 weeks.
There are various worming medications on the market. Numerous deworming products are effective. Some are over the counter and some are prescription.
Drontal is a very good wormer for pups and dogs (very well known in breeding circles). You can buy it direct from your vet, but might be cheaper from amazon. They have full instructions on the bottle, but for information it is 1ml of suspension per 1kg weight of puppy. Easily measured by drawing up into a syringe and either squirted directly into pups mouth or put on their food.
ROUNDWORMS (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina) are the most common type of worm to infect the animal .. These worms are usually 2 – 4 inches long, tan or white “spaghetti-like” creatures with tapered ends. If a roundworm burden is heavy, a dog may vomit these worms or pass them (whole) in the stool. Roundworms can cause vomiting and diarrhea and can have an effect on a dog’s overall general health and appearance.
Puppies infected with roundworms will have a “potbellied” look . Roundworms can become so numerous that they can cause an intestinal blockage and stool cannot pass.
Roundworms can also be transferred to humans which can cause an infection known as “Visceral Larva Migrans”, which may result in possible inflammation of muscle tissue and blindness.
It is therefore absolutely essential that you worm your puppy regularly, and also continue to do so when your dog is an adult, although you can worm adult dogs less frequently.
Another type of worm problem to look out for in puppies (and dogs), is lungworm.
The lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum (also known as French Heartworm) is a parasite that infects dogs. The adult of this particular lungworm lives in the heart and major blood vessels supplying the lungs, where it can cause a host of problems. Left untreated, the infection can often be fatal.
The lungworm parasite is carried by slugs and snails. The problem arises when dogs purposefully or accidentally eat these common garden pests when rummaging through undergrowth, eating grass, drinking from puddles or outdoor water bowls, so from a very early age you must be vigilant and not allow your pup to eat slugs or snails.
If your dog displays symptoms of lungworm, which I will go through in the next paragraph, you MUST take them to the vets as normal worm tablets/suspension will not kill this particular worm.
Symptoms of lungworm include; coughing, tiredness, anaemia, pale round inside of eyelids and gums, nose bleeds, weight loss, poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, depression and fits.