Hookworms in Dogs - Symptoms and Treatment

The hookworms appear quite frequent in dogs’ diseases. In the majority of cases, the puppies are the ones that get infected. The hookworms are some small internal parasites which are able to cause death, especially in the puppies.

Old dogs rarely get infected with the hookworms. And if they do, the infection is not that severe and it cures quickly. A dog owner should always protect the dog from these parasites because they can cause serious damage.

Appearance of hookworms in dogs

Besides hookworms, dogs also can get tapeworms, roundworms, and whipworms. The hookworms are most of the times caused by some infested soil that has worms. The dog can eat the eggs of the worm. These larvae then are able to go into the lungs and then the whole pet’s bloodstream.

But after they infest the body, all the larvae will return to the pet’s intestines. That is the place where they become adults. As they do that, they also try to reverse the course again and they do that by causing serious damage.

Symptoms of the hookworms in dogs

The owners should overlook the dog and notice any kind of symptoms of hookworm infestation. The most common symptoms are weight loss, anemia, progressing weakness and diarrhea.

The Hookworm symptoms happen when the pet already ahs the adult worms inside. This is bad because it is the final stage of the infestation. The larvae do not cause symptoms that will alarm the owner of the infestation. The worst is when the larvae are dormant inside the dog bitches. When they have puppies, the worms will get easily transferred to them and they could kill them. A hookworm infestation is not fatal for the adult dogs and it can be treated so easily. But in small dogs and puppies, that have a low immune system, it can be deadly.

The treatment of this disease

The vet is the only person who can make an accurate diagnosis. He will do that by taking a close look at the pet’s feces. The best treatment is to give the dog some de-wormer medication. Usually there are some pills that need to be ingested by the dog. The medication slowly poisons the bad worms and makes the dog better. But be careful about respecting the dosage. If you give him the pills in a larger dosage, it can kill the dog.

Most of the adult dogs get this type of infestation a few times in their lives. Most of the dogs that go out a lot get this disease. So, from time to time, if you are the owner, check the dog’s stool for signs of hookworms and any other parasites.