Worms

By Dr Steve Surujbally

Sorry folks! From one gruesome topic to another. Today, we’ll begin a series of articles that deal with intestinal parasites, which are arguably the major cause of ailment among our nation’s pets.

There are many different types of worms. However, we’ll concentrate on the Round-worms, Hookworms, and Tapeworms.
But before we zero in on these parasites, let us share some data that are common to all helminth (worm) infestations.

Firstly, it is important that we understand that an animal is not necessarily sick just because it has some worms in its intestines. This is especially true for adult dogs. How often we do not see worms as a coincidental finding during a post-mortem examination of a dog that died because of other known causes. On other occasions, routine faecal (stool) examinations reveal eggs of worms, yet the host animal exhibits perfect health. In fact, there are those who argue that some worms should always be allowed to inhabit the gut, and that we should never try to create, via anthelminthics (anti-worm chemicals), a totally worm-free intestine. Obviously, if a worm burden is creating metabolic upsets or is making the animal ill, then we must try to eliminate them. This is easier said than done.