Parasites & Diarrhea in Dogs

Intestinal parasites, a common cause of canine diarrhea, are typically transmitted through contact with contaminated feces or a contaminated water source. While not all parasites can pass from animal to human, roundworms and hookworms do also infect people. Prevention is essential but, if infection is already present, immediate treatment for your dog and sanitization of the living area are crucial to containment.

  1. Roundworms

    • The eggs are the most infectious part of the roundworm. They can incubate for several weeks in the ground and pass to another animal host through ingestion if that animal licks soil or grass where an infected animal has defecated. Many puppies carry roundworm at birth, having contracted them from their mothers while in utero. Deworming is the usual treatment.

    Hookworms

    • Hookworms are blood sucking parasites that infect your dog's small intestine. They are most likely to attach to puppies and either chronically ill or geriatric dogs. Puppies can contract hookworms while in utero or while nursing from an infected bitch; hookworms can also pass through the skin of its host to another animal where the skin comes in contact with feces-contaminated soil or sand. Deworming is used to treat hookworm infections as well.

    Tapeworms

    • Your dog can contract tapeworm by biting and swallowing infected fleas and lice. The risk of contracting tapeworm increases when flea infestation is high. A tapeworm infestation is easily identified by the presence of tapeworm segments, resembling pieces of rice, outside the anal area. As with roundworms and hookworms, deworming is the preferred treatment method.

    Coccidia

    • Coccidia are one-celled protozoans (one-celled creatures) that infect the lining of your dog's small intestine. They are spread when an animal eats the feces of an infected animal or the infected animal itself. Sulfa drugs are usually required to eliminate the infection.

    Giardia

    • Giardia, too, are one-celled organisms that invade the small intestine and cause explosive diarrhea in the infected animal. Dogs commonly contract it from drinking infected pond or stream water. Giardia can develop into a serious medical condition, requiring long-term metronidazole treatment.