Totally Disgusting - Maggots in dog poop

[Jennifer Tramell]

So this was the "what can go wrong will go wrong" vacation. We were in Michigan last week visiting family. Our trip included a terrible toothache (human not dog), fleas (humans and dogs), giant poop piles in the kitchen (dogs), and.......maggots in said poop piles.

I immediately said they were worms but hubby said they looked a lot like maggots. I looked on the internet and none of the pics looked like these. They were 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, whitish/grey, thick on one end and thin on the other, and all dead. Turns out, the night before the poop piles the dogs had gotten into a forgotten trash can and found the remains of a chicken with maggots. Lovely.

Has anyone else ever encountered anything like this? If these are worms, they aren't the typical "dog worms" that show up with google. Sorry about this gross topic.

[Jennifer Tramell]

I thought it was tape worm but I haven't seen them after that one time. Also, the "segments" were much bigger then specified on the internet.

[Adina P]

If they are still there...I suppose take a sample into the vet to be sure.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

You can alway have poop samples checked by your Vet to be on the safe side. If you are using things like Revolution and Interceptor, they probably are not the average worms, and sounds like a maggot. If your dogs have maggots they can be found on them in places where they have soiled fur, matted excrement, open wounds or infection. Maggots may be slightly embedded in the fur or flesh and more difficult to see. I don't really think your dogs would have maggots. Keep an eye on them, and if your not sure of what is going on, have them checked out by the Vet.

[Wendy]

I found this interesting because when we pick up dog poo in the yard... sometimes there are maggots in the poop. Is that normal or not? I know Miley's poop was looked at after 2 weeks of being looked at and they never mentioned anything being wrong with it... I don't remember if Motta's was ever looked at but after 2 weeks... I am assuming that if one dog had something both would have had it. Both are on Interceptor.

So what do you think?

[Deb, Connor & Simon]

I have no idea if this is right, but I think stomach acid would digest any maggots that were in the chicken. Check out round worms...they can be that size or longer and about the diameter of thin spaghetti. Also, tapeworms can be larger than grains of rice and dogs get them from fleas. I'd say, just to be on the safe side, have a fecal done at your vet's.

Maggots in dog poop in your yard are gross, but I guess flies will lay eggs anywhere. If the food the dog eats is not highly digestible, there might be enough nutrients left to "feed" the "baby flies." sorry about the eeeeeew! factor there.