Intestinal parasites = stomach pain?

[ashleybear]

intestinal worms = stomach pain?

Hello. I have a question for my dog. He's 4 y.o and never got a dewormer since pup (until last month when vet suggested it).

Before giving him the dewormer, his life is pretty much like:

day 1 - stomach pain and pacing

day 2 and 3 - normal appetite and behaviour

day 4 - stomach pain and pacing

most of the time the stomach pain happens only in the morning accompanied by audible gut sounds and mucus-y diarrhea, and then disappears in the afternoon.

I told my vet about this and he suggested to deworm my dog since he doesn't have any records of having one. (He was also previously treated for HGE, and I highly suspect the stomach pain/parasites caused this because he has no problems eating different types of food, and he had no episodes of stomach pain DURING the treatment).

He quickly pooped the worms hours after giving him the pill. It was also a lot, and looks like they're clumped like a ball. Magically, the stomach pain also disappeared. He hasn't got any abdominal pain since last month starting the deworming treatment and has been eating a lot more (like a hella lot) and is gradually gaining weight.

My question is, do intestinal parasites really cause stomach pain? I have tried searching and I only saw 1-2 sites telling me it does. I asked our vet about this and he said yes it does. I believe my vet, but I also want to know your (dog owners) personal opinion on this.

What are your thoughts?

I already tried posting this in r/askvet but no one answers there. :/ I also modified some of the text.

 

[honoringintimates]

@ashleybear Vet tech - I don't know if they are painful, but the maldigestion they cause certainly is. If he is passing worms in clumps he might need a second round of deworming. Also they are sucking the nutrition the dog is meant to get, so weight gain after deworming is normal.

 

[ashleybear]

@honoringintimates What's maldigestion?

He already had a 2nd round I didn't mention it, it was around March 30 when we gave him the second pill. As of now he's not passing worms anymore unlike on his first round.

 

[honoringintimates]

@ashleybear Maldigestion meaning he's not properly digesting and absorbing nutrients because of the disruption by the parasites. The loose stool, gas, all that can be uncomfortable. Also, did they do a fecal and see what parasites he had before this deworming? There isn't one medication that gets all the GI parasites. So it would be good to do a fecal now and confirm all the wiggly friends are dead.

 

[ashleybear]

@honoringintimates No they didn't. Vet said it gets rid of the common parasites. He showed me the dewormer. It says "broad spectrum deworming tablet". He also said that if I still see worms in his poop, we should come back 2 weeks later unless I cannot see them anymore. If I didn't spot one worm, then we'll go every 3 months.

Here are the parasites listed in the dewormer:

Roundworm

Hookworm

Whipworm

Tapeworm

Hydatid Tapeworm

Also I don't think he had Giardia and Coccidia as of now, because he was prescribed with medication that covers both during his HGE treatment.

 

[honoringintimates]

@ashleybear Ok he should be good then.

 

[fire]

@ashleybear Yes intestinal parasites will cause pain of course