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[JuliusSqueezer]

Captive breeding means nada. Even in the most sterile and well kept breeding stock, worms that burrow into the blood intending to get to the lungs to grow and pupate don't always make it there. Some will end up lodged in muscle tissue or other organs where they are usually benign though some might get to the brain or heart and cause some problems there but usually they just go undetected. No wormer designed to kill intestinal worms will ever harm them nor will they ever show up on a fecal exam. Sometimes they do show in blood smears. Usually though, they just go undetected.

Ever see a kitten or puppy that doesn't at some point have to be treated for worms even though it's never been outside or exposed to anything that should have "given" it worms? They get them from their mom to the point that it's almost a given. These worms that live benign lodged elsewhere in the body instead of the intestines for some reason seem to often be drawn to amniotic fluid and/or that new flow of rerouted blood to the birth canal through umbilical cords...where they infect developing offspring. So even a well kept mom with clean fecal exams can and do still infect their babies. That's the theory I heard from one of my vets. I don't buy it 100%. I don't think the trapped worms ever move. I think they just drop eggs in the blood and so shared blood is tainted with worm eggs and they get to the offspring that way.