It’s that time of year again …
One of the least favorite times of year for most emergency staff is what we in the veterinary community like to refer to as “maggot season.” While most people only think of maggots growing in spoiled food or on things that are no longer alive, maggots can also be a problem in our live pets.
Maggots are fly larvae (an early stage of fly development), and a maggot infestation is called myiasis. When looking for a suitable place to lay their eggs, flies are usually attracted to things with decaying or rotten smells. In our live pets, attractive sites for flies can include infected bite wounds, areas of fur that are matted with urine or feces, skin folds, infected ears, ruptured skin masses, hot spots and surgical incisions, to name a few. After about 1-3 days, the eggs hatch. At first, the maggots will feed on dead skin or debris. But when that food source runs out, they release an enzyme in their saliva that starts digesting healthy skin. The enzyme can cause small holes in the skin, and then the maggots can actually burrow underneath the skin. They can also tunnel into the rectum or vagina of a pet. With time, the maggots can start releasing toxins that can make your pet sick very quickly, leading to fever, lethargy and shock.
So if you find maggots on your pet, get them to a vet immediately, where they will be able to clip and clean the underlying cause and remove the maggots. Some pets might need to be hospitalized and placed on IV fluids overnight, in addition to being started on antibiotics.
One of the biggest problems we’ve run into lately concerning maggots is false information on the Internet about getting rid of them at home — attempting to do so can make our job harder and further complicate your pet’s health. The problem is that the majority of information out there is geared toward killing maggots in food, not on your live pets. Some of the worst recommendations out there include the following — DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY OF THESE MEASURES:
- Placing gasoline, oil, kerosene or lighter fluid on maggots is not a safe remedy. Besides potentially being a local irritant, if your pet ingests that kind of fluid, they can aspirate some of the material into the lungs.
- Pouring straight bleach on the maggots is another unwise treatment recommended online — doing so can be very irritating to the eyes and act as an irritant to the lungs as well.
- Pouring powdered lime on your pet also is not a good idea, since it can cause vomiting, diarrhea and GI tract ulceration.
- Another very bad idea, placing boiling water on maggots, is something your pet would not appreciate, to say the least. Doing so can cause severe burns.
- There is also information about using over the counter permethrin products to kill maggots. This would be something I would be very wary of doing on a cat. Cats are very sensitive to permethrins (an insecticide in many over-the-counter flea preventatives), and they can lead to intense muscle tremors and seizures.
- Finally, using hairspray on the maggots is another unwise tip — doing so probably won’t kill them, and will only serve to give your pet a stiff hairdo.
The best method for keeping maggots off your pet is preventing them in the first place. During the summer months, if your pet lives outside, make sure they get their fur clipped for the season. Do daily cleaning of any soiled outside bedding. And if your pet has a skin infection, bite wounds or surgical incisions, keep them inside until they are healed. Also, be sure to have all wounds evaluated by a veterinarian!
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my cat just came in with what i think was maggots[dead bird in the yard this week and it was full of maggots,didn t think anything about it and hosed the maggots in the earth,but i suspect he might have run close to the maggots] anyways shampooed him intensively, used vinegar to wipe everything and comed the maggots out and then vinegared him again and fed him garlic.in case it s worms. i looked and them all seem out and he is more rested. i ll know tomorrow if it worked. keeping my fingers crossed.
Maggots are a problem because they should not be able to attach to healthy tissue, so I would be worried about a wound on your cat. Are you sure they are not fleas, lice or tapeworms? Please do not give your cat any more garlic, it is toxic to animals. Good luck!
I was reading about maggots on cats and they made a comment not to feed garlic to animals it’s toxic. I had a dog that had worms at the time and (this is gross) but he started to eat his poop the vet said to sprinkle garlic or pineapple juice on his food he has now died but from old age not garlic. Why do you say it’s toxic to pets.
It is all about dosing. Small amounts of garlic are safe for MOST dogs, but larger volumes are very toxic. Garlic is in the onion family and causes red blood cell break down. A little will not hurt, but there is a definite toxic dose and it is not much. That is a VERY old school way to treat the problem, and we are learning more and more about food toxicity.
My pet Shih Tzu has Parvovirus. He had it for a week now and he’s gradually recovering after I gave him IV fluids, antibiotic, metoclopramide at Ranitide ampules which the vet has prescribed me. But he still continues to have diarrhea and some vomiting. Then last night before I sleep, my dog had another episodes of diarrhea but not as bloody as the other day. But what is different now is I saw a 1 live maggot crawling with my dog’s excrement. I’m not sure how he got it. He hasn’t had ingesting anything except with water which i mixed with rehydration salts. I’m having my suspicions that maybe a fly drop its eggs in my dog’s mouth or on his anus. I still prioritize for my dog’s hydration status but after noticing that one maggot, I’m now concern that he may also have maggot infestation lurking inside him and I’m afraid it might complicate his condition right now.
What do you think is recommended to do in this kind of situation. By the way, I live in the Philippines. Thanks in advance for your response!
Probably a taperworm segment not a maggot. If it is a maggot then it probably came off the fur around the anus or in the stool. It is unlikely to have a maggot infection internally. Check for tapeworms, and around the dog anus. Sounds like the parvo is starting to resolve, give it more time and good luck!
what do you do if your dog is pregnant and gives birth and the puppies get maggots all over them and you think they got inside of them
Bring them to a vet, something is wrong. They need immediate care. There is not much I can say other than that. Sorry.
Hey my dog has holes in his head and he is bleeding.I think that there are maggots in his head.Can you please tell me how to get rid of them?I applied some anticeptic liquid and gave him cephalexin.So will it work amd is it safe? Please help.
You need to bring him to a vet. This is a serious condition. I can not easily advise without seeing. How do you know the cephalexin dose is correct and what caused the holes? They might need to be surgically cleaned and the dead tissue removed?
My rabbit has maggots in it’s ear and it is bloody. Her ear is really bad what should I do
Please go see a vet!! Sounds serious.
Please listen to doctor i am in major fear of looseing my ten year old pet to maggots has been raining for two weeks straigh non stop since hurricane hit my dog acted fully healthy and then a day later. He couldnt walk found severa maggots on his back. Like a bunch and i was like what the heck. Next thing i know he has maggots from his neck all the way to his tail and coming out of his anus. And by the time all this was found out im in very serious fear its to late for him. He is a long haired dog and never has had this problem before. He is to point he cant even hold his head up and shallow breathing. And im talking in a 24 hour period. By the time i found all this it was to late. He has millions maybe billions. I have never heard of this. If he survives the night im going to take him to the vet in the morning. But he has lost the use of his back legs. In 12 hours. I have been a life long owner of dogs and have never ever heard of this. I feel so horrible as a dog owner. And pray he can hold on and make it. 🙁 Do you think it is to late?
That is very sad and very fast. It seems like something VERY serious is going on and he needs a vet ASAP. I think the speed of spreading in not that uncommon in sick or disease animals, but very abnormal in healthy pets. After a storm there can be severe skin disease, rot and infection and this can be the cause. Bring him to a vet now if you can. So sorry. It sounds very serious. YOu should in the mean time wash as many off as possible with soapy water and you can use some peroxide diluted. Keep him dry and clean and preferably out of the rain…… otherwise you need to shave him down and see what the cause is.
Hi came home from work and found my cat very sick all of a sudden upon checking him we found maggots on his side and around his private area. I have never seen this before…I cant afford the vet, is there some remedy I can use to get rid of them at home please help.
Soap and water or peroxide. You need to see a vet.
Living in the Country, Dog’s will eat an entire family of bunnies, birds, get in fights with possum’s even as far as play tug a war with a skunk. (Much Fun!) As Cat’s too bringing presents of Rat’s, sometimes as big as a squirrels. The bacteria, not to mention parasites that YES our wonderful pets carry. Give your pets a normal tic and flea treatment during those months that are needed and occasionally a dewormer medication. Also, if you own a pet, no matter what you believe or Doctor’s say, you are a carrier of parasites also. Majority of Parasites will never let you know your their home. Doctor’s will blame your constipation on irritable bowl syndrome.. 15 years ago we might have seen 1 product of probiotics and irritable bowl relief products in aisles, now we see 2, 3 fully stocked aisles just for irritable bowl relief products. Why is it in the States we deworm our pets but not ourselves. We let our pets eat off our plates, sleep with us in our beds. But will we catch fleas, mites or parasites? Doctor’s will say “Absolutely Not, their no such thing possible.” Yet, outside all over the World on just about every street corner market you can buy products for human deworming and is commonly bought by all families. Yes Folk’s. Your pets will and already have passed on their parasites to your Entire Family. The Doctor’s and Specialists here in the Midwest I kid you Not, are not schooled or taught in Med School about parasites. So don’t bring it up that you think you might have one or you just want to be safe and have a dewormer treatment. Impossible, the medicine that we pay here in the States such as Ivermectin is (If possible to get it) will cost you few hundred dollars for one treatment. In Mexico? Great! Fifteen pesos. That’s less than four U.S. dollars. …There’s something wrong with this picture.
