As I was cleaning up after Dixon on our walk this morning... I noticed small white worms in his stool . Took the baggie to the vet on my way to work and asked them if they would look at it. The vet didn't actually take a look, one of the techs came out and identified it. She asked me if Dixon was on Heartworm meds and I said yes, he's on sentinel. She said, oh, it must be tapeworms then- bring him in, we'll give him a shot for it. When she actually opened the bag I only saw what looked like a portion of one that I pointed out to her.

I looked up pics online this morning and to be honest it looks more like roundworms to me... obviously I'm not a vet maybe all worms look alike to me... but do you think he could have gotten roundworms even while being on the preventative? Don't you usually just see pieces of tapeworm, not the actual wriggling worm in feces? Or is that also possible?

I'm sure the tech has seen lots of worms and can correctly identify them, I just want to make sure he's getting treated for the right stuff...

Which heartworm med is the dog on? They do not all have roundworm meds in them.

What did what you saw look like? Whole small round worms, right?

Did it look like a grain of rice (like a flatworm segment) or did it look like a roundworm? Your description (to me) is not tapeworms.

I would absolutely call the vet (and say "I need to speak to the vet; s/he can call me back if this is not a good time") and discuss this.

Below is a link for Worms in Dogs (with pictures)
(the first page I forgot to add "in dogs" and it came up with worms in people....GGGAAAWWWDDDDDDD

Worms...Eeewwwwww

I agree with Connie....

Both dogs are on Sentinel- which does say it prevents round, hook and whip, but not tapeworms. http://www.sentinel.novartis.us/product_label/en/index.shtml

After looking at the link you provided Carol, I still couldn't be sure. I still think it looked more like round than tape. If so I wonder if the HW meds are doing their job? I think you all are right, I need to have the vet look at it under the microscope to make sure.

What a way to start the morning

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

Both dogs are on Sentinel- which does say it prevents round, hook and whip, but not tapeworms. http://www.sentinel.novartis.us/product_label/en/index.shtml

It looks like it doesn't actually prevent them; the label says 'control and removal'. Maybe what you saw was the 'removal' portion...

oops- you're right Lynne.

I called the office... ended up talking to the same tech who looked at the 'sample'. I asked her if it was possible that it was a roundworm, and how long it would take it to get that big? She went back and asked the vet. Apparently he thinks chances are very small that he would have any after the hw dose 2 weeks ago. She also looked at his chart and said they did a fecal at his last checkup (a month ago) and didn't find anything, so they were sure its tape.

Still gross. She said he probably got it from ingesting a flea. Jeez.

I wanted to add
You are more likly to see tapeworms in the stool

Round worms look like spagetti noodles
tape are the little ones that look like rice.

you may see a round in the stool but so much less likly