How Long Does A Puppy Poop Worms After Deworming
Have you seen worms in your puppy’s poop? If you see worms, you will need to deworm your puppy. Some dewormers you can get at the pet store, while most you will need to see your vet so that you can get the appropriate dewormer. After you deworm your dog, you may notice some of the worms in their stool.
How long after worming your puppy will you see worms?
You will usually see worms about 12 to 24 hours after deworming your dog. Usually, the worms that you will see are roundworms. These are long, like spaghetti. Most of the other worms you will not see pass due to them being very small or how the deworming medication works.
Most dewormers work by sedating the worm’s mouth so that they can no longer attach to your dog’s intestines and have a blood meal. Once these worms are unattached from the intestinal wall, they will either be destroyed by gastric juice or die from starvation.
Some worms will quickly pass out of your dog, and you will notice that they no longer have worms after 24 to 48 hours. Other parasites take multiple dosages to rid your dog of these parasites fully. These worms can take a few weeks for them to be fully gone.
How long will my puppy have diarrhea after deworming
If your dog has had diarrhea because of these parasites, it can take a few days to clear up their diarrhea. Many times after these worms are gone, it will be a few days of diarrhea. You should notice that your puppy’s stool is slowly improving each day. You can give things such as probiotics to help with their diarrhea.
How do I know if a dewormer is working on my puppy?
The only way to know if your puppy no longer has parasites is by running a fecal exam at your vet. Your vet will take a small sample of your dog’s poop and look at this sample under the microscope. They can see the eggs of the parasites in this stool sample. Most parasites are microscopic and cannot be seen with the naked eye. The only way to know 100% for sure that your puppy no longer has parasites is with a fecal exam.
How long do you worm a puppy?
It is recommended that you start worming your puppy around 3 weeks of age. This is usually done by the breeder or rescue group that you get your puppy from. Your puppy will need to be dewormed a few times if they have parasites to completely eliminate all of the worms.
Many times when you take your puppy to the vet for their puppy shots, your vet will check a fecal sample. This will tell if your puppy has parasites and which worms that your puppy has. Once they determine exactly which worms that your puppy has, your vet can prescribe the correct medication to treat these worms. All parasites are different and need a different medication to get rid of them.
What are common parasites that my puppy can get?
These are some common parasites that your puppy can get:
Roundworms
Roundworms are commonly seen in dogs and cats, especially young puppies and kittens. These worms can live in your puppy’s intestines and will cause diarrhea and a bloated abdomen. You may notice these worms in your dog’s stool when they poop. They will be long white worms that look like spaghetti. There are two main species of Roundworms. These are T. Canis and T. Leonina. T. Canis is the most common type of roundworm that vets see and can actually be easily transferred to people. Some studies have even found roundworms in people’s eyes. This is probably the most common parasite commonly found in puppies. This parasite can lead to poor growth and even death.
Hookworms
Hookworms are intestinal worms seen in pets. These worms will attach to the lining of your pet’s intestines and suck blood from your pet. If your dog or cat has a high load of hookworms, they can become very anemic because of the worms sucking out all their blood. In very small puppies and kittens, hookworm anemia can be fatal. Hookworms are very easily caught from your pet’s environment of even mothers when they are drinking milk.
Tapeworms
Tapeworms are another worm that can be found in the intestines that can actually be seen in your pet’s poop. These worms look like small grains of rice. Your dog can get a tapeworm by accidentally eating fleas or eat a wild animal that has this parasite. Tapeworms can cause your pet to be very thin as they are competing with tapeworms for food. Your vet can give you medication to get rid of these worms in your dog. Since your pet gets tapeworms from eating a flea, make sure that you are also giving your puppy flea and tick prevention to help keep them from getting fleas, thus helping prevent tapeworms in your puppy.
Whipworms
Whipworms are intestinal worms that live in the cecum and the colon of your pet. The cecum is the start of the large intestines, and the colon is at the end of the large intestines. This parasite is just like many of the others and can be transmitted to other pets by contaminated feces getting into the environment. These parasites are extremely hardy and can stay in the environment for over five years. A very mild case of whipworms will cause no symptoms, but high parasite loads can lead to inflammation of the intestines, weight loss, diarrhea, and even anemia.
Coccidia
Coccidia is a common parasite see in puppies and kittens. These small parasites can cause extreme watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration in your pet. These parasites can be very difficult to find and even harder to kill. Your pet can get these parasites by eating grass or feces that has been infected with coccidia. Most of the time, your veterinarian will give your dog or cat Albon to treat these parasites. Your pet may have to take this medication for several weeks to clear the infestation.
Deworming your puppy can take days to weeks
After deworming your puppy, it will take a few days to a few weeks for all the worms to be gone. Puppies sometimes do gross things such as eating their own poop. This can cause them to reinfect themselves and will take even longer for these worms to be gone. When your puppy poops, make sure that you quickly pick this poop up to prevent your dog from eating their stool and reinfecting themselves.
Dr. Sara Ochoa, DVM graduated from St. George’s University Veterinary School in 2015. Since then, she has been at a small and exotic animal practice in Texas. In her free time, she loves making quilts and spending time with her husband Greg and their 4 fur kids. Two dogs, Ruby a schnoodle, and Bug a Japanese Chin, one cat named OJ and a leopard tortoise named Monkey.