Some intestinal worms, like hookworms and whipworms, are so small that you won't see any worms in your dog's stool at all. You may be surprised to still see live worms in your dog's feces after deworming them, but this is normal.
Once you have dewormed your puppy, you'll probably want to know how long your dog will continue to poop worms. Puppies will typically poop worms for 2-3 days after they have been dewormed.
Any worms in your gut will eventually pass out in your poo. You may not notice this. To avoid becoming infected again or infecting others, it's very important during the weeks after starting treatment to wash your hands: after going to the toilet.
In general, most dewormers will start working within two to six hours after administration. However, it may take a few days to see the full effects of the medication as the worms are gradually eliminated from your pup's system.
The only way to know if the deworming medicine worked is by getting your feces tested after 2 to 3 weeks of taking the medicine. The absence of worm segments, eggs, or larvae indicates that the treatment was effective.
If the treatment is working, the worms your puppy deposits in their stool should be dead. Dead worms are less white and more translucent than ones that are alive. Deworming treatments generally begin working about 12 hours after you give them the deworming treatment.
Children can get threadworms again after they've been treated for them if they get the eggs in their mouth. This is why it's important to encourage children to wash their hands regularly.
Mebendazole is the usual treatment for people aged over 2 years. All household members, including adults and those without symptoms, should take a dose at the same time. This is because it is common to have worms in the gut with little or no symptoms. Just one dose kills the worms.
Threadworms are highly contagious. Hygiene measures should be followed for 6 weeks. As well as medicating all family members at the same time to prevent the spread of eggs you should: Clean toilet seats daily.
You'll likely need to give your doctor a stool sample for a few months to make sure all the worms are gone. It's harder to treat an infection caused by tapeworm cysts. In addition to the medicine that kills the tapeworm, you may need medicine to reduce inflammation or other symptoms, like seizures, that you're having.
Some paralyse and kill the worms; in which case you may see worms in your dog's poop. While this can be unpleasant, it is actually a good thing as it means the worms are no longer living inside your pet! Other wormers kill and sometimes break up the worms, so you may not see whole worms in your dog's faeces.
Re-Treatment
COMBANTRIN® is only effective against adult worms, which means any eggs or immature worms inside the body might still linger after the initial treatment. In order to minimise the risk of reinfestation, a follow-up treatment two to four weeks later is strongly recommended if symptoms are still present.
The life cycle of threadworms
Threadworms live for about 5-6 weeks in the gut and then die. Before they die, the female worms lay tiny eggs around the back passage (anus). This tends to occur at night when you are warm and still in bed.
They move away from light, and will become paralyzed if exposed to light for too long (approximately one hour). If a worm's skin dries out, it will die.
Pinworms can usually be treated completely with two doses of over-the-counter medicine called pyrantel pamoate, available in the United States under the brand names Pin-X and Reese's Pinworm Medicine. Take one dose immediately and another dose two weeks later.
Pinworm infections are rarely spread through the use of swimming pools. Pinworm infections occur when a person swallows pinworm eggs picked up from contaminated surfaces or fingers.
Encourage children to avoid scratching their bare anal areas. Pinworm eggs continue to be present (excreted) in the feces of an infected person for up to a week after the treatment, so precautions should be taken to prevent reinfection by washing hands thoroughly, especially under the nails.
Reasons a worm treatment may not appear to be working include: pet reacts badly to certain drugs, the worms they have are not being killed by the drug given, their immune system is weakened by other conditions or they are being exposed to a high level of worms.
Take the correct dewormer
When infected with worms, it should be dewormed periodically, for adults and children over 2 years old should be dewormed 2 to 3 times a year, ie every 4 to 6 months.
For most people, treatment will involve taking a single dose of a medication called mebendazole to kill the worms. If necessary, another dose can be taken after 2 weeks.
COMBANTRIN® is a highly effective treatment to rid the body of threadworm infections – just one dosage of COMBANTRIN® or COMBANTRIN®-1 kills adult worms within the body, either through paralysis with COMBANTRIN® or by preventing them from absorbing the glucose they need to survive – with COMBANTRIN®-1.
Sometimes worms are visible in the anal area, on underwear, or in the toilet. In stool, they look like small pieces of white cotton thread.
The swallowed larvae return to the small intestine and grow and mature into adults. This happens about 2 months after the egg was swallowed. Adult worms live in the small intestine for 1 to 2 years.
Signs and Symptoms
Parasites can live in the intestines for years without causing symptoms.