Every year we ask you to bring along a fresh sample of your pet’s poop (aka “stool sample” or “fecal sample”). Do we have some weird fetish or just enjoy playing with poop? Well, no, not really. Although we do get a little excited when we see actual worms in the sample!
We send the sample off to the lab, where they analyze it both for microscopic worm eggs (you can’t see them with the naked eye) and for antigens from adult whipworms, roundworms, and hookworms. If your pet is having diarrhea, we also have the lab look for Giardia antigens, as Giardia cysts are much harder to find.
We used to run all the poop samples in-house, but we couldn’t test for antigens. Since intestinal parasite eggs are shed intermittently or in low numbers, the antigen test is more sensitive and we find more incidents of parasites then looking just for the eggs.
We love that some people are very “creative” when bringing in their poop. Some bring in the very full dog poop bag, some package poop in a nice Penzey’s spice jar (sans spice, of course), others in a cute gift bag! As long as it is sealed, we don’t really care how you bring it in. But we don’t need very much. Just 1 gram of feces is enough for the test. That’s about a tablespoon. A couple dice worth. A small tootsie roll size. You get the picture!
It is important that the sample be fresh. In the winter, this means absolutely NOT frozen! In the summer, pick it up as soon as your dog deposits it. We often get people asking about “worms” that they see in a poop sample sitting on the grass. It is usually grubs and soil worms, not intestinal parasites.
It is important to get those fecals done. Indoor cats can get infected through potting soil, house flies (they often land on poop outside and can bring eggs in on their feet), or cockroaches or other crawling bugs. Dogs get them from being where other dogs poop. Since many worms are zoonotic and can infect humans, we want to make sure everyone in the home is parasite-free!
Dr. Scarlett
