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Worms or maggots in stool


KobiD
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Today the dog did her usual bowel movement, and on picking it up I noticed quite a few large creatures crawling in it. It was fresh as I watched her do it and immediately bagged it. I did not take any pictures. To me they looked like adult maggots, complete with segmented body. Probably around 1-1.5cm long and as thick as the lead in a pencil (maybe a touch more).

 

She was wormed on the 17th July, now being 5th August, so about 2.5 weeks ago - preventative only.

 

Any ideas or suggestions as to what it could be? She hasn't been exposed to anything unusual that I am aware of, and hasn't been showing any other symptoms of worms, bloating, itching etc.

 

I know the old 'a vet will know' is coming, but this just happened now. Will collect some of her next stool to inspect.

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If you think they were maggots check around her anus in case she has a sore/wound. AFAIK maggots wouldn't come from within unless there was a wound that had tunneled. Yep ask the vet but I would reworm her with a different active ingredient.

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They were definitely imbedded into the stool. Not just present on them. Well formed poo and no sign of pain. I'll have a look but pretty sure no sores/wounds.

 

She does live outside so very possible she's found a gecko/skink/grasshopper. I'll be inspecting the morning evacuation closely.

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Just thinking back, right after we wormed her we did go away for a long weekend with her. She's a real scrounge and did manage to scoff down a few things here and there on our adventures (beach etc). No idea what the time frames are for parasites to develop, however have re-dosed her on worming meds (Interceptor Spectrum - Milbemycin and Praziquantel).

Edited by KobiD
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Guest crazydoglady99

If you Google dog worms you will find images of exactly what you describe.

 

Not all dog worming products are created equal,  so might be worth comparing the ingredients of different brands and trying a different one to what you used most recently. 

 

Good luck!!

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It sounds like tapeworm to me. They look kind of like short flat segments of pasta. Roundworm looks like long spaghetti. 

Definitely re worm with a different wormer to the one you regularly use. Look at the active ingredients and see if you can’t find something different. Make sure it’s an all wormer, that covers tape worm and seeing as you have a scrounger, hydadit worms as well.

Tapeworms are commonly tied to the life cycle of fleas, so if you find your dog has tapeworm, flea prevention is imperative. 

Also, if it’s tapeworm, they tend to crawl out of the anus in little segments too! Once they are out, they dry up and sometimes you will find them stuck in the hair around the anus, under the tail, in the rear furnishings, dried out looking like grains of rice in the hair. 

Edited by mingaling
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I was thinking tape worm too as they are definitely segmented. They aren't very flat though. They truly look like a well formed maggot.

 

I redosed with the same wormer as I had it on hand last night. By all accounts wormers aren't preventative and only treat any active parasites, and since the last dose we spent a long weekend away at a pet friendly caravan park, which was fully booked and most sites having animals. There was much potential for exposure to fleas etc. She was dosed on arrival with Nexgard and daily inspections have not shown up any fleas/droppings.

 

Went through the 2 movements in the yard this morning. Still formed as per normal. I picked a couple of grubs out and have them in a plastic snap lock bag. They weren't moving and weren't nearly as visible as yesterday. I might be able to upload a pic later today. I'll continue to monitor the situation.

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Eggs are hatching all the time, so adults can appear quite soon after the last worming. It is essential that you keep changing the brand of wormer you use, as the worms quickly develop resistance to certain wormers.

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Sounds like tapeworm to me.

Tapeworm requires a different wormer than other worms, and there are two species of tapeworm that can infect dogs.  One is carried by fleas. It commonly reinfects. The other comes with eating the flesh of an infected animal. The meds required is different depending on the species.  There's lots of information on the Web, and your veterinarian should know, also. 

Edited by sandgrubber
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2 hours ago, sandgrubber said:

Sounds like tapeworm to me.

Tapeworm requires a different wormer than other worms, and there are two species of tapeworm that can infect dogs.  One is carried by fleas. It commonly reinfects. The other comes with eating the flesh of an infected animal. The meds required is different depending on the species.  There's lots of information on the Web, and your veterinarian should know, also. 

Yep... and if you get the really cool long stringy ones, they require special stuff from the vet... and it's expensive!

 

A lot of the all-in-one wormers actually don't cover tapeworm... so check the package to make sure they are covered by whichever one you are using, OK?

 

T.

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All covered.

 

Interceptor Spectrum

Each chewable contains Milbemycin Oxime 11.5mg, Praziquantel 114mg

 

Interceptor Spectrum protects your dog from deadly heartworm. Immature heartworm are spread to your dog when they are bitten by infected mosquitoes. When the heartworms mature, they live in the vessels of the heart and lungs, and can reach up to 30cm in length. If left untreated, heartworm disease causes heart failure and sadly death. Treatment for heartworm is dangerous and expensive, so prevention is essential. Unlike some other monthly heartworm treatments, Interceptor Spectrum also treats and controls tapeworm plus all major intestinal worms including roundworm, whipworm and hookworm.

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Just as an FYI, the wormers with Praziquantel are the ones required to deal with hydatid tapeworms, and that's what is required for dogs to enter Tasmania.  Apparently it's the only chemical that will deal with the hydatid tapeworm..  .

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On 8/7/2018 at 12:53 PM, KobiD said:

Any suggestions?

:)  Droncit is a tapeworm only tablet (incl hydatid) and you could do a couple of treatments of that  - 6 weeks apart - to cover yourself if you're worried the sentinel may have missed a species.  

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I'm not too concerned at this stage. Everything appeared to clear up within a couple bowel movements. I'll keep an eye on it and if I see anything suspect I'll try some Droncit.

 

Thanks everyone

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