Worming your pets

Worming tablets must be administered to your pets on a regular basis, as the presence of worms in your pet can be very destructive and detrimental to their health. Worms are internal parasites that if left untreated can cause serious illness and even death.

There are a few different varieties of worm that can affect a dog or cat. Roundworms live in the small intestine as well as the blood vessels and sometimes even the respiratory tract. They are particularly harmful to puppies and they feed on the contents of the stomach. Infected puppies and dogs can contract hepatitis, pneumonia, obstruction to the gut and sometimes suffer from fits. They can even travel to humans and in some cases have been known to cause disease.

Tapeworms are another problem. If a dog is dragging its bottom then it is likely they are suffering from tapeworms and should be wormed immediately. Although tapeworms don’t cause serious illness and don’t travel to humans generally from pets, they do cause irritation and itchiness to your pet. That is why regular worming tablets are still very important.

Dog wormers like drontal worming tablets are inexpensive and available either at an online pet pharmacy, from the local veterinarian or even at some supermarkets and chemists.

Regular worming of around once every 3 months is the optimum approach to worming both cats and dogs. Worming tablets kill anything currently present within a cat or dog but reinfection is likely. Kittens and puppies should be wormed at 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks and then every 3 months after that.

Drontal worming tablets are effective at killing the parasites and removing all worms. Other actions that owners can take is disposing of all animal droppings quickly, controlling fleas on your pets, cleaning all bedding and food bowls regularly and avoiding being licked by your pet.

Have any of our readers got any advice on dealing with fleas and worms? Are there any particular products you can recommend? Send in your comments below.