Salt for the Treatment of Roundworm in Dogs

Dogs that are consistently outside are vulnerable to a range of bacteria, viruses and parasite infections. One such parasite is the roundworm, which enters a dog's system to feed off its nutrition and tissues. Roundworms can cause serious problems, and you should treat the dog immediately.

  1. Roundworms

    • Roundworms almost always enter a dog's body through its mouth. They travel through the dog's digestive system and come to rest in its guts. There the worms latch onto the wall of the intestines to feed on the tissue and any passing nutrition. Roundworms can also move into other tissues, like the dog's liver and lungs.

    Symptoms

    • Roundworms that live in a dog's guts cause digestive interruptions, which result in diarrhea and weight loss, as well as dehydration. They can give the dog a pot-bellied appearance, and are often apparent in an infected dog's stool. Roundworms that move into a dog's lungs burrow into the tissue there and cause coughing and respiratory difficulties. In serious cases, they can cause pneumonia.

    Transmission

    • According to Mar Vista Vet, a dog may pick up roundworms in one of four ways: consuming eggs through infected soil, nursing from an infected dog as a puppy, consuming an infected rodent or fish, or as a direct transmission from its mother during embryonic development.

    Treatments

    • All internal worms necessitate quick and effective treatment. Deworming medications poison the worms, so the dog's body can excrete the parasites. Dogs who are outside and exposed to parasites should receive preventative doses of deworming medications.

    Salt as a Treatment

    • According to a paper by the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland, piparazine salts have been successful as a treatment for some roundworms in laboratory studies. This treatment is used solely for the removal of ascaridoid worms from a cat or dog's small intestine. The salts were fed as compressed tables or as tablets dissolved in water. The effects of these salts were akin to deworming medications, however this is not an accepted method of deworming a dog. Owners should not attempt this method at home.