[Jehn]

Well, the last couple days Bauer has had some nasty diarrhea, then a bloody stool... the next day we found a big piece of rope in his poop, so we figured he had just cut up his intestines a bit passing that. (The rope was from a toy of his - go figure!) He still had diarrhea so we kept checking it... and found little white specks. I'm guessing it's worm eggs or larvae... This is the second time he has had worms, and I'm not looking forward to taking him to the vet to get the expensive meds.

He doesn't eat other animals' feces, to my knowledge, but he did get into the garbage and was gnawing on one of my daughter's REALLY dirty diapers (ick!!) last week. She doesn't have worms, so where could he have gotten them?? We did go to my parents' farm last weekend and he was running around with his brother Jackson... Could it have taken that long to show up? I let my mom know so she can check Jackson's stools to make sure he doesn't also have it.

Anyone have any good tips on preventing worms? Does my dog have a weak immune system? I read on a website that stress can trigger worms if they are infected. He doesn't seem to be stressed but he is a rather sensitive dog... He does get stressed easily and sometimes wont eat for days at a time.

 

[Mourningdove]

We have had to use Droncit on Donner several times for tape worms. Tape worms will appear on a dog's rear end around the anus and look like grains of rice. Donner gets them because we have him on 60 acres of sagebrush on the weekends and he has been known to go out early in the morning and chase jackrabbits. He has also caught (and eaten) chipmunks, sagerats, and woodrats...try as we might to not let this happen! Molly has never had worms, but she is not that much of a hunter.

If your dog gets tape worms, you have to make sure you get the med that kills tape worms, not just round worms. But there are good over the counter worm meds that you don't have to pay a fortune for. (Farm feed stores are good places to shop for dog meds)

Dogs can eat the craziest things and you really have to watch them! Recently Donner passed about 4 paper towels that I had soaked up chicken grease with. I have gone to making sure the garbage is out of the room at night because he will nose through it in the middle of the night!

 

[Purple Poodle]

Tape worms come from ingesting fleas

I de-worm all of my dogs with Diatamatious Earth (food grade) and it kills any and all internal and external parasites. Good stuff and all natural.

You can find it at feed stores but it come in 50 pound bags.

Other then that for round worms/whip worms and the like I find that the de-wormer from Wal-Mart works very well.

 

[Mourningdove]

Tapeworms and fleas..... yes, they come from fleas. Donner has ate rabbits and woodrats loaded with them! I'm worried that he could pick up something worse than tapeworms. I try to keep an eye on him, but he comes to me at sunrise wanting to run. I let him out and off he goes. I've had to get in the golf car and go out and find him on 60 acres of farm-fenced sagebrush and juniper. I know if he's gone for more than 15 minutes or so, chances are he's found something! He only gets this routine on weekends. During the week, we are in the city. Molly is a lady and doesn't eat rabbits.