Worms

Worming is one of the first health care issues new dog owners need to address, as puppies are very susceptible to these parasites. Routine worming needs to continue for a dogs’ lifetime. There are two broad categories of worms that can affect our pet dogs; intestinal worms and heartworms.

Our Worming Program

Do you have the best intentions of keeping on top of your dogs’ worming needs, but find that ‘life’ sometimes gets in the way?

We are pleased to offer our patients a great prevention program for year round protection against gastrointestinal worms that requires very little effort on your behalf! Our Worming Program is implemented at your dogs’ annual health check, keeping them protected against worms for the entire year. Every three months you will receive your dogs’ required dose of worming tablets in the mail. All you have to do is give them to your dog with their next meal – how easy is that? Our chosen preventative will provide protection against roundworm, whipworm, hookworm and tapeworm – making it an ‘all in one’ intestinal worm solution.

The Dog Clinic believes prevention is key in protecting pets and ourselves against parasites.

If you are interested in joining our exclusive Worming Program, please speak to a team member at your dogs’ next check-up.

Intestinal Worms

As their name suggests, intestinal worms are parasites that live inside the dogs’ intestines. These worms range in size from microscopically small to surprisingly large (up to 18cm in length!). Regardless of their size however, all worms have negative health implications, and in severe cases can contribute to morbidity.

It is important to maintain routine worming prevention for your dog to reduce the incidence of infection and to reduce environmental contamination. There are many different types of worming treatment available for the various worm infestations that occur in our dogs. These are available as tablets, ‘spot-ons’, or chews/pastes. Re-infection is a common problem, particularly in dogs that are in contact with a heavily contaminated environment.

Another very important reason to worm your dogs is to protect your family; as children in particular are susceptible to infection with certain intestinal worms. Most species of animal (including humans) can be infected with intestinal worms.

Common species of intestinal worms in Australian pets are:

Roundworm
Tapeworm
Whipworm
Hookworm

Symptoms of a worm burden in dogs can include:

Weight loss, or inability to maintain body condition
Scooting (dragging their bottom along the ground)
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Lethargy caused by Anaemia (low red blood cell level)

Below are some tips to consider regarding intestinal worm prevention:

Promptly clean up dog faeces, both at home and in public spaces
Practice good hand hygiene; always ensure children wash their hands regularly (especially after playing in dirt or sandpits, playing with pets and prior to eating or drinking)
Prevent children from playing where the soil may be contaminated (eg. dog parks)
Keep your dog’s environment clean

The Dog Clinic stocks a range of parasite prevention products. Please call us to discuss the best worming prevention for your dog.

Heartworm

Heartworm, or Dirofilaria immitis, is a parasite that is spread by mosquitoes, so your dog does not even need to be in contact with other pets to become infected.

Thankfully, heartworm is not prevalent in Tasmania, so we do not recommend routine treatment for local dogs. It is, however, present throughout most of mainland Australia.

Consequently, if you are taking your dog on holidays to the mainland or are moving permanently, it will be necessary to give heartworm prevention before, during and after your travel.