She Passed A Fecal Exam Last Week

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Today I was playing with Laika and I picked off what I thought was a piece of grass. It very much was NOT a piece of grass and neither was the one dangling from her bum. She had the crushed rice looking spots in her poo so we thought she had tapeworms. Then the vet did an exam and said she didn't. ?? We didn't notice them again until today. There were the two this morning, and then her poo was just loaded with them. They were about 3/4-1" long, white, and moving. Tapeworms? Hookworms? Roundworms? She has an appointment first thing in the morning, but I'm just horrified! Is she in pain at all? Is this an e-vet situation? Other than a serious case of the heebie-jeebies is there anything else I should worry about? Why did it not show up on the fecal exam? She's up to date on shots (not sure if that has anything to do with it).

 

 

 

 

[Guest VelvetEars]

Is she on heartguard or other worm/parasite preventative?

[greytdogsks]

What I've always heard --- though it could be wrong --- tape worms do not necessarily show up with every fecal, they are expelled in segments, thus, times when they aren't present. I'd talk to the vet about treating anyway. I know when I brought a puppy home, all was taken care of with her receiving 1 pill.... then she was fine.

 

Good Luck

[Guest SoulsMom]

I think whipworms can pass the fecal unnoticed. Soul was feeling unwell, and the fecal exam showed no worms but Tufts treated him with Panacur anyway. It worked

 

I'm not positive, but I think whipworms are not caught with a heart worm preventative either . . . . .

Edited November 2, 2008 by SoulsMom

[GreyKarma]

Sounds like tapeworms...do not worry a simple shot or pill from your Vet will take care of them.

Tapeworms do not have eggs that show up in fecals, momma tape is segmented and those 1" pieces you see are the new babies she is shedding. They are dead when you see the dried rice phase.

 

None of the Heartguards, Interceptors etc cover tapeworm.

[Guest lanielovesgreys]

Sounds like tapeworms...do not worry a simple shot or pill from your Vet will take care of them.

Tapeworms do not have eggs that show up in fecals, momma tape is segmented and those 1" pieces you see are the new babies she is shedding. They are dead when you see the dried rice phase.

 

None of the Heartguards, Interceptors etc cover tapeworm.

 

 

I'm shuddering right now. I'm so glad it's easy to treat.

[Batmom]

Sounds like tapeworms...do not worry a simple shot or pill from your Vet will take care of them.

Tapeworms do not have eggs that show up in fecals, momma tape is segmented and those 1" pieces you see are the new babies she is shedding. They are dead when you see the dried rice phase.

 

None of the Heartguards, Interceptors etc cover tapeworm.

 

Ditto all.

 

Tapeworms can be transmitted ONLY by eating an infected flea. If another dog eats the tapewormy poop, s/he won't get worms. S/he has to eat the intermediate host, the flea. So no worries about contamination etc. unless you're having a flea control problem.

 

Note also that regular wormers do NOT kill tapeworms. You need Droncit/Drontal.

[Guest ArtysPeople]

My vet (who is really good about being up on the studies, literature, etc.) recently told me that fecal exams are 90% accurate . . . when you do seven of them. In other words, to be 90% sure that the results are accurate, you have to test seven different samples.

[Sighthounds4me]

I think whipworms can pass the fecal unnoticed. Soul was feeling unwell, and the fecal exam showed no worms but Tufts treated him with Panacur anyway. It worked

 

I'm not positive, but I think whipworms are not caught with a heart worm preventative either . . . . .

 

Whips are not caught with Heartgard or those like it. It has to be Interceptor, or one with the same ingredients.

 

HOWEVER, a full-blown infestation has to be treated first - a heartworm preventive does not have enough in it to cure an infestation - that has to be done with Panacur, and in a certain manner (I believe a three-day treatment, followed by three more days after a week, then three more days a week or so later).

 

We use Interceptor, because we had a Borzoi foster bring us Whips a few years ago - they live in the soil, so I don't want to be too careful!

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Also, for hook, I've been told to spray the area that they pooped (after you pick it up) with a diluted bleach solution, so you might want to do that.

 

 

Hooks don't show in the poop so I'd assume you're dealing with tapes. Gross, but easily treated!

[Guest SoulsMom]

I think whipworms can pass the fecal unnoticed. Soul was feeling unwell, and the fecal exam showed no worms but Tufts treated him with Panacur anyway. It worked

 

I'm not positive, but I think whipworms are not caught with a heart worm preventative either . . . . .

 

Whips are not caught with Heartgard or those like it. It has to be Interceptor, or one with the same ingredients.

