Natural Treatment for Dog Worm Infestation

As a dog owner, you should be very responsible in taking care of your dog's health and protecting it from diseases ranging from mild allergies to severe heart attacks. Dogs are very susceptible to internal parasites, which are often referred to as dog worms. Severe dog worm infestation, if left untreated, can result in the death of the infected dog.

So, it is very important for dog owners to identify the signs and symptoms of a worm infestation and also to know the preventive measures. Specifically, there are five different worms which dogs fall prey to.

These are roundworms (Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina), hookworms (Ancylostoma caninum), whipworms (Trichuris vulpis), tapeworms (Dipylidium caninum), and heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis). All these worms except heartworms live in the intestines of dogs. Heartworms, as the name suggests, live within the heart and the blood vessels.

Some of the worms are zoonotic, i.e. they can be transmitted to humans and other animals also. Once a dog gets infested with worms, it starts showing different and unusual signs.

Given below are some of the common symptoms of a dog worm infestation. If your dog shows any of these signs and symptoms, you should immediately consult your veterinarian.

• Scruffy or dull coat
• Pot-bellied appearance
• Weight loss
• Appetite loss
• Coughing

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Sluggishness
• Restlessness
• Abdominal pain
• Anemia
• Bloody stools
• High blood pressure
• Congestive heart failure

There are many ways to get rid of dog worms. Treatment of dog worms actually depends upon the species of the infested worm. If you suspect that your dog has worms, consult your veterinarian to perform a stool test. Treatment can be done either by following artificial medicines or natural remedies. 

Artificial treatments are harmful in the long run as continuous deworming makes the dogs resistant to specific medicines. Thus, afterwards, there will be no effect of the particular medicine on the dog. Also, it weakens the immune system of dogs. In fact, natural methods are always better as they have little or no side effects.

A combination of the proper natural remedy, healthy diet, and regular exercise will treat dog worms faster. Some of the most important natural remedies are listed below.

Garlic: Garlic is mostly used due to its medicinal properties. You can give garlic to your dog moderately. This will help in the internal parasite expulsion, mostly the intestinal worms.

Garlic also increases the immunity and reduces the dog's cholesterol level.

Wormwood: Wormwood has calming properties and is a digestive tonic. Feeding wormwood to your dog will help in worm expulsion.

Fennel: Fennel helps in the intestinal worm expulsion. It also helps in improving the immune system.

Clove: Clove is a strong antiparasitic, which helps in detoxifying the dog worms.

Pumpkin Seeds: Tapeworm infestation in dogs is mostly treated by feeding freshly-ground white pumpkin seeds.

Oregon Grapes: Oregon grape tincture is used to treat intestinal worms.

It is always better to follow the rule, "prevention is better than cure". You can take up certain preventive measures, like puppies should be dewormed every 15 days until they are six months old. After six months, deworming should be done yearly. In addition, a stool analysis should be done once in a year. Educate yourself on how to take care of dogs and also their health-related problems. Take the advice of your veterinarian before giving your pet any medication.