The best thing I’ve found for fleas, ticks, worms or any parasite is Black Walnut extract sprinkled on food, twice per day. Also, and I would have never thought this would work, but feeding a dog pineapple (sliced or chucks, they love either one) will keep a dog from eating his own poop. I had a husky mix puppy (1 yr old pup) that did that.
Be very careful, black walnut is toxic to dogs in any significant doses. Pineapple is not toxic and if it works, thanks for the advice. I highly recommend against the black walnut.
I and several of my friends have used black walnut, garlic and numerous other natural remedies. A vet will automatically tell you that it’s toxic because when you use natural remedies you are neglecting the vet of the money he/she would otherwise get from you. Just like with parvovirus, they tell you that you must bring the puppy in for expensive iv therapy or they’ll die. I had 2 puppies contract parvo before they were yet old enough for the vaccine. I also had a friend who was a veterinarian whom I contacted when it was almost too late because I had never had a puppy with the virus so I didn’t know what was going on. It had reached the 24 hour wait and see stage and she told me to give my puppy pepto bysmol to eliminate the vomiting and I used a medicine dropper to give my puppy water. She recovered very well. My second puppy did as well. What they don’t tell you is parvovirus is liken to stomach flu on crack, so if you give pepto bysmol it eliminates the diarrhea and vomiting. Puppies that die from parvo die from dehydration. There some vets that are in it for the animals and some just for money.
I usually do not reply to these kinds of emails but I will. 1) garlic and black walnut are toxic to pets. 2) Many vets use natural remidies, but they learn how to use them and do not extrapolate from human medicine or use a health food store as a substitute vet degree. 3) Parvo virus kills thousands of animals a year, and is not “just a stomach flu”. Some animals can survive with less care than others for sure, but MOST people are not willing to take the chances that their dog is a lucky one. We (I can only speak for our clinic) offer the best care that will ensure the highest percentage of success for your pet, and if some of the animals would survive with slightly less I feel good that we further increased the odds of all the pets survival. Water dropper in the mouth is never enough to cure dehydration and pepto-bismal is VERY bad for puppies and dogs in large or repetitive doses due to the high levels of aspirin in it. Why give aspirin to an already GI compromised animal?? 4) Parvo is a virus of neglect. This means that a person has not adequately vaccinated their dogs and/or kept them in a compromised environment. 5) You have multiple comments on multiple threads about all vets just being in it for the money. I can assure you there is not much money and I would not be volunteering my time answering questions for free if I just wanted money. Giving free advice is not a great way to make money!
Garlic and onions attach to the red blood cells preventing oxygen from attaching so it’s not getting to the brain but for the most part there isn’t much garlic If you sprinkle a little of the powdered garlic like from the seasoning section in the grocery store however a better solution would be to use a product made for the problem like for-bid or I believe there are a many others now. Some are safe for cats some for dogs but chocolate onions and garlic are not safe for either nor are many other Foods!
One of my geese ran away a few days ago and we found him standing in front of the chicken coop yesterday. He has a wound with maggots in it, none of the vets around us treat geese, we’ve tried cleaning the wound ourselves but it didn’t work out so well.
I’m wondering , I’ve always used corn starch for hemroids and rash chapping on my ass and inside of my leggs ….felt like silk and made life better it helped so much…..my cat is in pain it’s not a wet wound just rash will the cat get sick from the corn starch …..maybe veg. Oil to keep it from getting dry and scabby
Sorry, but I have never heard of this. I can not imagine it would cause any harm tot he cat in small amounts. REMEMBER these animals lick that stuff off and in large amounts would be very bad for the cat probably. I would try to figure out why the rash is there in the first place?
Hello I’m doing a lot of research for my guinea pig I have been sitting my guinea pigs cage outside for a while so she can get fresh it and as I clean out the cage I see Megan’s and I’m afraid that they might go up inside of her bottom please help and give informationon what I should do and where vets are close to Little Rock for guinea pigs
Maggots not Megan’s
I’m confused about the maggots (not Megan’s) and where there are. If they are in her poop and she can not sit in it or get into it (like it drops through a screen or soemthing) then you are fine. If she has access to the poop then you need to clean the cage much more. Maggots take a while to hatch and more frequent cleanings will definitely help. I’m just not sure where the maggots are. If she is healthy they should not bother her. I would google “exotic vet Little Rock” and call for a quick interview to see who you like. I really do not know anyone there.
Can maggots crawl up a guinea pigs rear end ? In shortter words
Yes, but it is rare. Does that help?
Today i picked up my guinea pig and saw that she was bleeding from her rear end, i was trying to discover why, i researched that they do not have periods. I looked in her cage and there appeared to be maggots, i clean the cage weekly, but they must have just hatched. I do not know if a maggot crawed into her rear end, how can i be for sure? And if it is, how can i get rid of them?
I really do not deal with GP’s much, but keeping everything clean and trying to clean her rear end is the first step. If there are maggots then you will need some antibiotics and maybe have them removed by a vet. IF the bleeding lasts then she needs to see a vet. It might be something else entirely?
I agree with Dr. Stewart, parvo is a nasty killing disease and in my opinion is like hiv, but kills within days one of my dog,(puppy) got this and nearly died from it along with other dogs I have heard lost lives to parvo, and must always be taken to a vet, I have never played doctor to my pets!! I bring them to thier doctor just like we go to doctors regardless of cost!! if we didn’t have ohip etc, we still have to pay for our health care and the same for animals!! cheers, at home solutions are good for minor stuff, but could turn to progress to much more, so when you don’t bring for treatment right away, it ends up costing more then what it should be (hence) if you would have brought it to vet right away, cheers, and good health!!!
Some people don’t have $4000 to $10,000 laying around to take an animal to the vet but that does not negate the love they still have for that animal – so they try to do anything and everything that they can – finances coming to play for a number of people (it doesn’t make their pet less loved!). I do things like give my dog pain and anxiety medication that in times of better finances I had prescribed to the same species of the same size and I use that for things like fireworks or when her arthritis is bad when it snows-its new meds and does fine- but when my cat had a very large abscess on his chin I’m not going to try to Lance that at home, (I was quoted $200-400 since they weren’t positive they could go with my diagnosis), but they could and I went at noon after sitting at night with him, that made it less money, so I paid $107 – the $55.50 for the office visit + the $41 for them to lance the absence+ the $11 for the antibiotics. However I received 2 people antibiotics (specific sage ones for dogs and cats – but I have had the same rx, just more pills than 2 for 8 days) anyway they gave me was people antibiotics two pills to cut in fourths that I already had some at home of and I was happy since I felt he needed 4 more days, so he got them. Since he provides a medical service for me – I try anything and everything I can to keep cost down and to keep a savings account for my pets but that’s not always possible – but I don’t love him any less because of that. It might mean that I go to a no-kill shelter and since they helped me while I was bottle raising him and his 3 littermates from a day old and they know our situation + they have a vet tech that comes in and I get some help that way and have been taught how to break down capsules into appropriate doses for medicine that would be given at the vet office in the tablet that could be cut rather than a capsule that cannot and various things like that… Which I hope gives people wherever they are that need help wherever they are one more option hyphen because volunteering at a no-kill shelter and working with them to help work off any expense or the vet text time or anything like that can be a very mutually beneficial relationship because the vet techs do a lot of the procedures and give a lot of the meds anymore just like the medical assistant or the prescribing nurse at doctors offices that you see when you take a person in to a doctor and they don’t even tell you anymore that they’re not a doctor – even if you call them a doctor they don’t typically say that they’re not one at least in my experience…
My dog has got maggots at his back. The doctor gave us some injection which he states is poison to kill the maggots and a spray thay is antibiotic.
The doctor isn’t telling us the name of the injection that he states is poisonous, I don’t know what to do..
What can it possibly be?
Any leads?
Is there any injection I.e. Vaccination to prevent maggots?
None that I know of. Capstar is a pill that sometimes works.