 

HOWEVER, a full-blown infestation has to be treated first - a heartworm preventive does not have enough in it to cure an infestation - that has to be done with Panacur, and in a certain manner (I believe a three-day treatment, followed by three more days after a week, then three more days a week or so later).

 

We use Interceptor, because we had a Borzoi foster bring us Whips a few years ago - they live in the soil, so I don't want to be too careful!

 

Soul's treatment with Panacur was three doses once/day followed by three more doses once/day three weeks later.

Edited November 2, 2008 by SoulsMom

[seeh2o]

My initial thought was tape worm, but I don't thing so now...tape worms don't come out alive and wiggling in poop, they just come out in little dead segments of the worm's body as it sloughs off.

[Batmom]

Yes, tapeworm segments are passed alive. I've actually never seen the "wiggling rice" ones -- all the ones I've seen have been 3/4" - 2" long.

 

Tapeworm segments are rather flat, like little ribbons. If what you saw is round in cross section, that would be roundworms.

[Guest SoulsMom]

Can I just say this thread is giving me the heebie jeebies?

[Guest ChasesMum]

barf-o-rama!

 

I was going to add that Chase had hooks initally and that they can go unnoticed in a fecal, but it was already mentioned.

 

Regardless, worms of any sort in poo is NASTY! blaaaaaargh.

[Guest WarmheartedPups]

Oh yes Tape worms!!! UGH...Gross....Roo had them....I spotted them one morning when I woke up with her sleeping next to ME :puke

 

Panacur.....and I believe it was twice.....do WHATEVER the VET says.....

[Guest greyladydown]

Yes, tapeworm segments are passed alive. I've actually never seen the "wiggling rice" ones -- all the ones I've seen have been 3/4" - 2" long.

 

Tapeworm segments are rather flat, like little ribbons. If what you saw is round in cross section, that would be roundworms.

 

I've seen many cases where tapeworm segments are live and wiggling in the poop. They can be quite large, and can change shape slightly as they are expelled. "Little ribbons" is a good description.

[Guest MZH]

Live tapes in poop are the most disgusting, creepy things I've ever seen. After 30 years with years with dogs I saw them for the first time this summer coming out of our puppy. I'm still freaked out about how they looked! You know it's a bad infestation when you see them like this.

 

The good news is that even when they're that bad it's not that hard to get rid of them.

 

Marcia

[Guest longdogs]

As others have said, a one-off faecal exam may find nothing. It depends on whether the sample they check happens to have worm eggs in it and worms don't shed them at a constant rate. Personally, I think faecal tests for an otherwise healthy dog are largely a waste of time and money, I just use a wormer every few months. It is a reasonable assumption that any dog exercised in a public area is going to get worms sooner or later. People don't realise that adult worms are rarely passed, just their eggs which are generally not visible (tapeworm segments are the exception). Given that faecal tests often don't detect eggs and that people don't use wormers regularly, there are a lot of dogs out there contributing to the worm population. Of course they don't just affect dogs and dogs and children frequently share the same parks. There needs to be more awareness. On the other hand, in a healthy adult dog intestinal worms are a relatively minor problem which is easy to fix.

[GreyPoopon]

Sounds like tapeworm to me too. I've seen them--as wiggly rice grains--a few times. One time I found them the day after the second of two poop tests (we did a fecal and an SAF) came back negative. I have doubts about routine fecals, but we did find whip in one screening test.

 

As Batmom said, tapeworm is easily treated with Droncit. My vet prescribes two doses: one immediate, one a month later.

 

It's definitely not an e-vet situation. Take a sample of the infested poop to your vet so they can confirm the type of worm, and, if tapeworm, the source (flea or animal).

 

[rschultz]

omg i aint sleeping with anyone tonight!!!!!! lol

[Guest meakah]

Mmmmm...yummy. Sounds like Tapeworms! I found them the same way....wiggling around in Koda's freshly dropped poop. Hers were a bit larger than a grain of rice...and yes...numerous ones and they were all wiggling around. I then saw her licking her bum shortly afterward and so I took a look....3 of them wiggling around her butt! Then I looked on the bed...and found 2 wiggling on the bed! I then took an even closer look and saw all of these tiny flat round circles...hardened and a bit translucent....on the bed cover!! They were dried up dead tapeworms. So ya....definitely nip this problem now and clean all of your bedding (and hers). It is an easy fix with meds so don't stress....but it is gross. Also, I kept a few of the critters in a plastic bag to show them when I picked up meds the next day. They all argued with me saying there were no worms in the bag cuz by the next day they were all shriveled up, flat, round, and somewhat translucent looking. I had to explain that is what happens when they die. So if you bring in a sample with the worms...just know this may happen. You know what you saw so just get the meds.