Maggots In Dogs Droppings

[guric1van]

Hi,

I have just bought 2 dogs from the pound a week ago, and a few times now i have noticed that there are maggots in some of the droppings that have been in the yard a few days. They also really stink (relative to normal dog droppings!), a very sickening stink.

Is this any issue, does it mean anything?

I've had dogs in the past and have never experienced this. Not sure if its something that i should be concerned about.

Edited January 18, 2007 by guric1van

[Miranda]

Pick up the droppings and it won't happen. Leaving droppings on the ground encourages flies and any worm eggs that might be in the faeces will enter the ground to reinfect the dog at a later date.

As for the stink, what are you feeding?

[Vehs]

I think it means you've left them on the lawn too long

[noisymina]

Apart from worming them, removing the droppings and assessing the diet,

I would suggest you try adding some yoghurt or Acidophilus (Inner Health) powder or capsules to their diet for a little while and see if it helps.

[poodlefan]

Maggots are generally only found in protein - that's why people recommend against putting meat scraps into your compost - keeps the blowies away.

What are these dogs eating? If they are pooing that much proteien, you may need to cut down a little on it in their diet.

[guric1van]

they are only being feed dry food and dog treats. I have only had them about 10 days, so i dont know too much about their history. i was told that they were up to date with the worming treatments.

The droppings werent there for that long, maybe 2-3 days.

i thought that it may have something to do with them not completely procressing their food.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited June 7, 2009 by cavNrott

[imy]

Would the treats be liver treats by any chance?

I'm all for adding a bit of yoghurt to the diet (just a dollop of plain natural stuff) when I pick up rescues straight from the pound... they are usually PFWORRRR! Farty yoghurt fixes them up.

Keep an eye on them though, if they look odd, like they aren't walking properly or if they stop eating or drinking... get them to the vet!

Also, the yoghurt will probably help with this, but they may be passing hard poo and bottom-blood is attracting flies? Have you noticed any blood? A change from pound food to home food may have caused a tummy upset and made the poo all hard. A little cod liver oil might help. If they were from a good pound, the pound may have wormed the dogs on departure which might also make them pass more nutrients than usual

Having said this... if I saw blood or anything freaking me out about my doggys' doo... I'd go to the vet.

[Dogsfevr]

poo pick ups should be done daily,not only does it bring flies to the area it also isnt healthy to have laying around.

Poop patrol also tells you about the health of your dogs on a daily basis.

In 3 days that could be 8 plus poop laying around

[Working_Setters]

I've shovelled a lot of dog sh*t and don't recall ever seeing maggots, despite the abundance of flies around here. There are some intestinal worms that come out with a dogs droppings and look somewhat like maggots, perhaps that's what you're seeing?

I'd either worm the dog, or take an infected stool sample to the vet for analysis.

[morgan]

All our dog droppings go into an enclosed bin, and if I forget to sprinkle diatomaceous earth on them, maggots appear within 2 days. These dogs are fed superpremium food plus raw bones - flies are very determined critters, and we have a few around because of the horses.

[bloss344]

Some tapeworm segments can look like maggots. Bob had a problem with tapeworm last year even though I was worming him regularly with wormer from the vet, every four weeks he'd pass these white maggotty looking things. Most times I pick up the poop as soon as he does it. Two vets told me that they were maggots, but I stuck to my guns and insisted that if they were maggots he was pooping them out! Finally one vet did a fecal floatation and did confirm they were tapeworm segments. A good tapeworm only wormer did the trick. i think sometimes the all wormers just don't cut it when it comes to tapeworm.

[dougie]

Some tapeworm segments can look like maggots. Bob had a problem with tapeworm last year even though I was worming him regularly with wormer from the vet, every four weeks he'd pass these white maggotty looking things. Most times I pick up the poop as soon as he does it. Two vets told me that they were maggots, but I stuck to my guns and insisted that if they were maggots he was pooping them out! Finally one vet did a fecal floatation and did confirm they were tapeworm segments. A good tapeworm only wormer did the trick. i think sometimes the all wormers just don't cut it when it comes to tapeworm.

zactery what i was going to suggest.......

[Miranda]

Yes but tapeworm segments look like cucumber seeds, maggots look totally different and are much more mobile, surely the OP would know what a maggot looks like? Oh well, maybe not

[MolassesLass]

I certainly can tell the difference and last week located a hidden poop behind my shed. Not sure how long it had been there, 7 days at maximum. There was definately a mass of maggots inside (or under really), other poops only have dung beetles if anything.

I had wondered whether it meant there was some undigested food coming through, but I guess it was just that I had missed it and given it a chance to 'age'.

[dougie]

Yes but tapeworm segments look like cucumber seeds, maggots look totally different and are much more mobile, surely the OP would know what a maggot looks like? Oh well, maybe not

tape worm segments look just like fat maggots....only slower moving.

i have actually seen them drop out of dogs bum......most distessing......for me & the dog.

[Crysti_Lei]

a memery from when i was about four, of worms in my cats poop, looked like maggots.

[noisymina]

Tapeworm is flat, segmented, largely immobile, and can come in any length and not much at a time unless it comes out connected in a long string-like formation - which is obviously not a maggot. Maggots are round and shiny, short, all roughly the same size, very active and there are usually lots of them.

I really find it hard to believe that one could confuse the two.

[Working_Setters]

Tapeworms are not the only worms that maybe observed in a dog's droppings. Some intestinal worms do look similar to maggots, if you're not familar with them, it would be easy to confuse the two.

I guess those areas getting maggots in the droppings must be a lot cooler/wetter than here. It's so hot/dry here that within a few hours droppings have dried to a "brick like" consistency, certainly far too dry to support any maggots.

[bloss344]

I really find it hard to believe that one could confuse the two.

I took my sample of poop and a couple of extra worm bits to the vet and the vet declared maggots. I calmly explained that if they were maggots then Bob was sh&tting them out. These did look more like maggots than cucumber seeds I must admit.