Worried! Help

[toyfoxterrierowner]

My toy fox terrier Belle has worms, but i'm not sure that type. They are yellow and round. Is it tapeworm or round? Should i treat it or take her to the vet? Can i get them? How should i clean her bed? How can i tell if she has heart worms? Thanks!

[applesmom]

You don't have to take the dog; just take a stool sample in to your vet. They'll do a fecal exam and tell you exactly what type of worms she has and will give you the proper medication to treat her. Even though you're only seeing one type of parasite there could be others that aren't evident to the naked eye.

Heart worm is an entirely different matter. If she isn't on heartworm prevention, your vet should be doing a heartworm test along with her annual exams. The heartworm test is done with a blood sample.

To clean her bed just wash it in hot water and dry on high heat!

[BC_MoM]

You can bleach her bed. Definitely take her in for some antibiotics as soon as you can, or take a FRESH fecal sample for examination.

[lv4dogs]

You can bleach her bed. Definitely take her in for some antibiotics as soon as you can, or take a FRESH fecal sample for examination.

You should get a fresh (within 24 hours and not frozen) fecal sample to the vet to have them test it for parasites. If your dog is a puppy or has not been there in a while I would reccomend taking the dog in for an exam along with the fecal sample. They need to see your dog within the past year and have a current weight on your dog in order to dispense any medications.

They can give you the right de-worming medicines NOT antibiotics (unless your dog is ill or injured other than the worms.

How big are the worms?

Yes heartworm is another parasite all together, one that will NOT show up on a fecal, only in blood tests. BUT once your dog is free of heartworm the heartworm preventative can be given monthly which will prevent heartworms but also some intestional parasites too like hookworm, roundworm & whipworm.

[toyfoxterrierowner]

Thanks everyone for your replies. The worm was about 1/2 inch give or take

[borzoimom]

Could be tapes- .. you need to check the fecal but sounds like it.

[lv4dogs]

Thanks everyone for your replies. The worm was about 1/2 inch give or take


It's hard to tell what type of worm it is just from the description you gave.
I almost want to say it was a round worm but roundworms are usually a little longer than that.
Hookworms are usually flat (but not always).
If it was a tapeworm that is very large and your dog would be heavily infested with them at that size. Because they usually shed in segments about the size of a grain of rice but occasionally they come out larger or multiple segments still attached to each other. They too are usually flat but are sometimes kind of round.
Sorry but I can not remember what whipworms look like but I do know that you usually (if ever) see them, it's usually just the eggs (which will need a microscope to see) that shed in the feces.

In any event it sounds either like a more dangerous parasite or a heavy infestation so you really should see your vet. Good luck.

[#1Wolflover]

My toy fox terrier Belle has worms, but i'm not sure that type. They are yellow and round. Is it tapeworm or round? Should i treat it or take her to the vet? Can i get them? How should i clean her bed? How can i tell if she has heart worms? Thanks!
well there not tape worms, how old is your doggie? if shes a pup from the shelter it might be milk worms, I couldn't say unless I saw. Yes take em to the vets!!! :)

[Paws1994]

I think you should take your dog to the vet. It's the best thing to do.

[toyfoxterrierowner]

Belle is 6mths old. She is about 8lbs

[GSDOG]

All puppies are born with worms (roundworms) which are passed to the pups from the mother while pregnant. You will probably NEVER see these unless the pup has a very heavy load of them. They can also vomit them up if they have a huge load. That is why puppies have those cute pot bellies we like so much, unfortuanltly that is a belly full of worms. Now tapeworms are the worm you will see, they look like a piece of rice. and they are caused by fleas. The flea carries them and will be on the dog or cat and when the animal cleans itself it will ingest the flea and that how they get it. another way it by hunting (cats do this more) eating rodents with fleas on them and thats another way of getting tapeworms. At the clinic I work at we will send a dose of Drontal and then follow it up with a pyrantel (strongid) dose in 2 weeks. By all means do take in a fecal sample and have it checked. That is the lovely part of my work that I do all day, checking fecals...oh its so much fun...NOT..:) And the heartworms, they are tramsmitted by mosquitos. It takes 6 months for the heartworm to be identified on a test after the mosquito bites the dog and injects the heartworm into the body. It takes a while to try to explain the process and i dont think i have enough room on here. Here in the Northwest we really dont have all that big of a problem with heartworm, but there are a few pocket areas that are bad. If your dog travels with you to other states or out of your area I would have them on preventive all year round. And Heartgard (brand of preventive) also controls 3 kinds of interstinal parasites. Whipworms, Roundworms and Hookworms. Heartgard or Interceptor do not control tapeworms.