My dog's poop looks strange. Is it mucus, worms, or something else?

This doesn't have the typical appearance of a worm, which are normally whitish in color and thin or the size of a grain of rice. It is possible this is mucus in the stool, which can look gelatinous, or something your dog ate. Tapeworms are not transmitted directly from one dog to another, and require an intermediate host depending on the type of tapeworm, such as mice or fleas.

Soft poop often contains mucous. It is completely normal. Intestinal worms will look like variations of spaghetti in the feces and are visible to the naked eye. It is still a good idea to deworm Cash if you haven't done that in a while.

There is always some mucus in stool. It aids in defecation. An increased amount can be due to some inflammation in the intestine. If she had intestinal parasites and was recently treated, this could be the cause. If she is behaving normally, you can monitor her at home. Consider a bland diet in small, frequent amounts until the stool is normal then transition slowly to her regular diet. Symptoms that should be addressed by your veterinarian include lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite or abdominal pain.

Mucus generally means inflammation and this can come from parasites (like worms and giardia), a diet not right for Lucy's body or bacterial over growth. A bland diet for 3 days can help and then a slow, gradual introduction to the normal food can be done. A bland diet can consist of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% boiled white rice. This should all be plain. A probiotic may also be beneficial. I recommend Purina FortiFlora if you can find it. A good diet in general is Royal Canin. It is low residue and highly digestible. Lastly, if the mucus continues after 2 weeks, have Lucy checked for worms and giardia by her veterinarian. I hope this helps.

Hello! It would be helpful to know for sure if the feces contained a piece of string. If so, it's worrisome that Shadow ate string and that there may be additional pieces stuck in her intestinal tract. This would require a vet visit for an x-ray and possible abdominal surgery. However, if it's only mucous, it may be that she has a bout of colitis. This can be caused by diet change, bacteria, or parasites, and usually treated with a bland diet and probiotics or other medications. If you are unsure whether it was a string, it would be safest to have her evaluated by a vet. Even if it is colitis, she could benefit from evaluation and treatment, especially because she is having less energy.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While this could be parasites, this is likely some degree of colitis. You can add a probiotic to her diet such as Fortiflora. You can use it for 1-2 weeks to see if it makes a difference. If it does not, you can consider switching to a sensitive stomach type diet. If no improvement, have her evaluated by your veterinarian so that the stools can be assessed. If she develops diarrhea at any point before then at that point she should definitely be evaluated by her veterinarian. Good luck!

Hi there! Although dogs can get diarrhea from worms, there are other reasons why, including bacterial infections, or even dietary indiscretion (eating something out of the ordinary that they shouldn't), that can cause it. From the description of the mucous, it could very well be colitis - or inflammation of the colon or large bowel. Also, fleas carry tapeworms, so sometimes the over the counter de-wormers don't take care of those. You can try a fast of 12 hours of no food, and very little water. After that period of time, 1/3-1/2 of their normal portion of food in the form of boiled or steamed lean protein such as chicken breast or ground turkey (no sauce or seasoninng) can be introduced. If the diarrhea seems like it's improving, or it stops, every 12 hours you can increase the portion little by little until it's back to the normal portion of food. If the diarrhea is not improving, both dogs should be evaluated by their veterinarian. It is important to make sure that the dogs are not getting too dehydrated from the diarrhea (as even though they may be drinking, they lose way more fluid than they can take in sometimes with diarrhea). The veterinarian can also give them some medications to help with the diarrhea, like, for example, some antibiotics to help re-balance the bacterial populations in the gut. At any time, if vomiting starts in addition to the diarrhea, I always advise to have the pet(s) evaluated immediately, because this can indicate an intestinal blockage, or a severe gastrointestinal infection or diffuse inflammation. All of those issues need to be addressed immediately. If the diarrhea does improve with the bland diet, I always advise to feed it until there is 48-72 hours of normal, solid stools. Then, you can transition the dogs back to their normal diet, gradually, over the course of 5-7 days (as switching too quickly can actually cause diarrhea). You can find a food transition guide here: https://www.hillspet.com/dog-care/nutrition-feeding/how-to-transition-my-dogs-food Best of luck!