Worm Segments in Your Dog’s Poop
As the tapeworm grows, some of its segments containing heaps of eggs will be released into your dog’s feces. They may also be seen around your dog’s bottom or in their bedding. These segments may look like moving pieces of rice or dried-out, hard yellow specks that can stick to your dog’s coat.
If infected, your dog may scoot around the floor or bite or lick their bottom to try to relieve the itching caused by the tapeworm. However, remember that dogs scoot for many reasons, such as blocked or irritated anal sacs or skin inflammation. Take your dog to the vet to understand what may be causing their discomfort.
As the tapeworms grow inside your dog, they may cause vomiting. Of course, vomiting can indicate a variety of other problems, from indigestion to more serious conditions. If your dog vomits frequently or displays other symptoms, such as lethargy or severe diarrhea, see the vet immediately.
In extreme cases of tapeworm infection, your dog may lose weight despite eating normally. This is due to the tapeworm feeding on the nutrients in your dog’s intestines.
Like vomiting, weight loss can have a variety of causes. If there are no obvious reasons for the weight loss, such as increased exercise or a change in diet, then your dog might need to visit a vet for assessment.
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Tapeworms in Dogs?
Dogs often do not show noticeable symptoms for a long time after infection, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spot them if you know what to look for.
How Can Dogs Get Worms?
Dogs can get worms when they ingest eggs or larvae that they find in feces, soil, or even in fleas that they lick on their own fur. The worm larva will then hatch and attach to your dog’s intestinal wall where it can grow into an adult worm (petmd.com).
The other way a dog might get worms is transmission from mother to pup. Worms can migrate across the placenta during pregnancy or larvae can be ingested by puppies when nursing.
Certain types of worms are easier to spot than others. For example, if your dog picks up a tapeworm, it’s common to see what resembles grains of rice in his stool. Heartworms, on the other hand, are harder to diagnose, and an infected dog will often show only subtle symptoms until the disease has progressed to a more advanced stage.
Below, we’ve put together a list of the most common signs of worm infestation in dogs.
Your dog vomited worms???
Tapeworms are an intestinal parasite. Along with roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm, this flat, segmented worm is found in dogs, cats, humans, and many other species around the world. The most common tapeworm species is Dipylidium Caninum. The medical term for a tapeworm infestation is Cestodiasis.
If you’ve ever seen photos of tapeworms, your reaction was probably one of automatic revulsion. (Especially those alarming videos of tapeworms being removed from people. A woman in China had an eight-foot tapeworm taken out of her stomach!) Even though they’re disgusting to look at, it’s important to recognize the signs of parasites, so your dog can be treated before the worms do damage to his body. The good news is that treatment for tapeworms is very effective and simple.
