What to Do When a Dog Has Parasites

When you affectionately stroke your dog's soft fur, filled with love for it, suddenly notice that it frequently scratches its body, or there are small red dots under its fur, or even white bugs in its feces, worry and heartache instantly surge in your heart. Dogs cannot speak and can only convey to you through these abnormal behaviors that they are suffering from parasites. As the closest guardian of dogs, understanding how to deal with parasitic problems on their bodies is the key to providing them with timely help and care.

There are various types of parasites on dogs, mainly divided into internal parasites and external parasites. Parasites such as roundworms, tapeworms, and hookworms often hide in dogs' intestines, blood, or other organs. Ascaris worms are like white silk threads that parasitize in the intestines, plundering the nutrients ingested by dogs and affecting their growth and development. Taenia, on the other hand, is flat and composed of many segments. When a dog is infected with a tapeworm, segments resembling rice grains may be found around its anus or in its feces. Hookworms are relatively small, but they can enter the dog's body through the skin or mouth, attach to the intestinal wall to suck blood, causing anemia and weight loss in dogs.

External parasites such as fleas, ticks, mites, etc. are more easily detected by us. Fleas are small in size but very active, often shuttling between the fur of dogs. After biting the skin, they can cause itching, making dogs constantly scratch. In severe cases, they can also cause hair loss and redness. Ticks like to parasitize on the ears, neck, abdomen, and other parts of dogs. They tightly adhere to the skin and feed on blood. Some ticks may also carry viruses and spread diseases such as Lyme disease. Mites are divided into scabies mites and demodex mites. Scabies mites can cause severe itching on the skin, forming redness and scabbing; Demodex mites mainly parasitize in hair follicles and sebaceous glands, causing symptoms such as depilation, erythema, and dandruff on dog skin.

There are various ways in which dogs can be infected with parasites. Eating food or water contaminated with parasite eggs is a common way of infecting the body with parasites. For example, if a dog accidentally eats soil containing roundworm eggs outdoors, the eggs will hatch in the intestine and gradually develop into adult worms. Fleas, ticks and other ectoparasites are mainly infected through contact. When dogs play in grass or forests, fleas and ticks may actively jump onto them, searching for suitable locations to parasitize. Contact with other dogs infected with parasites can also increase the risk of infection.

Once signs of parasitic infection are found in dogs, timely treatment measures should be taken. For internal parasites, professional deworming drugs are needed. There are various types of deworming drugs with different ingredients and application ranges, so it is important to choose the appropriate medication under the guidance of a veterinarian based on the type of parasite infecting the dog. For example, insecticides containing ingredients such as praziquantel and fenbendazole can be used for roundworms and tapeworms; For hookworms, drugs containing albendazole and doramectin have better efficacy. According to the dosage and usage instructions in the manual, regularly feed deworming medication to dogs. Generally, puppies need to undergo internal deworming once a month, and adult dogs need to deworming once every three months.

Treating external parasites is equally important. If your dog is infected with fleas, you can use pet shower gel containing ingredients such as chlorpyrifos and fipronil. Regularly giving your dog a bath can effectively kill fleas. You can also use pet specific insecticide spray to evenly spray on the dog's hair before and after going out to form a protective film. For ticks, do not forcefully remove them by hand to prevent the tick's head from remaining in the dog's skin and causing infection. You can use tweezers to carefully remove the tick from the surface of the skin, ensuring that the tick's head is completely removed, and then disinfect the wound with iodine. If you are unsure how to operate, it is best to take your dog to a pet hospital and have a professional veterinarian handle it. Mite infection requires treatment with drugs containing ingredients such as ivermectin and doramectin, which may need to be applied to the dog's skin or taken a medicinal bath. The specific treatment method should be based on the advice of a veterinarian.

In addition to treatment, preventing dogs from contracting parasites is also crucial. Maintaining the cleanliness and hygiene of a dog's living environment is key. Regularly cleaning the dog's kennel, toys, and food bowl, cleaning the kennel at least once a week, and soaking and disinfecting the toys and food bowl in hot water can effectively reduce the breeding of parasites. Avoid exposing dogs to potentially contaminated environments, such as not letting them play in sewage, and try to avoid places with dense grass and high levels of parasites. Wearing deworming collars for dogs is also an effective preventive measure. deworming collars contain deworming ingredients that can continuously release and drive away external parasites such as fleas and ticks.

Parasites on dogs are a major threat to their health and a concern for their owners. In the process of treatment and prevention, the owner's careful observation, timely action, and patient care are the key to dogs getting rid of parasite troubles. Every time we examine its body, deworming it on time, and cleaning its living environment, it is a manifestation of our deep love for it. I hope every dog can stay away from the invasion of parasites, grow up healthy and happy under the care of its owner, and continue to accompany us through every beautiful day.