[Brien]

I had a sad discovery this morning while walking Bodie. I looked down at his butt and saw a white worm sticking out. I wiped it off with a leaf and it appeared dead. When he went potty later during the walk I could clearly see the worms moving in his feces. They're about 1/2 long and 1/8 wide. I was really surprised at how big they were.

Anyway, we took a stool sample into the Vet and were given Drontal Plus K9. We're going to take him in on Monday to see the Vet too. One thing that we didn't put together until this discovery was he often throws up in the morning. It's clear with a little while mucus (no food). But because he seemed so healthy and was eating fine we weren't too concerned. Now we're thinking the two are tied together.

We were supposed to go to the Field Trails today and obviously cancelled. But I'm curious to how contagious or likely dogs to contracting worms through casual contact. We take Bodie to dog parks a couple times a week and walk around the neighborhood. Is this how he got them? And if so, will this happen again or do they build up some sort of immunity to contracting them?

 

[Sephly]

aww poor bodie!!

i hope he feels better soon.

 

[beaglesmom]

Brien, many pups are born with parasites (nasty aren't they) - the only dogs I've had problems with were the two rescues that I had - Saddie came from a friend in WV - and apparently she'd had ongoing problems - when her pups were a few weeks old we started seeing signs of them and my vet quickly nipped them in the bud (so to speak). Lottie also came to me infested (which I didn't realize until her pups started getting sick) - but she had tapeworms in addition to roundworms. I treated everyone for those nasty things. My vet routinely deworms any puppies we have here - and makes sure my mommies are parasite free. Every time one of my puppies goes in for shots or whatever they get a dose of de-wormer. Tape worms are a little more difficult to get rid of - the product for that is pretty pricey - especially when you have 9 dogs to treat. Bodie will be fine - but yes, they can pick them up from infected dogs. They're simple to treat, but they NEED to be treated - I almost lost my beautiful Bella when she was about a month old - she stopped eating and drinking. Lottie's pups were all infected, but she is the only one that got really sick from them - and once we determined the cause, we treated EVERYONE just to be on the safe side.

 

[beaglesmom]

Brien, here's a link to some information about canine parasites. Hope it's helpful. I suspect that Mr. Bodie had roundworms - which seem to be the most common.

http://www.pets911.com/health/dog-health/dog-parasites/

I haven't seen any pictures of that beautiful boy lately - pictures, please.

 

[Murphys Dad]

Yes, they are nasty critters, but the problem's fixable. Of all the dogs we've had, our Traveler had the worst case of worms. He came to us off the streets, so to speak, at nine weeks old. When we took him to the vet, he was badly infested with worms. It took 3 wormings to get rid of the nasty things. Amazingly, they didn't seem to affect Traveler at all!

 

[Brisen]

I know nothing about worms, as none of my dogs have ever had them...fortunately. Poor baby Bodie, I hope he gets rid of those nasty things soon!

 

[wvbeaglemom]

i have a prob with tapeworms. not with Ikey but Morrg has had them, and also the cats. the vet says the fleas are the prob.

 

[Brien]

Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom and advice. The test results came back as tape worms. Fortunately the medication the vet gave us knocked it out in a day. We also have another dose to administer in 2 weeks to make sure.

 

[jassy]

Tapeworms are transmitted through fleas so it is easy to get reinfested. Even using a good monthly flea treatment, I find I have to treat my cats for tapeworm occasionally.

 

[beaglesmom]

Connie is right, Brien - tapeworms are transmitted by fleas - when I lived in Sacramento fleas were a problem I fought constantly. Hopefully the treatment will help Bodie - and a good flea product will keep the nasties away. I'm very fortunate here - we have no problems with fleas OR heartworms - and, as previously stated, the only worm problems I've had were with rescues I've adopted. Glad Bodie is doing better.

 

[Brien]

Ya I heard that fleas could transmit worms too. But he hasn't had fleas in months. Well at least that we've seen. But like I said, we do go to the dog park which I assume is infested with fleas.

The good thing is I got a prescription for Sentinel from the vet yesterday. So I'll be ordering that shortly. We were holding off because he was gaining weight so quickly. But he's now 23 lbs., so we're going to get the next level up (I think yellow) which should last.

 

[Brisen]

Originally Posted By: Brien & Bodie We were holding off because he was gaining weight so quickly. But he's now 23 lbs.

Wow, 23 pounds already! Bodie's going to be a big boy!

 

[Sephly]

yea bodie's going to be big!

 

[cheezyridr]

i just took my sophie out and her stool was total snot and had worms in it. apparently the guy i bought her from did nothing, including the de-worming he claims he did. this is the first time i have seen them. how serious of a problem are they? she has an apt. with the vet next fri on the 28th, can i wait till then or do i need to move quicker on this? other than her appetite being slightly diminished, she seems fine otherwise.

 

[beagletails]

cheezyridr - You might be incorrect by thinking the breeder did not do the worming prevention. I have heard of cases where after giving the worming pills the puppy will have stool with worms in it because they are getting rid of them. However, in most cases, I think the worms are dead in the stool. You didn't mention whether they were alive or dead.

I have never seen worms in any of the stool from the puppies we have had in our home and we are about to send home our 3rd litter now. I watch this closely since I have 4 adult dogs in our home too.

You may want to call a vet and see if you need to rush in or if your appt next week will be okay. You might also ask about buying an worming medicine at the pet store and see if it would be okay to repeat a dose if necessary.

 

[Murphys Dad]

A lot of puppies have worms but, if Sophie's appetite is affected, you might want to call the vet. If he feels she should be wormed immediately, you could probably pick up the medication and do it yourself.

It could be the seller didn't worm her or, it could be, she has a really bad case. Our Traveler had to be wormed three times when he was a puppy because he had such a bad case of worms.

 

[Samson's Mommy]

I recommend Interceptor - kills and prevents all typical worms.

I, as a rescue, had an adopter contact me because she was seeing worms in the stool. I had dewormed him 2 days prior - he was ridding his body of the parasites.

 

[Brien]

No way, call the vet and take him in today or tomorrow. And if he can't accommodate him you find another vet. DO NOT WAIT! Also, don't let the vet say we'll wait for the test results. Worms are worms and there are plenty of meds on the market that will knock any kind out. I think the meds (mentioned above) he was given was for all types of worms.

Once Bodie was on the meds they were gone within 24 hours. He actually gets his second dose tomorrow.

 

[cheezyridr]

looks like i will call the vet. i didn't see the worms moving, but i brought her home 8 days ago. could she still be shedding the worms? her appetite does seem to be affected. i haven't seen worms prior to this.

 

[Erin]

A few days after we got Rocky I noticed worms in his stool. I called the shelter where we'd gotten him and they gave me a couple of pills to give him (don't know what they were), but they fixed him right up.

Good luck!