THE ENEMY WITHIN

I`ve been asked to cover "some of the basics" - so let`s start with a really squirmy one!


"The only individuals entitled to refer to themselves as `we` are the Queen and a person with worms"
(Old Saying)

He`s just been sick. Everywhere. And you don` t even remember feeding him spaghetti.........certainly not spaghetti that seems to be trying to make a getaway across the floor. Could it be?

Yes, worms.- most dogs have them at some time or another. Thanks to modern treatments they don`t really pose the risk that they used to, provided you keep up the care. Old fashioned wormers were so toxic that often the cure was worse than the disease, but those days have gone. So you can read the following without shuddering........can`t you?



ROUNDWORMS
These are the "spaghetti" ones. A dog which is carying them will deposit them from time to time in his faeces, and if he is really infested he may cough them up as well. In fact the adult dog carries a "worm burden" without too many symptoms unless he is really heavily laden with them. There are two main kinds of dog roundworm, but since our main interest is in getting rid of them, I propose to lump them together and deal mainly with the more difficult one - if you treat one, you treat the other anyway.

The worm life cycle is complicated, and you probably don`t want to hear about it in detail, but understanding the basics does explain why it seems impossible to really get rid of roundworms..

The worm eggs are excreted by wormy dogs, and can be picked up by any animal, including other dogs. Then the worm egg hatches and the young worm enters a larval stage and encysts (curls up inside a protective covering) in the dog`s internal tissues. At this stage we can`t get at it. Our treatments only affect active worms in the dog`s stomach. When the worm leave this encysted stage - and they can stay like that for years - they can migrate to the lungs, when they are coughed up and swallowed back into the gut, where they grow and mate, or, if in a pregnant bitch, they migrate into the puppies. When the bitch is feeding puppies, worms can infect them through the milk

. Now you see why, however often we worm, and especially however often we worm our bitches, there is always a stage of development at which these worms are quite safe from us, no matter how often we give the treatment. That`s why we always have to worm puppies.

A bad infestation can kill a puppy. The typically wormy puppy is not growing well, and when looked at from above has a "pear-shaped" look - his whole gut is distended with worms, and they are living on the nourishment he needs. In addition they can cause diarrhoea and pneumonia. He will be vomiting worms and they will be visible in his droppings.

Most puppies show none of these symptoms, but you can take it for granted that there will be some worms and they should be wormed regularly anyway. There are four basic drugs available, they all work, and unlike the old ones, they do not distress the dog. There is no excuse for not worming.



TAPEWORM
This sounds worse, but actually isn`t. A badly affected dog may lose weight and energy. He may shed part or all of a worm.

Tape worms are flat and segmented . They have a round hooked head and they attach them selves to the stomach lining by these hooks and there they grow longer and longer....... You really don`t want to see a picture of one.........Segments are shed and if you examine the dog`s anus closely - one of those jobs you love - you can see them, like flattish grains of rice, sometimes moving slowly. They are irritating, and the dog may drag his bottom along the ground (although there can be other reasons for this). Sometimes a dog will vomit up a whole one. Fleas can be involved with tapeworm infestation.

The answer is as before - worm your dog. It`s safe and effective. In the case of the tapeworm there is no encysted stage, so a good worming gets rid of the whole problem.

A last word on worming. There is a theory that worms may develop a resistance to a regularly used worming drug. The answer is simple - ring the changes and shock the worms with something new. There are four different chemicals to choose from so make sure the new product contains a different drug.. Keep up the good work!