Hi Dr Stewart,
I rescued an abandoned kitten (<1 week old or maybe even a few days- eyes are still closed) yesterday and gave her a few baths to clean what looked like blow fly larvae( vet did not offer too much insight since he could not visualize the actual larvae) that was encrusted around her anus, tail and hind legs. Today, we took her to the vet and they found maggots in her umbilicus- it was cleaned, now she is on antibiotics and cleared to go home. We took her home and when we were getting ready to feed her- I found a maggot protruding out of her anus. Should I take her to the vet immediately??? Do you think she is in immediate danger?
Very hard to assess. Is she acting ok, eating…all the normals. My guess is it could wait until tomorrow but it depends on the kitten. If you are worried about her survival then yes, go right away. If not then see how she looks in the morning.
Thank you Dr Stewart, she has a great appetite and is very active. I forgot to mention that I did remove the maggot with a tweezer (not sure if that detail was important) and she was fine after that. At this time, I am being very vigilant- I have not seen anymore maggots since then. Do you think it’s fine to wait until her next check up in a few weeks unless she deteriorates unexpectedly?
Again hard to assess. But my gut, only my gut, says you can wait if she is 100% healthy otherwise. If she gets to 95% or 90% then bring her right in. Just an opinion based on very limited data. Hope this helps. I also suspect the maggot might be tape worms?
I completely understand that it is difficult to provide further guidance and a diagnosis without doing a physical assessment. I will remain vigilant with my kitten and try to provide the best possible care for her. Thank you for your quick feedback/advice and patience!! You are an angel!
Wat is an animal but with out a smell no reptiles just easy to keep at home
Cat?
Is cat maggots dangerous for people?
They are not specific to cats and you should avoid exposure of open infected wounds to any maggot. But essentially the answer is no.
I want to reply to the comments about the parvovirus you made. You said that it’s from people not taking care of their animals or being in an a bad area I guess. We had one puppy out of 8 die from parvovirus. The mother and our dog had been vaccinated. The puppies were too young to have their shots. And yes I have been told by a vet to give Phillips milk of magnesium and something with high electrolytes to an animal with parvovirus. As far as you saying animals get this from not being taken care of it can stay in the ground for 7 yrs. How many people actually knows that. I didn’t until just recently. So your opinion and medical advice dont mean crap to me. And anyone else here should seek advice somewhere else.
Glad to have a conversation. You can listen to whomever you like. I give 20 year experienced FREE vet advice, so get you advice elsewhere. There are always exceptions, BUT your puppy got parvo from the area likely it was in or you took it out somewhere where there was parvo. Your ignorance of science (as you say you didn’t know so my advice means crap to you) makes me want to suggest you stop breeding dogs. Maybe do some research before you bring more life into the world that can get a nasty disease. Just my opinion, glad you are seeking expert advice elsewhere. PS Giving a dog with blowout diarrhea from parvo as strong laxative like Milk of Magnesia might be a bad idea….but listen to your source for sure.
I am a feline/canine lover and I will tell you that neither of them are smell free. Neither are reptiles. Get a fish or a spider
Hi Mandy, My name is Colleen and I just got on this site because because I was looking up pictures of maggots. I just wanted to add my 2 cents to a comment you made about all animals smell. If you ever want a dog the doesn’t smell get a Siberian Husky. I’m on my third one, and as long as you feed them dogfood like you are supossed to they won’t smell. No bad breath or wet dog smell either. But as soon as you start to feed them people food all bets are off they will be like any normal dog.Just some food for thought. Thanks for reading.
I took my dog to vet today he had a bump on his side for 4 days. She squeezed it and a maggot popped out. She said it was only one in him. But he still has bump and I am afraid another one is in there. And after reading they say flys lay many eggs so it would not be normal for only one maggot to come out? Is his bump just healing or could there be more?
Good question, but impossible to answer. If it was a BOT fly then there would be one and the bump will last a while. If it was a real magott then hard to tell. I would ask the vet and make sure the wound is still open to drain and healing. Either Way, you are on the right path……
All animals that use the bathroom have some odor to them. I have taught my cat to use the toilet but occasionally he leaves what we affectionately called the chocolate chip on the floor in front of the toilet or if he uses the toilet too far forward where his stool is not getting under the water the bathroom certainly smells until we do the flush and or pick up his chocolate chip that fell off of his behind when he jumped down. But my dog does not smell in the house as long as you brush their teeth regularly and you take them in for regular dental cleanings that’s a fairly unsmiley pet because the biggest complaint I hear about dogs is their breath and how they smell when they are wet, but when they are wet it is a short time and their breath is a significant smell but it’s awesome something that needs to be taken care of like people teeth need to be taken care of – just like cats need to have their dentals done so that they don’t get bad cat breath.
I just don’t think you’re going to find an animal that does not have an odor however most of the odors are going to come from the same place people odor typically comes from – having gas, using the bathroom, bad breath, infection in the mouth, or other things like that!
Spiders
I raise cave crickets I wish there was someone that knew about cave crickets. I raise them from nursery till old age. 🙂 they are cool.
I had a pet grasshopper that lived almost a year. I was devastated recently when he died.
If anyone knows of someone who raises spiders, crickets or grasshoppers as pets (not as lizard food) please inform. Thanks!
Hi–I need an honest opinion re if I did the right thing. I had my 14.5 year old female Kuvasz euthanised two days ago, and am trying hard to find some closure. I will describe the events leading up to this and would appreciate your opinion.
Sashka was diagnosed with spinal osteoarthritis 4 years ago at the age of 10. She still had good with the help of Deramaxx and Gabapentin until spring 2016 when her mobility took a significant turn for the worse. For the past two years she was able to go for short walks at a slow pace. By this spring she had severe knuckling, but was still able to manage a 1/4 mile walk twice daily. Three weeks ago she developed hind legs paralysis and rapidly diminishing almost complete inability to use of her hind legs. Ten days ago she completely lost function of her hind legs, and could no longer urinate on her own. Over the past 10 days or so I had been expressing her bladder daily to help her to urinate. About 8-9 days before she died a friend noticed she had flies buzzing around her hind section while lying in my yard. I was still trying to figure out how to keep her clean with the new developments, and she did have some unclean fur on the underside of her hind legs.
That night I discovered a large number of maggots under these small clumps of fur. I spent 3 hours cleaning them all away, bathing and drying her, and removing all of the fur that these bugs were under. I could not be certain, but felt that I had gotten all the maggots off of her. I began treating the affected area with an iodine solution, antibiotic ointment, and clean water. Then on Wednesday night (August 8th) I discovered a small hole on her left hind leg in the middle of her flank. Because she is a heavily coated dog this was very hard to detect previously. I only found it because it was oozing fluid on to her fur. I shaved the area with a sterile razor, and discovered a hole about the size of a pencil eraser. Very light pressure there caused copious amounts of a pinkish to pinkish brown opaque fluid about half the viscosity of syrup to run out of that hole. There was also signs of necrotic skin tissue surrounding that hole–patches of skin that appeared blackish. I knew she very likely had some maggots inside of her leg. That night she seemed weak, but ate very well and also took water. I put her on Gabapentin 300mg. and Deramaxx for pain relief.
By the next morning she was somewhat weaker, but still willing to eat. I called a vet clinic and they gave me a fairly reasonable quote on blood work, surgery, an overnight stay, and postoperative meds. This clinic involved a 100 mile round trip, and I cannot drive due to a visual disability. A friend was willing to take me, but on the way I called a local clinic and they said they could deal with her maggot problem without surgery, so I took her there.
Overnight her leg had swollen up from her thigh down to the beginning of her foot. The vets said she was in septic shock. They offered to do intravenous fluids, and other treatments, but not surgery for a pretty hefty fee with no assurances of a good outcome. The attending vets also felt it was unlikely that she would survive sedation in her weakened state. Sashka could lift her head, and was responsive but did not seem to want to make the effort to sit up.
They strongly advised immediate euthanasia, and said Sashka was in a lot of pain. My impressions of her did not support that last re the pain, but she was a very brave and stoic dog. I was not willing to accept the treatment they had offered which involved no surgery at a rather high cost. Due to my visual disability I am unemployed, and my financial situation is bordering on dire. They insisted that I have her euthanised or they would call the animal cruelty authorities. I was not overly intimidated by this, but also felt very strongly that taking Sashka home in her current condition was absolutely not an option and I had by this time missed my appointment with the first vet, and my friend had left to run errands.
