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My 11-week puppy rubs ears, cries, and has worms. What should I do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | unneutered | 2 months and 20 days old | 10 lbs

My 11 week old puppy keeps rubbing his ears with his paws and cries while he's doing it. His nose is dry & every once in a while he will just look at me and wimper. I know he's trying to tell me somethings wrong with him but Im not sure what it is..I just found round worms in his poop as well yesterday so I do know I have to worm him but Not sure what's wrong with his ears or why he looks at me and whimpers. Not sure any of it means just trying to tell most info can. PLZ HELP ME HELP MY LIL MAN.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 27th, 2018

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

At 11 weeks of age, and already having these issues, I strongly suggest you take Ares to your vet for an exam. He should be due for a round of vaccines about this time (11-12 weeks of age) so you you should be taking him to the vet anyway. Have them check the ears. He could have ear mites, he could have an ear infection or he could have allergies. I suggest you try to figure this out before it gets out of hand.

As for the worms, do you what kind they are? Not every dewormer treats for every type of worm so again, he should see the vet. They need do a fecal test to see what types of worms are actually present so Ares can get the appropriate treatment. Usually you don't even see the worms (only the worm eggs which are microscopic are in the feces). If you are seeing the actual worms then he must have a heavy worm burden. Leaving worms untreated (or treated incorrectly) can lead to an deadly worm impaction (blockage) in the intestines and worms can also lead to a life-threatening anemia as they are blood suckers.

Really, it is best to get him checked out by your vet. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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