How to Tell If a Dog Has Worms

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about how to tell if a dog has worms. Parasites in dogs, intestinally, vary quite a bit. There are lots of different types of worms dogs can get: roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, tapeworms are the most common. And so, the best way to tell if your dog has worms is to visit your veterinary clinic. They can do a fecal flotation and examine the fecal sample, and find out if there are eggs from those worms, and they can diagnose it that way. Interestingly enough, you don't normally see worms in stool that your dog passes, unless they're tapeworms. Now, puppies might be an exception. Puppies typically, if they have worms, especially roundworms, if they have a kind of enlarged belly, and sometimes they're kind of thin because those worms are digesting a lot of their nutrients. And so, you're not normally going to see a lot of roundworms being passed in puppies, believe it or not. Now tapeworms come from fleas, and they will pass segments, usually in the stool. So, some of those dogs may be scooting because they're irritated under their tail. You can see sometimes these dried rice looking things that are around the hair under the tail, and so that may be a way to tell if your dog has worms. Scooting isn't always associated with worms. There can be anal gland problems and lots of other things. And so, check with your veterinary clinic. That will be the first thing to consult if you think your dog has worms, because worms can cause all sorts of things, like being poor doers, vomiters, dogs with diarrhea chronically, and being thin. So, check with your veterinary clinic."