Roundworms

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forkin14
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Roundworms

Post by forkin14 »

Cadence has had bad diarrhea the past two days so the vet told us to bring in a sampled of her feces. I brought it there last night just as they were closing so no vet was there to do the test. I got the results this morning and Cadence has roundworms. I was told by a vet-tech when I picked up her meds that dogs basically get them from the soil (which Cadence sometimes eats when I'm not looking). As the day has gone by, I've been thinking of questions I wanted to ask the vet. Well apparently they are very busy today dealing with lots of dogs&cats at the Humane Society and there wasn't a vet available to speak when I recently called (they told me to call back later, but I wanted to post this before I got called and got denied again!). I also tried googling this stuff but I couldn't get a clear answer..

SO my question is.. Are the eggs of the roundworm passed through a dogs feces? If so, does that mean she could potentially keep getting them since it was hard to clean up the poo in the yard since it was so watery (sorry, I know that sounded gross!)?
What can I do to make sure she doesn't keep getting them while on the medication?

And I'm pretty sure this is all because she was on prednisone for her swelling in her ears, which I read suppresses a dogs immune system :( She's never once had worms except for when she was a pup when we first got her at 8 weeks.

Any information on roundworms or any other worms that people should know about would be great!
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Nettle
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Re: Roundworms

Post by Nettle »

Worms and animals have evolved to live with each other - therefore it is incredibly hard to break the cycle and separate the two for any length of time. Just because anyone hasn't seen worms doesn't mean there aren't any. Dogs get worms from a number of sources.

All animals get worms. It isn't neglect or bad husbandry - it's just one of those things. The only way you can prevent animals getting worms is to keep them in a sterile bubble. No fun at all.

Therefore we need to work out a regular worming programme with our vet. What we use depends on where we live and the types of worms there. We need to worm regularly.


We can also feed the dog supplements that create a hostile gut environment for worms. It won't get rid of all the ones there, it won't stop new ones from joining the clan, but it will help.


There are several herbal supplements that can help create the hostile gut environment, but we have to use chemicals to worm our dogs too. I worm mine three times a year, but that may not be enough for where others live.

It's a huge subject - and fascinating - lots of information out there so do have a read around the subject.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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josie1918
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Re: Roundworms

Post by josie1918 »

Roundworms are not particularly resiliant, they are destroyed by the suns UV rays, and your heartworm preventative will take care of roundworms on a monthly basis. IF you are concerned by where the larvae may be hiding, you can wash the area with an iodine based cleaner or bleach solution. Other parasites taken care of by your monthly heart worm preventative are whip and hook worms. Tape worms require a different type of wormer, so if your dog eats a lot of "creatures" squirrels, rabbits etc. it would be a good idea to have your dog wormed rountinely for them as well.
Duffy Jones
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Re: Roundworms

Post by Duffy Jones »

Also remember that you want to take care of roundworms because they are a human health concern and children can get these. They get a form that travels through a cut and lodges in the eye. It is called ocular larval migrans and the kids loose their eye.

If you are on monthly heartworm prevention then it takes care of roundworms and many times the company will pay for the treatment of the round worms if you can prove you have bought the heartworm prevention. The companies are good about paying for the dewormer and re test.

Here is a link to the problem in children. So controlling round in dogs and cats helps to prevent humans from getting them.

https://health.google.com/health/ref/Vi ... va+migrans

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/b ... part=A4877

duf
Duffy Jones, DVM
Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital
[email protected]
www.peachtreehillsvet.com
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forkin14
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Re: Roundworms

Post by forkin14 »

She is on a monthly heartworm preventative, but I think when she started taking prednisone for the swelling in her ears, it suppressed her immune system. She hadn't gone anywhere new at all lately, just our backyard, so I'm pretty sure that was the cause.

Thanks for your responses everyone :D

She's off the prednisone, and on roundworm medicine. She is back to normal bathroom behavior thank goodness! and her energy has pepped up a bit!
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