Tricuris Vulpis (A.K.A.. Whipworm) is a gastrointestinal worm that affects dogs and cats, as well as many other less common species of animals. The feline whipworm is rare in Ohio and the United States, but the dog worm is seen rather often. A whipworm infestation can result in subclinical disease, as well as a debilitating infection.
The whipworm is transmitted by ingestion of eggs via the feces. Dogs can easily come into contact with the microscopic eggs, which makes the risk to your dog greater than you may think. A leisurely walk through a dog park that had small amounts of residual fecal material scattered around can expose your dog to the eggs. Once your dog contacts the eggs, he/ she picks them up on his or her feet. A small amount of licking/ grooming behavior is all that is needed for them to ingest the eggs. The eggs grow into larva, which then then mature into adult worms in the intestinal tract. (A quick request is to make sure that you always pick up your pet's feces, especially in a public area)
Once the worms mature, they infect the cecum (think appendix) of the dog. They cause irritation on the intestinal tract, which leads to blood in the stool and weight loss. Mucus in the feces is another common clinical sign. Some affected dogs can remain without clinical signs, while other dogs can get debilitated from rapid dehydration. The subclinical shedders are what tend to spread the parasite into the environment.
The scary part of the story is how long that the eggs can live within the soils of Medina county and the surrounding areas. These eggs can live for up to 9 years, NINE YEARS! This is without a dog to contract the parasite and continue the life cycle. When a dog is present in the environment, the parasite will continue to re-infest that dog, leading to more eggs in the environment. This means that the lifecycle can last literally forever. It makes the prevention and detection ever more important. This is one reason that we recommend a yearly intestinal parasite test to screen your pooch for these nasty parasites.
NOW TO THE GOOD NEWS: Whipworms can be both treatable and preventable.
Treatment is achieved in several ways. The most acceptable and most common treatment is Fenbendazole. Panacur is the main trade name associated with Fenbendazole. The treatment regimen is often extensive with the dog starting on a three day course of dewormer. This 3 day course will eliminate all of the adult worms, but not the immature larvae. Therefore, we recommend a second treatment of three days duration be repeated in three weeks. The treatment is once again repeated 3 months from the original treatment period. The reason for the extended treatment is that the worms take 90 days to reach their full maturity and dewormers can only eliminate the adult stage (those that are older than 90 days of age).
Prevention can be achieved through your dog's monthly heartworm preventive. Not all monthly heartworm pills are created equally, as only a few cover whipworms. Prevention is likely a poor choice of words, since the monthly preventatives actually act as once a month dewormers. Rather than preventing the parasite from entering your dog's body, the monthly preventatives actually kill the adult worms each and every time that the pill is administered. The monthly repetition of the heartworm pill serves to keep the number of adult whipworms to a minimum. This, in turn, limits the amount of eggs that are passed into the environment. Currently, there are only two products on the market that target whipworms. The both utilize the active ingredient Milbemycin and are called Trifexis and Sentinnel. At Seville Wadsworth Veterinary Clinic, we recommend the Trifexis over the Sentinnel, as Trifexis is a much more effective flea control product (It actually kills the fleas, while Sentinnel simply makes the eggs unable to hatch).
Please don't hesitate to contact us for more information about Whipworms, or any other internal parasites. We are happy to discuss this gross topic, as we strongly believe in protecting each an every pet. It is also important to note that some internal parasites carry a zoonotic risk, meaning that they can go to people. Yuck!
Written by Dr. Jeff Fink
