My dog threw up a very long worm does he have tapeworms or puppy worms?

Answer 1

If this was thrown up and looks like a piece of spaghetti, then that is a roundworm. You should bring in a small fecal sample collected over a 2 day period to your Veterinarian's office and have your Vet check for other parasite eggs & give your pet a good check up too at the same time. Then the pup can be dewormed for the parasites he/she has. We know for sure the pup has roundworms, pretty common in pups. After you deworm your pup the first time, then deworm again in 10-14 days to get the ones who have grown into mature adults since the first deworming. That way you get the parasites in all their stages of growth by doing 2 dewormings 10-14 days apart. Keep the poop picked up in your yard on a daily basis and put it in a bag to throw away into the garbage so your pet does not re-infect himself.

Your pet should be on a heartworm preventative too if he is over 10 weeks of age. Ask your Vet too about getting your pup on a once a month heartworm preventative such as Heartgard Plus or a cheaper generic version which has the same ingredients as the Heartworm Plus. The ones with the "Plus" after their name will get the roundworms and sometimes the hookworms too. So you will be taking care of 3 different parasites. The heartworms are deadly and the mosquito is the intermediate host. The infected mosquito lands on a dog or cat and bites the dog or cat and infects them with the baby heartworm, called microflaria. If not stopped then the babies will grow up and end up in the heart where they will cause much damage. At this point if you discover them it is a big deal to get rid of them and very risky for the dog or cat. The animal can actually die from the treatment. Better to use a once a month Heartworm preventative. Heartworm is currently found in all the US states. If your pet is older, be sure to have your Vet run a blood test to make sure he or she is heartworm free before being put on the heartworm preventative. You should also be using a Flea & Tick preventative once a month topically on your pet, such as Front Line or Advantix II. It will kill the fleas and help to keep them and the ticks off of your pet. Fleas are the intermediate host for tapeworms & Ticks carry many deadly diseases such as tick fever, so you can see how all this works together to keep your pet very healthy and live a longer life.