Heartworms are sometimes fatal to a dog. This is why they are feared more than any other of the internal parasites that can be found in dogs.
This doesn't mean that you can disregard all other canine parasite. On the contrary, there may be other parasites that prove to be even more dangerous than the heartworm.
The liver, lungs and heart of a dog are the places roundworms call their home. When they reach the age of 18, figuratively speaking of course, they move out of the house and seek another domicile inside the intestines of the dog. The roundworms in the intestines happily chew on the food that your dog has eaten. Bloating, diarrhea, gas and appetite surges are common symptoms of the excessive presence of roundworms in a dog's intestines.
The large intestine provides shelter to whipworms. It is also here in the large intestine of the dog that whipworms reproduce. The whipworm enters your dog's body if your dog is unlucky enough to eat dog poop that is infected with whipworms. A dog can also step on dog dung and then lick themselves clean later on. If there were whipworms on the stepped-upon dog dung, then your dog is most likely to be infected. Bloody stools, diarrhea, dry fur and a marked increase in appetite are physical symptoms of a whipworm infestation.
Tape worms are frightening little buggers because they can come out of a dog's ears. These small species of parasites that look like white race also exits the dog's body when the dog defecates. A common symptom of internal parasitic infestation is an increase in appetite. Weight loss, rectal itching or inflammation, are other symptoms of tape worms.
Like whipworms, hookworms are ingested by eating hookworm infested dog poo. Like the roundworms, hookworms gorge themselves on the food that your dog has consumed with the addition that they also like to suck blood like leeches. Loose bowel movement, dry fur, gas and increased appetite are common symptoms of hookworm presence.
To get infected with Giardia, a dog has to drink infected water from a pond or lake. Once ingested, Giardia does a thorough job of endangering your dog's health by chewing away at the intestinal lining of the small intestines. Physically visible symptoms of Giardia are bloating, inflammation, mucus covered stool and weight loss.
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