As a dog owner, you try to do everything possible to keep your doggie happy and healthy; whether it is providing good dog food, proper exercising, regular checkup with the veterinarian or protecting them from diseases and sicknesses. But the one thing that annoys dog owners is that their furry friend keeps on ingesting bugs from inside and outside the house. No matter how hard you try to protect them from gulping down the harmful bugs, they always find a way to ingest them.
The only reason that comes in the mind when you see your pooch eating bugs is that doggies are curious by nature and so when they see bugs flying around it catches their attention to an extent that they want to capture and play with them. Most of the times, while playing they end up ingesting these bugs.
There are certain risks when your doggie eats bugs. Let us assess some of these risks:
Threat of stings and bites
There are certain bugs like wasps, hornets and bees that can and will sting your pooch when he tries to catch them. In all probabilities bee stings are usually prominent on the face of your tyke, but they can even occur in the mouth which is very painful for your four-legged friend. This is a very dangerous situation because some doggies are extremely allergic to bee stings and can even undergo anaphylactic shock. If that happens, you need to take them immediately to your veterinarian for prompt medical attention.
Then there are certain biting bugs like spiders that are major threat to pooches. Black widows and brown recluse are the two most life-threatening and poisonous spiders in Canada. Both these spiders can have a harmful effect on the health of the pooch. It is also very important to take your pooch immediately to the veterinarian if they have been bitten by a spider for prompt medical attention.
Poisonous bugs
There are several bugs that are poisonous by nature. When they are ingested by the pooch it causes stomach upset in them. It has been found that majority of these poisonous bugs results in GI Inflammation or oral lesions. Some of the poisonous bugs that are harmful for your doggie include: stink bugs, ladybugs and caterpillars. It has usually been found that the more colorful a bug is, the more poisonous it is for your pooch.
Infections from parasites
When bugs are ingested by your tyke it can lead to infections from parasites. Some of the common parasites that affect the health of your pooch include: Tapeworm and Physaloptera. Tapeworm is commonly found parasite in dogs which is not life-threatening.
Dogs get infected with Tapeworms when they eat a flea that is carrying the parasite. Hence, it is very important to provide complete flea protection for your doggie. We recommend you to administer Activyl for Dogs for complete flea protection.
Tapeworms are visible in the dog’s stool or around their anus. Their appearance is similar to grains of rice. In order to control tapeworms you need to give Milbemax for Dogs tablets on a monthly basis to your tyke.
Physaloptera is a very less common parasite that causes infection when your pooch eats cockroaches, crickets, beetles or other bugs that eat feces. It can result in infection in dogs with a single or multiple worms that reside in the stomach of your doggie. The most significant symptom that dogs give while suffering from this infection is chronic or acute vomiting. The best thing to do in such a situation is to get in touch with your veterinarian as soon as possible and get your pooch treated.
Toxic insecticides
Insecticides are sprayed to keep bugs away from the environment. But there is no surety of the fact that the insecticide that you have used is poisonous or not. Hence, it is very important that you do not allow your tyke to eat bugs. Remember these insecticides contain bug poison. Hence, if your doggie likes to eat bugs the best thing to do is to refrain from spraying insecticides and try natural bug-killing formulas.
As a dog owner, you need to ensure that your doggie does not eat bugs. You can do this by keeping the surroundings clean also try to keep the dog indoors as much as possible so that they are not exposed to bugs in their vicinity. If at all you need to take them for a walk put them on a leash, preferably a shorter one so that they do not run into bushes where these bugs are normally found. Keep your pooch happy and healthy by protecting them from the risks mentioned above.
Share with us, your personal experience of how you dealt with bug eating habit of your pooch in the comments section. We would be glad to create a blog from your personal experience and give you due credit for the idea. Till then keep reading and posting your comments!!
