Importance of Deworming

One of the most basic pet care responsibilities is to ensure that your pets are free from internal worms. Two important reasons for controlling worms are the debilitating physical effect on the animal especially in puppies and to minimize or eliminate the risk of human infections with some of the parasites. Most pet owners are familiar with worms namely, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and whipworms.. Just like people, dogs receive a certain degree of immunity (known as maternal immunity) that is passed from their mothers at birth and also shortly thereafter through her milk.

Intestinal parasites are most common in puppies. Worms can pass from mother to baby before birth or soon after, through her milk. Because of this  all puppies should be dewormed aggressively starting at about three to four weeks of age with treatments repeating about every 2 weeks at 4, 6, and 8 weeks of age. The first round kills the worms that are there at the time. The second kills those that hatch a few weeks later.  . Nursing bitches   should be treated concurrently with the first treatment of their offspring as they often develop patent infections at this time. For adult dogs studies have shown that worming four times a year does not necessarily eliminate patent infections, while a monthly worm treatment can largely prevent patent infections as it takes into account the biology of the parasites. 

 In cases of increased risk (such as a kennels or households where there are children) monthly treatment can minimize the risk .Many of the dewormers  are described as “broad-spectrum,” because they’re good for treating a wide range of parasites.

If your dog lives in an area where exposure to various kinds of worms is very high it is a good idea to deworm your dog or puppy every three to six months throughout its life. Periodical faecal examination also helps us to assess the worm infestation of your pet.