Tapeworms are long, flat worms attacked to the lining of the intestine
with hooks and suckers, and in general they cause no signs of ill
health. Hookworms inhabit the small intestine and infection can be
caused by eating infected feces or by burrowing through the
skin...particularly the feet. The whipworm inhabits the part of the
large bowel called the caecum and usually causes no signs. Dogs become
infected by the whipworm by eating infected feces. The lungworm
inhabits the end of the trachea nearest to the lungs and may cause the
infected animal to have a dry cough. The tracheal worm lives in the
dog's windpipe and can cause coughing in an infected animal. The
bladder worm is a fine hair-like worm found in the bladder, usually
among packs of hounds. The hearworm infects dogs in the central and
eastern parts of the United States, Australia and southern Europe.
Mosquitos infect dogs with the heartworm and the damage by these worms
can be severe. The giant kidney worm is the largest known nematode and
dogs can become infected by eating raw or imperfectly cooked fish. The
lung fluke can infect scavenger dogs that eat water snails and crayfish
and causes intermittent coughing. And finally the Thelzia
californiensis occasionally affects dogs and is transmitted by the deer
fly. The worm lives beneath the third eyelid causing an intensely
irritant conjunctivitis.