I struggled with my decision, but realized that even if the infection was successfully treated that I still had a dog with several serious issues. Complete rear end paralysis, urinary and fecal incontinence with no ability to urinate on her own. Sashka also had a large grapefruit sized (4x4x4 inch) lipoma on her left side just to one side of her tail which was quickly getting larger, but might have been slowing down lately. It had not been diagnosed, but all the characteristics –movable, non painful, and soft to the touch were suggestive of a lipoma. Considering all of this I finally gave in and with exceedingly heavy heart allowed them to euthanize her. I had Sashka cremated yesterday.
Since then I have been thinking that I should have called the vet who offered surgery to try and rebook for that same day in order to get a second opinion, and possibly surgery if advised. That I did not do so is causing me some torment at this point.
I did not have a good relationship with the clinic where she was euthanized. Four years earlier the same vet I dealt with the other day had misdiagnosed Sashka with hemangiosarcoma, which cost me an additional $1000. by time it became clear that the diagnosis had been faulty. by another clinic. I had stopped using their clinic altogether about one year ago.
During their exam of Sashka they said she was in septic shock, but when I was sitting with her in the next hour she ate two muffins without reluctance, and I later thought that a dog that was in shock would likely not be interested in food. The vet who offered surgery had not seen my dog. My driver friend said it is very possible upon seeing her that he would have also advised euthanasia. I still deeply wish I had obtained that second opinion,. If he had also advised euthanasia I would have far less difficulty with my decision at this point.
So, if it is possible based on my description of Sashkas’ new and longstanding health issues do you think I made the right call? I had a very deep admiration for this girl, as she had a very stoic, and courageous nature, and had not lost the will to live. She did not seem painful from day to day, was eating well, and of relatively good demeanor despite it all. I wondered if during a surgery to treat the parasitic infestation the lipoma was removed (which may have been impinging on neves) if she might have regain at least proper bladder function and made living on a little less difficult for her and myself. However, if the infection and maggots were successfully resolved I was willing to continue caring for her in that condition. I was considering getting her a dog mobility cart as she still had fair function in her front end. So, if you could give me your objective opinion on the above events I would be most grateful. Thanks in advance.
Wow, that’s one heck of a story. It sounds like you made the right decision based on a quality of life. I would not question or second guess the judgement of the vet office you ended at. I think you made a good decision which was for the best for your beloved dog.
Hello,
My dog drank a little bit of stagnant water outside. A couple days later she had diarrhea. We gave her chicken and rice and she was having normal bowel movements. A couple days after that she had another episode of diarrhea, there was blood in the stool and this time there were tons of house flies around it. Could she have eaten fly eggs or larvae in the stagnant water, then they came out in her feces when they were becoming flies? Could this cause any permanent damage if they were feeding on her insides? She hasn’t had any more episodes of diarrhea since then yesterday, but I am just concerned about any long term damage this may have caused or if scenario is even possible.
Seems very unlikely and she probably has an upset stomach. Just watch for more diarrhea. I bet she will be fine. If not, you should see a vet for a stool check. The flies are after the fact.
What about exotic pets what if your mouse got bit by one of there siblings and now has a maggot inside the mouse? Is there any way to take the maggot out without loosing the mouse?
Good question. It depends where and how big. I do not know much about mice. I would try to manually remove it, especially if there is just one.
My blue tick hound got extremely sick from standing flood waters. Since my jobs do to flooding were shut down I could not afford a vet. I had a birch bark parasite powder from pet store that I used on myself having beaver fever from rescuing my other hound out of log jam. A cat lover pharmacist directed me to a all natural antacid and a natural gravel pill for dizziness in the pharmacy, (not sugar toxic pepto bismol). Why not a pink icing donut while you are at it Tammy. But she kept hydrated and started eating on the 11th day and was going on 12hr hunts soon after. I feel very lucky had I afforded a vet she would have healed in half the time. Thanks so much for your work.
I would look up hikers diarrhea and I would also associate the flies around the fluid as being attracted to it to eat or drink but hikers diarrhea can cause dehydration and contain different parasites and or worms so it could need an anti-parasitic or anti-worm medication or something more but this is going to be one of the things that usually the sooner you take them in the better off as far as having a low bill you will be, after doing the first thing you did with the bland food hopefully cooked with no onions or garlic and also since it was stagnant water looking for the symptoms of hikers diarrhea and if those start to show up taking that animal in – there is a medical term for hikers diarrhea I believe it to be coccidia but I don’t remember off hand.
I am wondering, since it is the weekend and my vet is closed, what do I do about a cat that has flies landing all over his bottom and he has maggots on him? I can’t afford to take him to a weekend vet
Without knowing why they are there I can not really help you. Maggots on his bottom would be a serious problem and you should try to find the fund for an ER vet. The cost are usually only a few % higher then a day vet. Please do not let your cat suffer.
My 13 year old bulldog has holes all over him and inside his ear that are full of maggots. We shaved his hair and washed him. Put peroxide and ear stuff to help. Also put corn starch on him. He hasn’t been eating and he threw up yesterday. Very slow and out of it. But his wounds are deep and he was covered in flies this morning in the biggest hole. Can not afford vet. What do I do?
There is nothing I can say here! Sounds very bad and he needs veterinary attention. The dog sounds like he is suffering and you are not keeping up with the pain, disease and problems. Try a shelter or an SPCA? He needs to be seen.
Hello Dr, yesterday my cat just came home after couple weeks missing. I found out that it had lots of huge maggots inside its anus and testis. It looks like the testis was rotten for few days already I’m not sure. I tried to scrap the maggots out and inject an antibiotics into its anus. I couldn’t finish removing all the maggots because my cat was too aggressive that day. After 24 hours, I can’t see any moving things around the area. I try to wash the area with antiseptics quiet often and give my cat antibiotics. Am I doing everything right?
Bring him to a vet to get him sedated to treat him right. Antibiotics in the anus does not sound right. He needs systemic antibiotics and proper wound care.
I have a pup and gave him worm medicine because he came to me with worms and ticks took care of all but now I see maggots in his poop and it says to give worm medicine every two weeks so can’t give him any till next Tuesday what can I do from home to help with this love him but cant afford vet bill
Is it maggots or tapeworms? Maggots is a big problem, tapeworms you need different medication. Maggots in the stool are very bad. Tapeworms not so bad.
Hello Dr. Stewart..! I just found out today that the one of the stray puppies near my house has maggot infestation behind his ears and the back..! I had checked the pup two days before and there were none then soo its safe to assume they hatched over these two days..! I brushed off the big ones but the little maggots are quite difficult to remove…! The pup is quite small, about 2-3 weeks old..! I wanted to know what I could do for him by myslf as currntly I am unable to contact any vet. Your advice will be highly appreciated.
Wash him with soapy water and comb or brush off all the maggots. If they are not embedded this might do the trick. You can use a little peroxide mixed with dish soap for better effect.
I have the same thing
If you also have an unweaned animal that is ill and can’t afford to take it to the vet I would suggest you call no kill shelters in your area and they can frequently have you Foster until they have space but set you up with their vet tech in the meantime in order to get the medical care and then they find the animal a good home
Are maggots able to transfer to other dogs??
We have three dogs one is very sick what can I do??
No they are not, but you need to see a vet!
Hello Dr !
My 6 year old Golden Retriever was being treated for maggot wounds by his regular vet. Although the wound seems to be healing , it’s happening really slow as it is in the section close to the anus and the tail. He is on antibiotics but today he has been shivering a lot. My vet is not reachable at this hour and I don’t know how what I can do to make my baby feel
Better . Pls help. Any emergency home
Remedy that I can use ?
Sorry, late post I just saw this. I hope it worked out well.
yes maggots can transfer between dogs and sometimes other animals typically by eating other maggots but sometimes people get maggots and tapeworms confused and that again is transferable when they eat each other’s stool for that you would need to get a proper anti worming medication for everybody clean up every bit of stool and then clean up the stool in the morning afternoon evening every day for the two weeks in between the doses and then give the second dose and keep cleaning up the stool until you stop seeing tapeworms if that’s what they are.
I seen a feral cat with a big opened wound on its face trying to catch it n get it some care but I’m worried if I can’t what will happen to the poor cat? ????
Hard to say. Depends on the wound. Maybe it will heal just fine, maybe it affects his vision or smell and then his eating. Hard to say. Sorry.
