Read time: 2 mins
08 Apr 2021
By Team Butternut Box
Puppies can harbour various kinds of worms, with roundworm and tapeworm being the most common. Mostly, they don’t cause any noticeable effect on your pup’s health unless they have a significant burden, (like pups from puppy farms), when they may appear in poor condition with a lot of digestive upsets, a pot belly and weight loss.
Worms can affect people too which is why regular worming, especially of puppies, (as they are the most significant carriers of roundworm), is so important.
Roundworms are the most common type of wriggler found in puppies. They are passed on from their mum through the placenta and the milk. Pups can also suffer from tapeworms and lungworms but these more usually affect adults.
Thankfully, routine worming treatments from the vets or pet shop will easily rid your pup of worms. Worming is done every fortnight until they are three months old, and then monthly until they are six months old, then every six months in adulthood. Wormers come in a variety of different forms, from granules and tablets to liquids and pastes. Your vet will weigh your pup and make sure they get the most appropriate product that’s easiest for you to give. Some are now even combined with a treat, so your pup will just take it from your hand!
The other routine preventative treatment that you’ll need to start with your pup is flea control. You may notice that your pup has fleas if they are scratching, rubbing or licking themselves a lot or seem generally itchy. Fleas can also carry a type of tapeworm, which is why worming and flea treatment go hand in hand, as part of your pup’s routine health care.
Flea treatments are usually very straight forward to administer and come as ‘spot-on’s’, that is a small vial of liquid that you place on your pup’s skin between their shoulder blades. Flea collars, powders, sprays and tablets are other methods of flea control for your pup – so you have plenty of choice to find one that works for you (well, your pup that is).
Natural methods are usually only suitable as flea repellents, rather than as an actual means of eliminating them. These include, first and foremost simply using a flea comb. These special combs have tines that are so fine that they will mechanically rid your pup’s coat of fleas quickly and efficiently. On the herbal side, Pyrethrum is a compound that is derived from chrysanthemum flowers and is widely used as the active constituent in many flea products.