Causes:
An adult dog gets parasites through eggs or spores in contaminated water, soil, food or feces.
Flea, tick, Mosquito bites, and ingestion
When comes in close contact with an infected dog
Puppies usually get intestinal parasites from their mother through the placenta and during nursing.
1. Tapeworms (cestodes) – Suburban, rural, and hunting dogs
Transmitted when a dog eats an infected flea
Taenia species, Echinococcus granulosus.
Spirometra mansonoides, Diphyllobothrium, and Mesocestoides species.
2. Roundworms ( ascarids) – young pups
Toxocara canis (pups), Toxascaris leonina (older dogs)
Puppies as early as 1 week get after birth (from the mother through placenta or nursing)
3. Hookworms
Ancylostoma caninum (tropical and subtropical areas of the world)
Ancylostoma braziliense (USA, Central, South America, and Africa)
Uncinaria stenocephala (cooler regions)
4. Whipworms
Trichuris vulpis- found in the colon and cecum
5. Protozoan parasites
Coccidia- canine Cystoisospora spp (microscopic protozoans that live in the intestinal wall)
Giardiasis: protozoan flagellate parasite Giardia is the most common intestinal parasite worldwide.
Mortality:
Intestinal parasites are only rarely serious in adult dogs, that too in weak, immunosuppressed, or in debilitated animals.
Prognosis:
For mild infestation, once treatments have begun a quick recovery can be assured. If there is a severe infestation, it will take longer for your dog to recover.
Always adhere to your veterinarian’s treatment plan and use medications as directed.
Most of the medications have to be repeated in two to three weeks to break the life cycle so that we don’t just get it again from the same source.