Hi! My daughter just found maggots in HER cats feces. You said that is very bad. Why is it very bad? I do NOT have money for a vet appt. I JUST SPENT MORE THAN WHAT I HAD FOR FLEAS her cat and dog, and my son’s dog have. We just found out like 5 days ago they all had fleas. Please help. I have been reading up on fleas and how to get rid of them on pets and in the house, I have spent $160 on stuff to rid us of a flea infestation, I really can’t afford a vet appt now too! This worries me also that it could be tapeworm. I have NEVER had a pet with fleas, let alone tapeworm or maggots. I don’t even know how tapeworm or maggots look like, really, or how they look different from one another. These worms in the feces were moving though, or some of them were she said. I didn’t even look cuz my stomach CANNOT handle seeing our smelling stuff like that. If tapeworm, can I buy anything over the counter at a store or somewhere rather than take the cat to the vet? Also, if the cat has maggots or tapeworm, will that mean my dogs have them too and need to be treated too, or no? Please please clear these things up for me?! I thank you very much, in advance, from the bottom of my heart!!
FLeas carry tapeworms so it is very possible they are tape worms. You need to get this fixed. I am not sure what the over the counter rules are where you are but most good tapeworm medication is prescription. There is no use fixing the tapeworm until the fleas are 100% fixed then fix the tape worms. Yes, every pet will have tapeworms most likely if one or 2 have them. Sounds like you have a little work to get this under control. Sorry…
Go to your local Humane Society and borrow a farral cat trap like have a heart, and then you can take it into a no-kill shelter and get it help but unfortunately the reason outdoor cats not necessarily Ferrell’s or strays but just by cats being outdoors instead of living 20 years they have a typical lifespan of 5 to 10 years because of not being able to get an abscess which is what my cat just had and what it sounds like that cat has but that cats abscess has ruptured open so it’s likely that the skin that is open will become necrotic and either fall off or need to be cut off and it could also cause an infection to go into the cat’s blood and go all through all of his systems and that obviously doesn’t end well the other things that cause their lifespan to be basically cut in half or less are cars lack of food territory fights that ended more than a puncture wound that later becomes an abscess and various things like that but look into the TNR program in your area and you can help a lot by getting the animals spayed and neutered at no charge usually and get them vaccinations as well so they’re not spreading rabies and other diseases got the most Humane thing for that cat maybe to put it down.
I know with my feral cats that I took through the Trap neuter and return program (which is what TNR stands for) they come to their names which are (Mommy Auntie Daddy and orange), so when the Humane Society where I live that runs the program asked if I felt like euthanasia would be better or if I would be able to give the cat antibiotics every day I said sure I can give her antibiotics everyday – since they come when I call their names or when I shake a canister that used to have drinks in it but now has dry food in it so by mixing a bit of canned food like a little bit a teaspoon tsp and a 1/2 and I hide the pill in that let the cat that needs to eat it take the medicine that way and then I make their regular meals it is not a big deal for me too do antibiotics for the feral cat but with an abscess that has ruptured it is painful it generally causes them a high fever which is also very uncomfortable and since it open I know it’s going to be more on the side of the two to four hundred dollars that my vet charged because they have really reasonable rates but it might even be higher than that because I was getting quotes on an abscess a bit bigger than a quarter about a half an inch tall off of the face and still closed so having a ruptured abscess can need significantly more care including IV fluids Hospital stay overnight, or even a couple of nights.
When I learned about the Trap neuter and return program and got her fixed is the 4th time I found 4 babies in my yard, so there is mommy, her daughter from an older litter now fixed AKA auntie and then my cat’s (maybe) daddy.
I have tried taking strays to animal shelters AND THEY WON’T ACCEPT THEM. They have too many. They have cameras outside as well, (not that I would try to dump them there). It is so easy to say oh take them to a shelter. But it’s not so easy to do.
This definitely might be a regional problem, but not all shelters are the same or refuse to accept strays. This is the problem when people do not spay or neuter their pets…..over population. I have found locally that if the SPCA is full or can not accept strays, then there are a number of private local groups and rescues that will help. If this is also not the case then I can not help you, except to say we need more volunteers at shelters and more animal sterilization.
What do I do if my dog just threw up a maggot
It depends why and where it came from??? Mouth, tongue, stomach, gum line….? Find the infection and cure the infection. It might be a simple intestinal worm? Try a local vet if it happens more than once.
Dr my dog has flies all over him and theres some sort of white thing on his mouth i dont knkw what to do
Go to a vet. This is not something I can answer
My cat has lots of maggots growing around its anus. fly’s are swarming around it because of it also the anus part is sticking out because the maggots chewed around it. I am very worried about my cat but other research as told me that to get rid of the maggots it would cost $2000 to get rid of them. and theirs a great chance that wont help because they might be to far in. I dont know what to do please help imminently.
Bring the cat to a vet immediately. Get off line and get to a vet, your cat is suffering. Do not trust the $2000 number and ask your vet directly. Your cat might need to be put on antibiotics, have minor surgery, be put to sleep….but now your cat is suffering.
My cat was missing for 3 days, I found her soaked with poop all over her and maggots in her anus, she couldn’t walk or meow, I took her to the vet, and she passed away, how could I prevent this from happening to my other cats? I have 2 other healthy cats but I’m not sure if it can spread.
I have no idea why the cat would have this. You need to ask your vet what happened. Cats go missing for 3 days all the time and are just fine. There is more to the story.
???????????????????????? mine too but it so bad idk what can do i bathed her but there are so many hole im in shock this so so horrifying???????????????? it looks like a big dog bite
I have a cat that dissapeared for about 4 days we thought she was having her kittens and just didnt want to leave them… well she showed up today with partially bloody body and serious wound on her head and neck that’s covered in hundreds of maggots their in her ear.. her eyes are pus covered and shut and her nose was covered as well… I don’t how she made it home… I had no choice but to leave and I wasn’t sure what to do with her so I left her and had a friend check on her to tell me if she could be saved but she dissapeared again since then… If I’m able to find her what can I do to help her. I have no way to see a vet but I can’t stand the thought of putting her down its against my nature… If she hasn’t already succumbed I would like to try and save her or at least try to make her a little more comfortable before she goes… Please help if possible with whatever advice that will help her… Thanks
TAKE HER TO A VET. There is nothing more I can help you with. She is suffering badly.
Dr. Stewart, while I agree with you about taking the animal to a vet, please be advised that unfortunately, taking an animal to a vet or getting a vet out is not always an option in some rural locations in the United States.
I had a horse that was hit by a car when the driver swerved into the horse from across the road. The horse went up on the hood of the car, the driver kept going and yelled out of the window, “Sorry.” Fortunately, no broken legs and I could walk her back to the barn before shock really set in. This was a Sunday. I called the only vet in our area that practiced on horses, who was an hour away. I filled him in on her injuries and condition and he told me, “If she is alive tomorrow, I’ll come down.” I told him I had Banamine, he said, “Good, you can give her that.” That was that. Fortunately, my experiences over the years came into play, the mare survived the night, the vet came out the next day and saw that it was not good. She healed with time and bore the scars to prove it. Now my equine vet is 2 hours away, they make sure that I have some drugs onhand to hold a problem long enough for them to get here, but they will come.
For small animals, we did have a time when the closest vet was 1.5 hours away without emergency hours. We now have 1 practice 45 mins. away with after hours emergency service for true life threatening emergencies but, often it is, “make the animal as comfortable as you can and bring it in first thing in the morning,” as long as it is not a Sunday morning.
I know others that the nearest vet was 4 or more hours away. Another, no vet on the island.
While I understand that you don’t want to treat and give medical advice without seeing the animal, and preferably knowing the client, please, be aware and keep in mind that not everybody is able to get vet care for reasons beyond their control.
I take acception to your comment, “4) Parvo is a virus of neglect. This means that a person has not adequately vaccinated their dogs and/or kept them in a compromised environment.”
Historically, there have been a few parvo outbreaks that were not typical due to mutations for which the availabe vaccines had little to no efficacy. Many breeders are aware of the potential threat parvo poses and strictly limit exposure of young litters. Unfortunately, vaccine failure is a reality and people looking for a puppy may not be upfront when the breeder is trying to maintain biosecurity. The visit to the vet has the potential to expose a young litter. Always ask the vet clinic about recent communicable diseases that they have seen in their practice and do not let other people or animals near the litter. All those who handle the litter while at the clinic should wash their hands and if they hold pups close should be in fresh attire. Keep them off the floor if possible or if lucky enough to have a vet that makes house calls, even better. It falls on the client to enforce biosecurity inorder to keep the litter as safe as possible and not bring something communicable home. Change shoes or sterilize once home. MANY, many, things can be done to try to keep a litter safe but, mutations and vaccine failure happen so they can not be completely relied on and can give a false sense of security.
