Eating feces or soils
One of the common reasons and the easiest way to get (hookworms, roundworms or whipworms) is eating soils or feces coming from other animals, since this latter may contain parasites, worms or even worm’s eggs, that your dog may consume and that can lead him to have intestinal worms.
When those eggs or larvae get to the small intestine for roundworms or to the upper part of the large intestine for whipworms, they get to maturity, which can be developed to infections or some serious health problems.
Getting them from their mother
If a dog is pregnant, you should check first if she’s infected, because it’s known that hookworms and roundworms can be transmitted to the puppy during pregnancy or through lactation. It’s very serious for a puppy to have intestinal worms, that’s why a worming treatment is a must.
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Swallowing fleas while grooming
In the process of grooming, your dog may get infected by the fleas that live in their fur. Fleas can carry worm’s eggs or larvae, which can be developed into adult in the dog’s intestine. In order to prevent that from happening, you should keep up with your dog’s flea prevention program.
Symptoms of heartworm in dogs
Dogs’ owners tend to know that their dogs should be on worm prevention treatment, but when symptoms of infections show, it means the disease has already spread, because these symptoms show when the worm reach maturity , which it takes up to 6 months. And this disease is known to be deadly, that’s why you should pay attention to your pet in case one of these symptoms shows up.
1/ Dry unproductive cough:
When the heartworms make their way to the lungs, they start reproducing there, and surrounding the veins, which cause the dry cough we’re talking about, that your dog usually have after exercising.
2/ Inactivity or laziness
If you notice that your pet became weak, and got lazy, that probably means that he is sick, because dogs with heartworms infections tend to be weaker and lose interest in any activity that needs efforts.
3/ Weight loss and loss of appetite
When the disease spreads, it becomes difficult for dogs to eat or even enjoy their food, and that will cause them weight loss. If you notice that your dog has lost weight or that he can’t eat like he used to do, you should immediately take him to the vet for a check up.
4/ Difficulty breathing
Having difficulties in breathing, or what seems like an asthma attack, can be explained as having heartworms infection. This problem is due to the difficulty that the lungs face in order to oxygenate the blood.
5/ Distended chest
Once you notice that your dog’s chest got protruded and the ribs started to appear due to the weight loss, it might be a sign that the lungs are filled with fluids due to the parasite’s presence.
6/ Allergic reactions
Sometimes dogs can exhibit some kind of an allergic reaction, which can detect that the dog suffers from an infection.
7/ Collapsing or fainting
Once the heartworms get to the heart, they can cause a blockage of blood flow, which means the dog may faint from it.
For collapsing, it happens due to the destruction of red blood cell. In this case, your dog might die within days.
How to prevent your dog from getting worms
Our pets love to discover and do outdoors activities, which lead them to eating and licking from soils, where we can find mosquitos, worms or bugs. That’s why we should keep an eye on them and have a regular routine to prevent them from having worm infections. And be aware of how to cure heartworms in dogs.
You may find here some of the ways used to keep your dog healthy:
1/ Deworming:
Deworming is known as a must when a puppy is born or adopted, it might be an oral medication or injection, in order to get rid of any worms that already existed in their bodies. And if your pet get infected, you can go to the vet and get them a medication again
2/Routine checkups
We advise any pet owner to have a yearly checkup with the veterinarian, that way you could be aware if your dog is in danger or have any disease. During those checkups, the vet may take a blood test to detect any kind of infestation such as heartworms in dogs.
3/Routine prevention
When you go for a checkup, the veterinarian will provide you of methods you can use regularly to prevent your dog from fleas, mosquitoes or worms, using a parasite control product or injections.
4/Clean environment
You should keep the areas your dog go to clean, by picking their feces once they’re done, keep them away from garbage and also from other animal’s feces, in order to have a clean and safe environment to prevent some kind of infection.
And if you touch any other pet, make sure you clean your hands properly before touching your dog.
Heartworm medicine for dogs
Advantage multi
It is a well known flea treatment, it is capable of preventing numerous kind of worms (heartworms, whipworms, hookworms and also roundworms).
Advantage multi, should be done monthly and make sure that your dog is dry before taking the treatment.
HeartGard Plus
This medicine is popular for its ability to kill any heartworms larvae before they can reach maturity, since it contains Pyrantel and Ivermectin, adding to that , it can also destroy some species of roundworms, hookworms, mange and slice.
As well as Advantage multi, this treatment should be taken monthly hidden in your pet’s food or as a treat if your dog doesn’t have a problem with it.
Tri-Heart Plus
If you’re looking for a medicine with the same ingredients as HeartGard Plus and definitely cheaper, you should use Tri-Heart Plus. It has also a delicious taste and easy application for your dog since it is a chewable tablet.
Interceptor Plus
The most popular ingredient in this medicine is Milbemycin Oxime, which has the ability to destroy heartworm, hookworms, whipworms and also roundworms.it should be taken monthly.
Adding to that, it has a chicken flavour, which make it easy to chew.
ProHeart 6
This is a treatment against heartworms, which can be effective for six months straight, people chose this one fearing to forget about having monthly treatment, and it’s also FDA approved for the prevention of dog’s heartworms. In order to get this medicine, it should be administered by the vet. Which is not the case for other medicines, since they’re heartworm prevention for dogs without vet prescription.
