The Dog Whipworm
Trichuris Vulpis- Intestinal Parasite of Dogs
There are more than fifty kinds of worms that have been found in dogs, most of them in the digestive tract, but there is a worm adapted to almost every organ in a dog. The most common are Roundworms, Hookworms, Whipworms, Heartworms, and Tapeworms. Many of these parasitic worms can also infect humans so it is important to routinely control these parasites. They can be detrimental to your dog’s health and even kill it especially when it’s a puppy. The dog whipworm, T. vulpis, is of no danger to humans but in large numbers they can cause serious digestive problems in dogs. They are named so because they look like tiny whips with the handle at the anterior end and the whip at the posterior end.
Adult Whipworm- photo taken by Dr. Linda Sullivan from the University of Wisconsin- Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