Numerous people have adopted pets from shelters only to find out that the “healthy” puppy they brought home is deathly ill a day or even 5 days later. Then there is the viral shedding for potentially weeks which can spread it to an otherwise clean area. Parvo is a disease that is more prevalent in crowded conditions with little to no biosecurity, but not necessarily unvaccinated or neglected.
I saw a maggot crawl into my cats anus. She has a wound near her bottom and I did not know it. She is a barn cat. When I realized, I began cleaning her and I saw maggots. I killed the ones I saw but one hit away and crawled in her butt? She is on amoxicillin. Will the maggot hurt her
Good question. Should not hurt her if there is no more wound up there and the body is normal. If there is any dead tissue or more wound up there then that is very bad. Monitor her and keep her on amoxi and see if she improves. I would have a vet check her out.
Thank you for your help. I may have to put her down as I do see dead tissue. . I have lots of rescue barn cats and 6 dogs. All neautered with rabies Shots but I can’t afford vet. She is only 13. Young for a cat. I just wish I would have caught this earlier.
I have suddenly discovered lots of dead small maggots white and some brown about the size of a grain of rice in my dogs food. I felt shocked as she had been eating this food with what must be lots of maggots for a few weeks – I bought a big bag but keep it in a tight container or seal the bag up tight in a cupboard with what’s left. Apart from emailing the company who I’ve bought them from, the main concern is my dog. She has had no problems because of this – no nausea or vomiting etc. I wanted to check if there is anything to be concerned about or if it’ll be ok. She’s wormed with milbemax every 3-4 months if that makes any difference too. Thanks
Probably not a concern but just watch for GI upset. Maybe go ahead and worm her again to be safe.
My persian cat has got maggots on his testicle i saw that today morning without having any idea of it, he wasn’t eating anything since yesterday and continuously licking his testicles! I took him to my vet and he has placed a cotton inside his testicles and said it needs to be removed tomorrow morning and shall be done repeatedly unless the worm dies, please tell me is it too risky for my cats health?
This is something I am honestly not familiar with. Have him neutered and the testicles removed? I would listen to the vet as this is some kind of tropical problem I am not familiar with.
Hi I have a cat she’s not quite a year old she pregnant n is currently in labor I found some maggot eggs around ur vagina area I’ve cleaned then off of her she still leaking due to labor I was wondering how much honey should I give her as an antibiotic n will keeping her clean keep the maggots away……since we found out we’ve set up a nursing area for n keep an eye on her we no longer let her out
Honey? I’m not sure I follow?
Maggots have dig a hole on my dog paws how to kill them so that we could take them out . If you could help out …
You need to see a vet. There are drugs that can help but sedation and antibiotics, and manual removal are needed. You need to find out why they are there too.. Sorry.
Greetings: I see a ton of info on the web about how to clean maggots off of surface skin … but what about when they are in the rectum of an animal, especially a baby. I’m wondering if a (pure) saline solution of non-iodized salt can be used as a enemy to get the maggots on the move to disembark so to speak … or is there something better???
I really do not know, we often use peroxide diluted but not in the rectum. We will give medications like capstar if possible to kill them as well. I guess it depends why they are there in the first place.
My dog just threw up ALOT of maggots and I mean a lot is this something I should be taking him to the vet for? Idk what to do honestly
YES go to a vet asap!
Good afternoon, I was hoping if you can read this my dog is having amaggots in his left ear and I just saw it this morning. The problem is we don’t have vet clinic here or any med for dogs coz we’re in a province area. My dog is not hurt but he keeps shaking his head to get rid of it. What will I do? I washed him already. 🙁
Keep washing and use a diluted vinegar or diluted peroxide. You should seek a human doctor for some antiseptic. There is not too much else you can do.
Hello Doctor, I have spent a couple hours now reading this thread. My impression of you has flickered between wondering if you’re just an avid promoter for expensive vet care and harsh, but tried and true yet expensive medical treatments, and admiring your stance on the ever increasing argument that someone who can’t afford vet care for their pet should not be entitled to one. Though I can see both sides of that argument, I’m with you on that. I found you because I recently discovered life with maggots in dogs, never knew this could happen. I have a close relationship with my vet clinic and a lot of respect for the doctors there who “see it all”. My sweet Pomeranian is being treated with antibiotics and pain meds after very young maggots were discovered in her anus due to a short-lived stint with poopoo stuck to her bum. Now my question for you is have you heard of using food grade diatomaceous earth (aka) D.E. in pets? and/or their surroundings yard, sleeping area or diet? I think I’m onto something.. please weigh in on this. I know it kills flies and their eggs and larvae, it kills (fleas) ticks ants etc.. so won’t that prevent tapeworms or help? I’d love to know your thoughts. I realize that doctors can become jaded over time and tend to lose their good bedside manner with people, but that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. I will be waiting to know if you actually consider my thoughts on the DE and have any opinion on natural remedies. I’ll have a resolve if I’m answered with more pharmaceutical advice. Respectfully yours, Rachel A.
I’m not sure if your opening few lines were a complement or an insult? I do advise veterinary treatment in almost 100% of the cases because If someone takes the time to ask a question of a stranger on the internet then they are concerned themselves. If a pet owner is concerned then I am concerned and going to the vet is the best option. Does that make sense? Seeing how I can not diagnose or treat “blindly” over the web, going to the vet is usually the best option. As for the DE, I really do not have any good experience with it and maggots. I know it helps with fleas and I have seen people use it successfully, but again do not have much experience with it. As for natural remedies, I am on the fence. I have seen way too many Tea Tree oil seizures, burns and poisoning, as well as a host of other “overdoses” due to human holistic doses and extrapolation. I use holistics ON MYSELF and like many of low level chronic treatments…. but I do not use many on my pets or clients because the research is thin. Yes, I like fish oils, glucosamine (at times) and even chinese herbs (for clotting disorders) but I do not like garlic, tea tree oil or crystals…… Try the DE and let me know if it works! Oh, and if you see maggots…..bring your dog to the vet 🙂
Can humans contact these maggots
M
Yes. Depends on species but usually.
Hi my pet shih Tzu has lilttle maggots coming out of her anal area and she is vomiting she don’t want to eat and I don’t know what to do I can’t afford to take her to a vet what can i do can you help me please.
You need to get her to a vet or get her to an SPCA or shelter and giver her up for adoption. She seems very sick and if you can not treat her right, you need to get her proper care. Think of the best for the dog. I can not help you with anything else. This is your decision.
I think this comment is a little harsh. I know you do realize how expensive it is to take a pet to the vet. Yes, I know people say, if you cant afford to care for a pet, that you shouldn’t have one. So, I guess if you don’t have money you don’t deserve to love and be loved by a pet. Just because one cant afford a vet does not mean one has not given there pet much love, and who knows for how long. I’ve had my dog for 9years and have loved her very much, she now has what appears to be a tumor growing in her stomach. 3000 was my quote on a vet, I feel awful that I cant afford it, do you think the less fortunate don’t care?
I appreciate your thoughts and comment but, but you are confusing two things. I really primarily care about the animal and the animal’s well being. I have no relationship with the owner (this is an anonymous web blog) so the only thing I can help with is a medical condition of a pet. In fact only a common or simple medical condition because I have never seen the animal, it has to be generalized help. Second, owning a pet is a privilege and a large responsibility. You are controlling and caring for a higher life form and that is a big responsibility. If a person has a dog that is suffering greatly and in die need of medical attention then they need to take responsibility and not ignore the pet or let it suffer. I really do not care about personal wealth, but I do care that animals are not unnecessarily suffering. If you can not care for an animal, get help. AND, DO NOT GET ANOTHER PET until you have the supplies and means to care for it properly. If your 9 year old dog is howling in pain, has maggots coming out of her tumor (this thread is maggots I think) or is in dire agony, then regardless of your finances you are neglecting the dog if you are not helping it. If your 9 year old dog is slowly deteriorating from a slow growing non painful tumor in her abdomen, then you are correct that you are doing everything in your means to help her. There is a difference. Everyone can have the company and love of an animal, but if the animal is suffering and the person can not or WILL not treat or care for them, then they need to seek outside help of give the animal up. They are living beings that deserve better. Remember this is free vet advice, not moral support for people who can not afford to do the right thing. Just my 2 cents, and I’m very sorry to hear about your dog. There are great lower cost advances in pain and tumor management.
