Hookworms! blegh!

**Burns** · 06-11-2008, 03:05 PM

I took a stool sample from Red into work yesterday because he's been having some soft stool lately (plus it was time to check a fecal anyway), and I found one hookworm egg! Only one on the whole slide, but still... ewww!

Being the nerd that I am, I had to take a picture of it:

10X

40X

So I'm treating him with 3 days of Panacur powder. I've had him on Heartgard Plus monthly, which is supposed to cover for hooks, but apparently it's designed to control them and not prevent them? I dunno, but after making this thread and doing the research that I posted at the end, I'm switching to Interceptor. I've read about more breakthroughs on Heartgard than on Interceptor.

The bad part is that I always walk barefoot in our yard, and hookworm is a zoonotic parasite that people can get by cutaneous larval migrans (meaning the larvae can penetrate the skin, most commonly the bottom of the foot). So needless to say, I won't be walking barefoot in the yard anymore, though I don't walk where he poops anyway. I've heard of people having to treat their yard for severe infections, but I don't think I'll worry about that yet.

Has anyone else had issues with hooks in their dogs? Can mild cases cause soft stool, or is the soft stool most likely unrelated?

juddb · 06-11-2008, 03:32 PM

Thank you very much for the info. Duncan had some soft stools for a few days a couple weeks ago when i switched him back to eukanuba. But they have been solid since. But the whole hookworm thing makes me wonder.

Dobemom2b · 06-11-2008, 03:48 PM

As you know they live in damp soil or sand so he could have picked them up in any park, the grassy area at petsmart, crossing someones yard corner on a walk etc. Hookworms are the reason many lakes,beaches and parks do not allow pets. A passing dog could also have left it in an unfenced area.

Stool should be picked up to prevent reinfecting.

The panacur should be repeated at about 2wks. You may want to check another sample 2wks after the 2nd round.

The info I found online says they hatch in 18 hours but then the larva can live "for many weeks without food" Hookworms

I have not had them but did find where it can cause loose bloody stool.

**Burns** · 06-11-2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobemom2b

As you know they live in damp soil or sand so he could have picked them up in any park, the grassy area at petsmart, crossing someones yard corner on a walk etc. Hookworms are the reason many lakes,beaches and parks do not allow pets. A passing dog could also have left it in an unfenced area.

The panacur should be repeated at about 2wks. You may want to check another sample 2wks after the 2nd round.

Yeah, he could've picked it up anywhere... hard to say. I will do another round of the panacur in a couple weeks and check another sample. I want these buggers gone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobemom2b

Stool should be picked up to prevent reinfecting.

The info I found online says they hatch in 18 hours but then the larva can live "for many weeks without food" Hookworms

I've also read that if there's any way to expose the possibly infected soil to direct sunlight, that will kill the larvae too. My yard is very shaded with trees, so unfortunately this isn't an option. But I will definitely pick up the stool and hopefully that will help prevent reinfection. Thankfully, he only poops along the fenceline and at the very back of our property so it won't be hard to "hunt for piles". Plus, there's less of a chance I could've picked it up by walking barefoot close to the house.

I can definitely understand why some parks and beaches don't allow dogs for this reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobemom2b

I have not had them but did find where it can cause loose bloody stool.

No blood that I've seen. I'm not sure if he soft stool is related to this or not. He has soft stools off and on - I always thought it was because he ate something funky, like yucky pond scum or other stuff in the yard or on our off-leash walks in the woods. I'm doing a 10 day course of Fortiflora (a pro-biotic), and of course the panacur, and if I'm still seeing soft stools, I'm going to be tempted to switch his diet. Maybe to something for sensitive stomachs?

thea2003 · 06-11-2008, 04:56 PM

I love pictures like that, the grossest coolest things i have seen was demodex( i think lol cant remember) and ear mites it is so gross to see then crawling around

**dobermansrule** · 06-11-2008, 05:12 PM

fellow nerd here... cool pics

anyone know if Sentinel protects against hookworm? that's what we use.

**Burns** · 06-11-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobiesrule

anyone know if Sentinel protects against hookworm? that's what we use.

Yes, Sentinel covers the adult A. caninum species, which is the most common genus species of hookworm in the U.S.

dobebug · 06-11-2008, 07:15 PM

Hey Burns,

Sorry to hear about the hookworm--but those were really cool pictures (another nerd heard from).

I've not had a problem with hook but in the Pacific Northwest whip can be a real problem--there is nothing at all that you can really do to get it out of the soil--the eggs stay forever--you have to excavate about 18" of dirt and replace it with sterilized soil--which, just for the record I've never heard of anyone doing.

Anyway after a couple of bouts of whip when I was still using Heartgard which is not labeled for whip (although they claim it will control whip) I switched to Interceptor which I keep my dogs on year around (not enough cold weather to even kill the danged mosquitoes around here) that was about 12 years ago--I actually changed when I changed because a friend who was in her last year at Davis called me up and said if I was giving the Aussie Heartgard to please stop it and change to Interceptor.

Whip and hook will both give soft stools--really bad infestations will also give bloody stools and with whip there tends to be a lot of mucous as well. And boy will giardia give you everything from soft stools to incredibly stinky projectile diarrhea.

Lucky you for catching it early--maybe it was the ill advised pond scum he ate that really produced the soft stool--what's going on now?
"

**Burns** · 06-11-2008, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobebug

Whip and hook will both give soft stools--really bad infestations will also give bloody stools and with whip there tends to be a lot of mucous as well. And boy will giardia give you everything from soft stools to incredibly stinky projectile diarrhea.

Lucky you for catching it early--maybe it was the ill advised pond scum he ate that really produced the soft stool--what's going on now?

Thanks for the reply, dobebug

Hopefully once the hooks are taken care of his stools will firm up and I won't have to worry about changing his diet. He may have more hooks than what was showing on the slide, depending on what stage the adults are in and if they're currently shedding eggs or not. Hard to say. So I'll just treat it aggressively and hopefully knock it out completely. I picked up all the poop in the yard today too. And I'll be switching to the Interceptor and hopefully have better coverage.

I don't know how to get him to stop eating that dratted pond scum - unless I keep him out of the water completely... which I'd hate to do because he loves it so much

**2gooddobes** · 06-11-2008, 07:33 PM

Beetle got the whippers a year ago so we did two rounds of pancur powder and then made the switch to Interceptor. We've done three fecal samples since and so far so good.