We commonly hear that it’s a good idea to worm our adult dogs every 3 months…..but why?

There are two main reasons – potential illness in your dog, and the potential risk to human health from worm infections.

There are many different types of worms that our dogs can pick up in their daily lives. Mostly they contract these by licking or eating things that aren’t particularly pleasant!

Essentially there are two main types of worms – round worms and tapeworms. Some other types exist, including lungworm, but are less common.

The majority of dogs will only have mild infections with worms in their lives. Most of these will happen when they are puppies. This is because many puppies are born already infected with worms from their mother, and their young immune systems can’t fight them off as effectively as adults.

Worm infections in puppies or adults can cause problems with digestion, and therefore often cause vomiting, diarrhoea or weight loss.

Some rarer worm infections can cause serious disease. One of these examples is lungworm – infection with which can cause all manner of symptoms in your dog and can sometimes make them very sick. This worm is often found most commonly in the South of the UK, and dogs become infected by licking snails, slugs or frogs in the garden.

Dogs can be infected with worms when they are young or old, with a variety of mild to severe illness. It’s very easy to treat your dogs for worms by giving them anthelmintic medication, usually in the form of tablets in their food or liquid that you put on your dog’s neck. You need to ask your vet which is the best treatment for your dog, as there are many available and different drugs treat different worms. It’s also very important that you have an accurate weight for your dog so that the dose is correct.

The other very important reason why we treat dogs for worms is that some worm infestations can cross over and infect humans. Tapeworms can cause cysts to develop in the liver or brain, which is very serious. Some roundworms found in dog faeces can cause infections in the eyes of children, which in severe cases can affect their vision.

It’s these human health risks that mean we thoroughly recommend your dog is wormed at least every three months. It’s also why we all have to carry doggie bags with us on our walks!




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