Understanding hookworm in dogs and puppies

Understanding hookworm in dogs and puppies

Hookworms are unpleasant and dangerous parasites that can live inside an infected dog’s intestine. While they typically cause mild symptoms in adult animals, they can be much more serious in puppies.

Once inside your dog, hookworms ‘hook’ themselves onto the wall of your pet’s small intestine and feed on its blood, leaving small ulcers where they’ve been attached. The blood loss can be very severe, even life threatening in puppies.

How your dog can get hookworm 

Infected dogs pass hookworm eggs out with their faeces. These eggs hatch into larvae (immature hookworms). Your dog can become infected by swallowing hookworm larvae when sniffing, digging or playing amongst contaminated dirt or grass. Hookworm larvae can burrow through your dog’s skin, particularly their paws, which can become sore and inflamed. Dogs can also become infected with hookworm larvae from eating infected animals like rodents or birds.

Once in the dog’s gut, hookworm larvae grow into adult hookworms and latch onto the gut wall to feed and lay new eggs, starting the cycle all over again.

Sometimes hookworm larvae find their way into dogs’ muscle where they become dormant and escape regular worming treatments. These larvae can later become reactivated. When this happens during pregnancy, the reactivated larvae can travel to the mammary gland and infect puppies through their mother’s milk. This is why it is so important to regularly worm your puppy.

DID YOU KNOW?

Hookworm can affect humans, too. People can become infected by ingesting hookworm larvae, or by larvae in the soil burrowing into our skin - this causes irritation of the skin and can result in gastrointestinal disease if the larvae reach the intestine. One of the hookworms, A. ceylanicum, can even grow and develop in peoples' intestines, and pass the eggs in the stool, continuing infection to the family.

Signs of a hookworm infestation

Dogs with hookworm infestation may have:

Your vet can make a diagnosis by looking for hookworm eggs in a faecal sample from your dog and checking your dog for anaemia with a blood test.

How to prevent hookworm in your dog 

Picking up, bagging and disposing of your dog’s faeces will help reduce contamination in your garden or the local park of hookworm larvae (as well as the larvae and eggs of other dog parasites).

It’s also highly recommended to use a regular deworming treatment.

Up to 8 weeks of age

Many puppies are infected with hookworm from their mother’s milk, so it’s important to start treating them from 2 weeks of age. Milbemax^TM tablets are an example of a popular product for deworming dogs, including young puppies, and has been trusted by vets for over 20 years. Milbemax can be used in puppies from 2 weeks of age and 0.5kg.

From 8 weeks of age

From 8 weeks of age, the ideal approach to deworming will vary depending on factors like location, your dog’s health and lifestyle, and the type of treatment you prefer. Options include:

For more information on the best way to protect your puppy from hookworms and other parasites, consult your veterinarian. You can also get more information on the deworming process here.

Always read and follow label directions.