Eggs In Stool?

[ahicks51]

So, I brought home Hector- an English foxhound, although he's so skinny he is built more like a greyhound, keeled chest and all. One of my buddies at the pet store mentioned parasites- the thought of which never occurred to me.

 

When he finally did his business, there were no living worms (that I could see), but there were some small, oddly-shaped bits of white present. They weren't round, but they were rounded. A few were triangular, but none were spherical. I have no idea what they feed down at the pound, so this could be some bone matter or something like that.

 

Any suggestions as to whether these white bits might be a problem or not?

[Burpdog]

Possible tape worm. How old is he?

[Guest Merrygohounds]

my guess would be tape worms also.

caused by flees. If you see flees its most likely tape worms.

[ahicks51]

Two years old. Haven't seen any fleas (gah! now I brought fleas home!), but he's dirty implying he was kept outside. He's not scratching, and has been at the pound since the 2nd so he's probably been dipped if he already needed it, right?

[Guest KipperGrey]

I would call the shelter and see if they treated for any worms. I know at my HS they routinely treat most animals for worms. Its possible you are seeing the results? Take a sample to the vet. I don't think fecals are too expensive.

[ahicks51]

I have microscopes here; I can pop it under low magnification and see if it's "biological wormy" or "biological bony" stuff. I've just never seen them before and have no idea about communicability, etc.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

For hooks, I've been told to spray the area with bleach water and pick up poop immediately. When my cairn had tapes a bajillion years ago they just gave him wormer and we picked up the yard. I don't remember having to treat the yard.

 

 

[Guest lizmego]

Here's a pretty good website that shows photos of various worms, protozoa, viruses, etc under the microscope. Maybe you can compare?

 

If you have the funds, I say a good vet visit, since you don't know how long you'll have him at your house.

[turbotaina]

Sounds like tapes. He should have two rounds of Drontal Plus (praziquantel, pyrantel pamoate and febantel) - one now, one 21 days from now (assuming he's still with you at that point). Drontal Plus is a broad spectrum and covers other parasites - it's a good one to use for general worming. If you want to worm only for tapes, Droncit (praziquantel only) is the ticket.

[Guest greyvettech]

Tapeworms are segmented so it sounds like tapeworm segments- All it takes is for him to swallow one flea with the tapeworm larvae and he can become infected with tapeworms... ekkkk luckily, droncit can kill the tapeworms.Usually only one dosing is needed but he can reinfect himself as soon as two weeks later if he swallows another flea. just a couple pills and he'll be fine- Is he on heartworm prevention?, if he is consistantly on hw prevention, then you know it's tapes since most heartworm preventions take care of hooks,whips,round worms...

Edited December 11, 2008 by greyvettech

[Guest ChasesMum]

blah!

 

but I too would SO look under a scope to see it for myself.

[Guest jerrybird]

I'd guess tapeworms as well-especially if they look like bits of rice.

[Remolacha]

I've had tapeworms in cats and dogs, that's exactly what those sound like. Easy to get rid of!

[Guest longdogs]

I would automatically give him a Capstar and an all-wormer unless I was sure the pound had done it. In fact I'd do at least the Capstar anyway. Not sure what you saw. If they didn't ring any bells it might just be something he's eaten. Tapeworm segments always look like tapeworm segments to me.

[Guest sheila]

anytime I bring a new dog home I make a vet appt for a 'well dog' exam just to set up a file and get whatever records the dog came with entered into the vets system.

If I were you I would make that appt and have it checked out.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Were they moving at all?

 

It could be tapeworm proglottids, specifically Dipylidium caninum, the flea tapeworm. Do a search online and you can get some gross pics to compare.

 

If you decide to look at them under a scope, squish them a tiny bit under a glass cover slip and mix with a few drops of water. You need to break the proglottid open to release the egg packets. Let me know if you see anything!

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

(worm geek)

 

[ahicks51]

No movement at all. Very small- well under 1mm diameter. I put a few under a low power scope, and nothing was moving. They looked the same as they did when eyeballing them, except- er- larger. So, I tore one apart with forceps (my fine-tip forceps look huge in comparison), and stuff came out.

 

When I did a wet mount under brightfield at 100x, they looked like starch grains. There was no color to them, no signs of them being eggs. The grains were irregular in shape, but more or less spheroidal. I got him vaccinated for bordetella, and I showed the vet the sample and he didn't know what they were either- just recommended a parasite test.

[Batmom]

Bits of corn meal?

 

Only tapeworm segments I've ever seen in poop were mobile. Wiggle wiggle slither.

[Guest LindsaySF]

Sounds like some undigested food then. I have seen that a lot in shelter dogs that were eating who-knows-what.

 

[NevadasMom]

Not sure what shelter you picked him up from, but when I volunteered for the AZ Humane Society-they fed the dogs whatever food was donated to them. So there was no consistant diet. There were poops of many colors up there....

[Guest greyscot]

Has he had any rice? I've seen rice appear in dog poop before