I was impulsive with my comment as i would never normally respond to an online blog post, i knew i was losing my precious girl, upset, and sad i couldnt try financially to save her, but i dont regret my comment, i still feel you were harsh despite your “2cents”. I think you could have given better advice, but just my opinion, there are places that maybe could have offered her a payment plan vs getting rid of her pet. I am in the medical profession and have literally dedicated my whole life to my patients because its what i love to do, i dont have kids and my pets are/were mine. Would a doctor say that to a humans sick child to give him or her up due to severe cost of medical expenses?, no they wouldnt. I was reading the maggot blog because there was an issue with my dog being in contact with maggots prior to her abdomen starting to protrude, i was wishfully hoping it had something to do with that versus a possible tumor or ascites. Anyway, i would never let her suffer, her ascites progressed, tried to keep her home with us as long as she was comfortable to have a few more days, got to the point she wasnt able to get up, starting lip smacking(??if related to pain or i know can be a symptom of liver failure in pets), she was put to rest on the 17th. I guess i just needed to put my “2cents in” about your “harsh” comment on someone looking for your advice, but your right, you have no relationship with the owner, just the pet! Take care.
This Dr. Stewart is obviously in it for the money and not the animals. Any respectable vet would have told the woman what she could do.
I replied to your other insulting comment. If I am in it for the money why do I answer 20 questions a day for free??? Really??? I can not diagnose or prescribe without knowing the case and I do not break the law. This is not a forum to prevent people from seeking proper vet care. This is a FREE question blog that is intended to help people. NO RESPECTABLE VET would tell someone what to do over the internet. Please explain where I get money from hours of free advice, blogs, articles, and personal question answering??
Chiming in years after the original post, but I agree with this veterinarian completely. I used to be the most idealistic person in the world but after 40 years of rescuing animals I guess I’ve just seen too much. Do poor people deserve to have pets to love them? I don’t think anybody ‘deserves’ a damn thing at the expense of someone else, especially an innocent pet. If you can’t afford to care for a pet, don’t get one. Period. I’m not saying you have to be rich; there are many ways to afford a pet such as making use of pet pantries, fostering instead of adopting, etc. I’ve bought doxycycline online from Thailand to do slow kill heartworm treatment at a fraction of the cost of standard treatment (nearly gave my own vet an aneurysm, but it worked:-).
There are potential pitfalls to doing things out of the box, but if you keep the animal’s welfare as your first priority instead of your own selfish neediness, you can maintain a clear conscience. Just remember it’s not all about you. And also that dying a humane death is far from the worst thing that can happen to any of us.
I understand this post is a year old but I am hoping you see my comment. As a Dr online for advice I find you to be a bit rude. Why would you tell someone to give their pet up? I don’t recall this person saying they couldn’t afford to have the pet treated or wasn’t going to. In my opinion, you aren’t very helpful. And I’m not just referring to this particular person but to most people you have replied to. I believe a cashier at Petsmart may be more knowledgeable than you.
I’m sorry you feel that way. I appreciate your opinion, and have “allowed” your comment through. (There is a way to filter and ignore on these blogs, but I did not do that to yours.) However, I answer over 100 questions for free a week, in my own time, for the good of SOME pets. Maybe the answers are short, and maybe they can be unhelpful but if someone asks me what to do with an animal pouring maggots out of an orifice, vomiting and having diarrhea while being lethargic after eating a known toxin, then tells me they can not bring the animal to a vet….. how do you suggest I help them? I have no relationship with the animal or the owner so I have to keep the answers vague and the majority of these animals need to see a vet, not google for help. HOWEVER, I would like to offer what little help I can because clearly the people on this blog have questions, concerns, and problems that are serious. I wish I could see all these animals and help them, but that is obviously not possible. I understand the realities of life and the fact that some people can not afford veterinary care, but I refuse to accept that their animals should suffer horribly for that. Read the bulk of the questions. They are vague and usually detail lacking with a few snippits of information to explain a serious medical condition. Not an ideal way to answer a vet question but I continue to answer them when I can help. Many I can not. I’m not sure which comment you are replying to ( I can not see that in the response thread.) But I would love a better answer from your Petsmart cashier, I am always open to learning new things. Trust me it would be much easier and less time to not answer any questions. These are not clients or even regional people that will come to the clinic for vet care. These are strangers who need advice and after 3000+ replies there seems to clearly be a need. Feel free to not heed my advice on these pages, sorry you found them unhelpful. However, I will continue to answer questions FOR FREE and try to help strangers online for their pets best interest.
You bleeding hearts need to think of the welfare of the animal. Stop with your whining, use your credit card to help pay for the vet. Then pay off the card. If you love the animal and they are in pain the only kind thing to do is euthanize it.
I kept my beautiful dog alive as long as I could until the cancer destroyed her leg and then I only realized I was being selfish by keeping her alive so I could see her and love her one more day! Now she is waiting for me on the rainbow bridge.
hhhhmmmmm, the pet doesn’t pay the bill or transport itself to the Vet, so I think it may be wise to consider the well being of the owner along with the pet as most pets are for the well being of their owners and vise versa.
Disagree. They are defenseless and unable to control their environment. They are the responsibility of the owner and no one else. They are a privilege and not a right and should be treated with the utmost respect and care. The owner is always responsible or they should not have pets….. I am not saying you have to be rich to own pets, just able to care for them. Like a child.
This is an older post.. and I too hope it seen.
I very much understand what this veterinarian, this doctor to our babies is saying.. I owned and operated an unwanted Pet Rescue specializing in large dog with behavior problems, but I’ve taken in everything from rabbits goats, cows, horses, Ducks, deers (deer were against the law ..scrach the deers) –
all animal rescue for 20-something years. I’ve seen some terrible things.. I have seen Hoarders, I’ve seen animals abused in ways that most people couldn’t handle ..
I have seen not only wealthy people but people that spend money they didn’t have to keep their little dogs living …
when all they were doing we’re satisfying themselves .. they were being selfish… their babies should have been put to rest and out of pain a long time before.. just because they had money and they had thier pets treated…
….it wasn’t always the best thing ..
what I believe he was trying to say ..
because I have had to say these words, many more times than wanted…. so many times..
I’ve had to tell people this when they bring me sick animals..
I’m a rescue.. I don’t have the money for all larger vet bills on animal I’m not sure will make it…. please relinquish your animal to me ..I will take it to *** University and relinquish it to one of the best veterinarian schools in the country.
or relinquish it to a local veterinarian.. they will work the best they can to save these pets,
And then they’re going to placed this baby in a good home ..
would you rather your animals suffer because you don’t have the money…
….. or do you love it enough..
that you can give him up.. so it gets the neede treated and go to another home ..and live a GOOD HAPPY HEALTHY LIFE..
I’m not that selfish
Opinions…we’ve all have’em
Reality….Some of us have Lived it..
Respectfully
Jenn
You need to stop giving your so called advice so far I have read all messages from the pet owner and what your response to them all . You haven’t even given anyone any advice. But you sure have talked to people with ignorance and all you no how to say is take your pet to the vet. Well I believe that everyone of the pet owners would like to take their pets to the vet. I no for a fact the vets around where I live won’t even look at your pet no matter how sick unless you have the money . People have feelings to even if they don’t have money our dogs or cats are like our child you need to get off line if that’s all the advice you can give a person that is concerned about their pet.
I hear your point. BUT: You want me to diagnose and prescribe drugs with as little info as…”my dog is sick”? Not possible. If someone is concerned enough to google a disease and somehow land on a tiny web page with FREE vet advice in Central Virginia, then I assume they are truly concerned about their pet. Considering I could no way diagnose most of these problems with scarce info and never touching the dog, I have no other option but to recommend they go to a vet. If I can convince even 5% of the people who ask questions to actually go to a vet, then I would say I have succeeded. As for owning pets with no money, that is a moral issue and I think people should have their own opinion on this topic. As for vets not seeing animals for free: Why is the same not true for clothing stores, supermarkets, or dentists? People need clothes, food and dental care and the overhead and expense of a vet office, not to mention the student loans of most vets, make totally free care unrealistic. Almost all vets I know will have sympathy and give free care or advice when possible and when the pet owners show real appreciation and concern. Maybe it is how you are asking for free care? I hope you have the luxury to work for free. I value your opinion, but if you do not like my FREE advice, please do not take it or ask questions.
It’s probably tape worms… They are tiny white worms that come out of the anus. You can get pills to treat them at Petsmart. About $30.
I thought tape worms were real long.
In the dog they can be, but not when they reproduce and come out of the dog. They are short segments.
