Five Ways That Your Vet Can Help Your Dog With A Worm Infection
Posted on: 30 November 2022
A worm infection is a common problem for dogs. Worms are parasites that live in your dog's intestines and feed on the nutrients that would otherwise be digested by your dog.
Worms can cause many problems, including weight loss, diarrhoea, vomiting and even death if left untreated. Here are five ways your vet can help:
1. Your Vet Can Perform A Physical Exam
The first step is to find out what kind of worms are in your pet's body. Some dogs have more than one type of worm, so it's important to know which kind you're dealing with so that the right treatment can be prescribed. Your vet will perform a physical exam on your dog to look for external signs of worms. This can include things like red spots on the skin, diarrhoea and vomiting, nervousness and loss of appetite.
2. Your Vet Can Perform A Stool Sample Analysis
Your vet will take a sample of your dog's stool and send it to a lab where it will be analysed by pathologists. They will look at different types of worms in order to determine which ones may be causing the problem in your dog's body.
3. Your Vet Can Perform Blood Tests
Some worms can move around in the body and hide in areas that are difficult for vets to see during a physical exam. In order for vets to determine what kind of worms are present in your dog's body, they must perform blood tests on the animal so they can look at its white blood cells under a microscope and see what kind of parasites are inside them.
4. Your Vet Can Perform An Endoscopy
If your vet suspects that your dog has roundworms and pinworms, they may perform an endoscopy. This is a procedure where they insert a small camera into their stomach in order to look at the lining of their digestive tract.
5. Your Vet Can Prescribe Medications
Your veterinarian will likely prescribe oral medications or injectable medications to kill off the worms in your dog's intestines and bloodstream. This can take several weeks or months depending on how long it takes for your pet's system to clear out all of the infested tissue and get rid of all traces of the parasite. In severe cases where there are hundreds or thousands of worms present in the body, your vet may recommend surgery as well as medication to make sure that every last one is eliminated from your pet's system.
While you can give your dog worm medicine at home, it's best to take him or her to the vet for regular checkups and treatment. Contact your vet to learn more.
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