Can Worms Stunt The Growth Of A Dog?

hookworm in puppy

Worms can stunt the growth of a puppy!

When we were kid our parents use to tell us that if we do not wash our hands properly that we get worms. This is probably true. Because human parasites are result of dirty hands or dirty food we take in (usually not very cleaned fruits).

Does it mean that it is because of dirty paws of dogs? No, it is not. The parasites in dogs are result of number of reasons, it could be because of the food, sniffing, playing in dirt etc. The swallowed eggs go inside with the food where the pass unto intestines of the pup. The intestines provide an ideal condition for all the eggs to hatch and develop in to worms. The worms inside does not only restrict themselves to intestines but jump in to bloodstream and travel to other organs like liver, lungs, brain and kidney. The larvae may live up to 1 or 2 years inside the womb of your dog depending upon its type.

What you need to know about worms

As human babies are more exposed to diseases than an adult. Same goes for our dogs, the puppies are fragile, have less developed bones, less developed tissues or muscles and above all less developed immune system. As soon as they develop the worms inside them, the worms would cause various infections; especially they would cause intestinal infections which could even lead to death if not address properly.

The most common result of the presence of these worms is loss of appetite, fever, pain or cramps in belly of pup. Vomiting on regular basis, diarrhea with clear blood etc. are signs. All of these issues directly or indirectly will result in loss of weight or major halt in growth of the puppy. It will attribute to poor appearance for the dog. The dog hair will look drier and its physique will look more like skeleton.

Serious Consequences of not deworming your puppy

According to PETMD website, Presence of roundworms, whipworms, and tapeworms in puppies can result in serious consequences. These consequences would effect bone weakening and muscle weakening. And if worms are not control then at extreme cause they could kill your pet. Especially young pups. One average, a small puppy having worms’ issues would weigh .5 to .7 pounds less than other puppies of its age. This can increase dramatically if left unattended. It could also lead to the death of your puppy. Deworming is very important, do not neglect this part of taking care of a Puppy.

This is the result of malnutrition as the puppy would not be in any mood to eat and will be less interested to participate in healthy activities. The parasitism would also result in shorter length of your dog. Research reveals that the size of dogs with parasitism is much smaller than any dog which has not faced that issue during the growth period. Lastly, probably the head or the face is one the cutest part of any dog which we all love to kiss and look. But paying attention to poop can help you determine if the dog has worms or not. Due to worms’ issues, the overall weight and size of pups or adult dogs would appear much smaller. The bones would also be very weak and so are other vital abilities like seeing, listening power etc. 

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