This page quotes a published document. Everything below in quotation marks is copied word for word from https://capcvet.org/guidelines/hookworms/, published by CAPC and retrieved on 2026-09-16. The quotations are excerpts; the document itself is linked and is the authority. Nothing has been reworded.
This page quotes the Companion Animal Parasite Council guideline for Hookworms, section by section: the opening sentences of 8 sections, copied without change and linked to the guideline, which was retrieved on 2026-09-16. The guideline itself is the authority and carries the full text.
The guideline
Companion Animal Parasite Council, Hookworms, at https://capcvet.org/guidelines/ancylostoma/. Retrieved 2026-09-16. Each heading below is the guideline’s own, and the quotation under it is how that section begins. The full section, and the species tabs where the guideline gives them, are on the linked page.
Synopsis
CAPC Recommends CAPC recommends testing all dogs for hookworms by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects parasite DNA, are useful in identification of hookworms where few to no eggs and few adult worms are present, an infection with only young worms, or with single sex infections.
Species
Feline Ancylostoma tubaeforme Ancylostoma braziliense Uncinaria stenocephala (rare in cats in the United States)
Disease
All hookworms suck blood, but A. caninum is a voracious bloodsucker and can actually bleed a puppy to death. Disease in dogs caused by infection with A. caninum is most severe in young pups that are infected through nursing (the transmammary route) shortly after birth.
Prevalence
Ancylostoma caninum is a common parasite of dogs throughout the United States and are found in most tropical and subtropical environments. Both young and adult canine and feline hosts can harbor hookworms and pass eggs in their feces.
Diagnosis
CAPC recommends testing all dogs for hookworms by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects parasite DNA, are useful in identification of hookworms where few to no eggs and few adult worms are present, an infection with only young worms, or with single sex infections.
Treatment
In severely affected animals, anthelmintic treatment must be combined with supportive therapy to keep the animal alive until the drugs can kill the worms. In addition to keeping the patient warm, supportive treatment can include electrolyte and fluid therapy, iron supplements, a high-protein diet, and when clinically indicated, blood transfusions.
Control and Prevention
Puppies require more frequent anthelmintic administration than adult dogs because (1) they often are serially reinfected via nursing and from the environment and (2) they often harbor migrating parasite larvae that later mature and commence laying eggs. Hookworm infections in puppies may cause serious illness or even death before a diagnosis is possible by fecal examination.
Public Health Considerations
Animal hookworms are well-documented zoonotic disease agents and are the most common cause of cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) in people. The larvae migrate in the skin, producing intensely pruritic, serpentine lesions.
Continue reading public health considerations on capcvet.org
Sources
- capc-ancylostomaCAPC · retrieved 2026-09-16
“CAPC Recommends CAPC recommends testing all dogs for hookworms by fecal flotation with centrifugation . Fecal tests for specific parasite antigens or PCR, which detects” (Synopsis)
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