My dog had rice-like worms in poop, now gone. Does he need treatment?

Yes you should have a heartworm test before starting back on heartworm pills. If Mana has heartworms now they should be treated so he doesn't get damage to his heart. Hopefully the test will be negative and you can start prevention again right away. The worm segments you are seeing are tapeworms. Dogs get these from eating fleas when chewing and itching their skin or eating mice or rodents. The comfortis will control the fleas now but you need to get tapeworm medication from your veterinarian to treat the tapeworms. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Mana.

If they are small like a rice grain then they are likely tapeworm segments, however without a fecal examination or seeing the worms it is just a educated guess. I would still recommend saving some worms in a jar or isopropyl alcohol for your veterinarian to see next week. If you use heartworm prevention monthly that deworms for Many parasites, but you can request a prescription for heartworm prevents that includes tapeworm medication as well. That way monthly he gets dewormed. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

I am sorry to hear about Max's heartworm diagnosis. I am glad he is receiving treatment for this. The worms you describe that have recently started appearing sound like tapeworms. Do they resemble grains or rice or sesame seeds? Most deworming medications do not contain the ingredients needed to take care of tapeworms, so I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian so you can broaden the spectrum of Max's treatment. I would also suspect that even though you don't see any obvious fleas that Max has been exposed to some. Tapeworms can be transmitted by fleas and so management of a tapeworm issue typically needs to include a specific dewormer AND a flea preventative.

I am sorry to hear about your concern for Poppie! Depending on when your groomer saw the worms, it is possible they could have been worms killed by the dewormer and then pooped out. There are also different kinds of worms one may see in the stool, some of which are not killed by the commonly used dewormer or the dewormer in heartgaurd (such as tapeworms). I would recommend dropping a stool sample off for your vet to check under the microcsope, or if your groomer sees another worm having them save it and bring it in for your vet to check. Your vet can then prescribe the appropriate dewormer for Poppie.

You are correct. He has what appears to be tapeworms, which is caused by either fleas (most common cause) or ingesting another pets feces that has worms in it. I would notify the friend, get him on a flea preventative if not on one already, and then take him to your friends approved vet who can then treat for the tapeworms. These are usually easily resovled with 1 dose of specific dewormer for tapeworms. THese worms are transmissible (hand-to mouth) to people, so its best to always use good hygiene practices and keep young kids away from the pet until the worms are resolved. I hope that your friends pup Roxx gets rid of these worms soon. Best of luck and take care.

If the dewormer you are using does not indicate that it treats tapeworms then it probably does not. Tapeworms segments look like pieces of rice so if that is what you are seeing then she probably has tapeworms. If you are seeing long worms that look like spaghetti then she probably has roundworms. Dogs get tapeworms from eating fleas so if she has tapeworms that means she has or had a flea problem. Since I don't know the exact medications that you are using, it is difficult to know if they can be given together. You could re-post with both medications and then we may be better able to answer the question. You could also take a stool sample to your vet and have it tested for parasites so you know the exact parasite that she has.

It is not typical to have side effects a week after being treated for tapeworms so there could be something else going on. If he hasn't had a stool sample tested for parasites then you should take a sample to your vet for testing. He could have additional parasites and need a different dewormer. Continue to monitor him and if his signs continue or progress then he should be examined by a vet to determine the cause and treat. Dogs get tapeworms from eating fleas so he should be treated for fleas with a medication, like NexGard, Frontline, Bravect, etc. Hope he feels all better soon!