I love my dogs, but they are full-on, downright GROSS. For a couple weeks, Lilly had been paying too much attention to her behind. Last Friday, I finally figured out why. Fair warning, squeamish pals.
Sure, I considered all the usual things:
- Clogged anal sacs (eeewww!)
- Bladder infection (ouch!)
- Injury or perhaps mosquito bite (bummer!)
I looked and looked and looked, and I never saw anything strange … other than the ensuring wet zone (from her licking) and a little redness (again, from all the extra attention).
Then, last Friday, while working what turned out to be the FIFTH straight, double-digit working hours day, I saw a little something hanging on Lilly’s feathering on her haunches.
White. About an inch long.
“Oh, good @#$@#,” I thought to myself.
I made a dive from my desk, whipped Lilly over onto her back, and pulled back her tail just in time to see a big, white worm … coming out of her butt.
Seriously.
After hopping around in a jig best described as the Rox Gets Skeeved Out Shimmy (sorry no video of that), I called our veterinary hospital for help. Their instructions?
- Bring in a sample of the worms (papertowel, baggie)
- Bring home meds
This typically happens when Lilly hunts and EATS some sort of varmit, which is WHY we keep both dogs on year-round parasite meds (heartworm preventives PLUS tummy worm preventives).
Except, it sure looks like the meds are NOT working … which makes me more than just a little crabby.
I have a whole stack of The Whole Dog Journal to read, but this month’s issue includes an article about how some heartworm preventives may be losing effectiveness.
I’ll have to dig out that issue and see what i says about tummy worms too.
Except, it turns out it was @#$@# TAPEWORMS, which our monthly meds don’t cover.
Gross. Gross. Gross.
I brought in samples from both dogs. Both needed treatment. People can get these worms too, so we’re both completely skeeved out.
Both dogs got one big dose of medicine last Saturday, and they’ll get another big dose each on July 30. And it was NOT cheap … nearly $175 for the tests and meds.
I swear, our silly girl is a magnet for all kinds of beasts … rattlesnakes, spiders, fly larva, and now worms (again … this has happened before).
I REALLY do take good care of her. I promise with all my heart, but Lilly someway, somehow gets into crazy medical situations, including that episode in 2010 with technicolor vomit.
Please tell me that things like this happen to your dogs too.
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Now I will never, ever let my kids get a dog, and I’m going to tell them that its your fault.
Ahh, c’mon, Bill … dogs are GROSS, but they are also awesome. Dogs are great for kids, especially boys.
You could argue that if your dog isn’t getting sick (substitute worms, bitten, hurt etc.) she isn’t having any fun.
Of course, maybe Lilly is having a bit too much fun for your taste.
That’s kind of you to say, Pamela. Indeed, I’d prefer Lilly have fun and an enriching life … even if that means weird things like this happen.
I can totally sympathize!! Although the dogs haven’t had tape worms both my cats have had them and it is the most disgusting thing I’ve had to deal with. The vet says there is no way to protect against tape worms, but I wish there was! If you know any different please let us know, as I really don’t want the dogs to ever, ever, ever get tape worms.:)
When we adopted our Heeler, I kept finding what I thought was rice on the floor. Weird. I couldn’t remember when we last had rice. Then I picked up a small piece of a noodle. Hmmm… weird. My husband took one look at it and knew what it was- worms!
We screamed, didn’t want to touch her, and completely cleaned everything!
One dose of meds was all it took and we saw her get rid of it. Gross, but glad to say goodbye to it.
The vet thought she had probably eaten something dead.
We didn’t get them, nor did the other two dogs. It doesn’t mean you don’t take care of your pup, they just love to eat gross things.
Dogs do get worms. Jasmine had them once. One can’t prevent everything, it’s just not gonna happen, no matter how hard you try.
If I could choose out of all things that could happen to my dog, worms would be quite high on the heck-yeah-I-take-that-over-the-rest list.
Some people see tapeworms as an effective diet plan. Too bad the girls didn’t need to lose weight! 🙂
My 2 little Shih Tzu boys or rather eunuchs live very sheltered lives within closed doors. I take them out on walks twice daily but they are never outside on their own and so no hunting for them.
However, that does not prevent them from being overly preoccupied with their private parts, their own and each other’s. I try to stop them but they persist and continue sniffing and licking, licking and sniffing.
Besides being disgusting, they always have saliva stains which spoils the look of their luxurious long hair.
Dogs! We’ve got to love them!
Oh no!! We believe that you take good care of her 🙂 Dogs and kids have a way of making even the most cautious, doting parents look like neglectful buffoons!! Hope everything gets cleared up soon!