The whipworm, or trichuris vulpis, is an intestinal parasite that affects dogs. Whipworms live in the large intestine, embedding themselves in the tissue of the intestine and sucking blood there. Eggs are laid inside of the large intestine and then passed with the stool.
Dogs become infected by consuming the eggs in contaminated soil. Once consumed, the egg hatches in the small intestine and releases a larva which eventually passes into the large intestine and embeds in the tissue there. Problems occur when a large number of whipworms are present and embedding themselves in the large intestine. The blood loss is generally not sufficient enough to be dangerous. However, tremendous inflammation in the large intestine occurs and can lead to bloody diarrhea which can become chronic and difficult to control. In addition, a second syndrome of infection with symptoms mimicking those of Addison's disease can occur, including weakness and an inability to conserve salt leading to dehydration.
Diagnosing whipworm infection can be difficult as it is not uncommon for fecal tests to come up negative. If symptoms are highly suggestive of whipworm infection but the fecal test is negative, deworming may nonetheless be done. The most common deworming treatments used on whipworm infections include fenbendazole and febantel, which are usually followed up with a second deworming treatment around 75 days after the first deworming and sometimes even a third treatment. Many other deworming treatments do not work on whipworms. Some heartworm prevention products are able to remove and control whipworms. Whipworms are not transmissible to humans and cats do not get whipworm infections. |