Yes you need to get you’re dog to the vet so they can put it down.Because it is to late.And you’re genypig is to late to save it.I had a male genypig.He was fine when I whent to work no flys was by him come home and he was pass away.He was full of magets
thats sad . if u could have found starting place u could have picked most off. i live near a small town vet that would have picked out as many as could and gave something to get rid of them. im sorry for your pup. what happened
I realize that this is old but you should never ever ever ever give cat onions or garlic under any circumstances along with chocolate and many other people Foods because those alone can kill your pet!
Um yes I was wondering my 2 baby piglets have fly eggs in there mouth how do we get them out we are very worried that our baby pigs will not make it
I really do not know about pigs. I would call a local vet who knows more about the parasites in your area. Sorry. You can try the other methods described in the blog as a start.
What about a would that is near close but maggots bore out through skin
Not sure of the question?
Hi I’m having a problem I feel there is some thing moving inside my anus. When I went toilet I saw maggots coming out with feices and I saspect there is more Inside. What can I do to kill them?
See a human doctor or go to the hospital?? Or…spend more time on the internet researching dog worms. That might help…. just kidding. See a doctor.
Hi i tried this before yesterday on a different site but is costed money so i couldnt even get help. My button quail was attacked by my dog. He is no longer in shock but has exposed muscle tissue on his shoulder. I used Vetricine plus but i do not have the money to take him to a vet. its already been aprox 17 hours. Hes eating, drinking, and moving about. Do you have any advice at all?
will the muscle tissue heal over on its own? will new skin grow over it?
Sorry I know very little about birds. I would consider gluing the skin together or getting on a few quail sites to ask. You can call wildlife centers and zoos if you have noone in the area. At the least try parrot and chicken sites. They will have info for you. Sorry.
My dog(age:9+years) have got maggots in his scrotum area and surrounded legs…I called his vet,& he suggested us Topicure spray and Ivermectin.
Now Dr. please suggest me what should i do to cure it & is this thing dangerous for my dog…Also due to lockdown in my area due to Covid-19..The vet clinic is closed..So i can’t take him there for a day or two…Please Help.
You can try the vet suggestion but I would make sure the area is clean and dry and washed daily. You need to get him to a vet as soon as you can to have a look at why there is an infection in that area. Clean and dry is the key. Good luck. Use what you have. Ivermectin be careful with that, it is toxic is you give too much.
Hey! I have a dog in my locality n somehow she is infected with maggots at the corner of her ear. What possible course of action should i proceed with. Also what if the dog is susceptible to my touch. In that case inform bout oral medicine too.
You need to clean the wound, and remove the maggots. I would visit a vet. I talk about this in my blog and the answers…… please look there for good ideas.
I work at a wildlife rehabilitation center, and lately we are getting so many animals in with either maggot eggs or live maggots on them. Egg removal we know how to do; for the maggots, we have been advised to flush with dilute Capstar, combing with a flea comb, and/or picking off with tweezers, and also using Capstar by mouth to eliminate any that may have gone internal (into anus, etc.). However, lately we are also seeing them in animals’ eyes! So far a squirrel and a raccoon. Any recommendations to safely remove live maggots from the eye? Also raccoon had them deep into the ear canal (worst case we’ve ever seen; unfortunately she did not survive). Not our favorite time of the year, to say the least. Since the Capstar is a little costly, is there anything else we can apply topically to kill the maggots?
Wow, gross in a really cool way. I do not have any better solution for maggot removal from the eye. The good news is they usually are somewhat helpful in removing the dead tissue, the bad news is they are gross and can also do harm. We often use a diluted peroxide mixture to remove them topically. This seems to really make them release, and bubble to the surface of a wound or pocket. Otherwise…..flush flush flush (and the capstar works too).
Thanks. Unfortunately what we are seeing is on healthy baby animals, so the maggots are doing quite a bit a damage. Squirrel is on the mend, although the eye is a total loss. Will keep him on antibiotics while it reabsorbs. Wound the maggots left was about the size of a quarter, which on a five week old baby squirrel was fairly large, in the groin/flank area. Impossible to bandage, so we are treating with collagen-based wound care to help speed granulation and also applying Silvadene, which seems to be working quite well. Luckily had not penetrated past muscle layer. This is our least favorite time of the year to be sure! In the meantime, we will be stocking up again on Capstar.
Keep up the good work. Sounds gross in a cool way. Although we do see maggots on “healthy” animals, they are usually not penetrating (like in the fur around a wound or trying to climb to the wound.) This sounds pretty bad in such a little animal. Was it recumbent and got a sore? That is the other time we see maggots in “healthy” animals. If they are too tightly caged, or trapped and can not move well, or down in a limb. Interesting what you are seeing. Good luck, and try flushing with diluted peroxide. It is not great for wounds (we never use it for wounds) but it can flush out maggots.
I belong to a cat group and one woman is telling people to put capstar in the anus of kittens or cats….since the anus absorbes differently & more rapidly, and the capstar is designed to be take orally isn’t this unsafe? This would be to help with the maggot issue and if a kitten or cat can not swollow cause it is so wrak or sick. I think if its to this point rapid vet care and fluids are needed and any pesticide ciyld have a detemential effect on a kitten this ill. Although could be the toxins the maggots are releasing into the tissue causing the illness so its a catch 22…..Have you heard of this? Please advise…
I have heard of this and have even done it: UNDER VERY CONTROLLED SITUATIONS with the cat on IV fluids and getting all the necessary treatment. The dying maggots can really cause a lot of toxin release and the kitten “likely” can absorb the capstar rectally but it is no guarantee. If a kitten can not eat and they are covered in maggots then vet treatment is truly the best and maybe only option. Rectal capstar can work for maggots, but then you have a really sick kitten left. BEWARE of what you read in cat groups. Good question. On a side note: the company that makes capstar claims it is not toxic to mammalian cells (only insects like fleas and maggots) so the toxic nature of the drug in morbidly sick animals is debatable. We often use it in animals that I would not give conventional pesticides to. Just FYI.
Neighbor kid brought me a tiny manx kitten- 1st day removed a normal looking “sticky turd” from rear end- 2nd day very matted and washed off- 3rd day same problem but found large maggots just inside the rectum. Removed visable maggots and checked as far as I could into the rectum. Kitten now walks around hunched over, strains but has a near constant feces drip. Been keeping him clean and skin around anus is healing well and that nasty “rotten” smell is gone. Kitten does not act like he feels well. Could there be more creepies inside that I am missing? I wormed him with Pyrantal a couple of days ago. Can not afford a vet until next week and the 2 local shelters want to euthanize becaue he is so little and has had those problems they do not want to deal with and is too oung to adopt right now. I am guessing he is about 7 weeks old.
I cant give you too much more to do with this kitten. I would highly recommend a vet visit. You might be able to have the shelter look at it for free, but not euthanize .You should certainly bring it there if it looks painful. Please have a professional look at the kitten. It might have internal colon or rectal problems, and these can be very difficult to deal with. The other possibility is that you are seeing tapeworms or other internal parasites and not maggots.
I was searching the net for maggot infested wounds in dogs. Your site explains the necessity of keeping pets clean and dry. I also came across another article at http://indianpariahdog.blogspot.in/2009/03/first-aid-for-street-dogs-how-to-treat.html where I had posted a query on there being any necessity of prescribing Moxipil 250 gm tabs twice a day to a less than 10 kg abandoned maggot infested dog that has already undergone 5 days of continuous treatment at vet clinic of cleaning and dressing along with injections of Moxipil and Ivermectin. We are now doing the dressing at home.
Interesting BLOG from India….. might not be totally relevant, but interesting.
my dog is suffering from maggots in mouth. is it too serious? i m taking him to vet tmrw because i saw it just now. is it smthin very serious?
This is very serious. Seek veterinary care asap.
i just had the same problem.maggots in my dog’s mouth, gum to be specific. since the vet won’t be open until the next day, what can i do to prevent the maggots from digging deeper, or make my dog less irritated or painful, or anything else to aid the situation until i’m able to get a vet’s help?
Not much else I can think of, except get the dog to a vet as soon as possible.
my cat is disabled and can’t use her back legs. I had to go out of town for a few days and came back to see maggots coming out of the rectum are and had created a tunnel in the flesh. i took out as many maggots as i could with tweasers. Please guide my what can i do to take care of it as i live in a small town and there are no vets.
Wow, these questions get harder and harder to answer. There is no good answer here. Why are her back legs not working? Are the maggots still there? Are they eating dead flesh or are they slowly killing her? She might have way more problems going on that we do not know about. Ok, cats with back legs not working are often caused by saddle thrombus (see other post), but it could also be trauma, infection, cancer or other causes. The maggots are there because she can not clean herself or get rid of them and she is probably dragging her rear and getting infections. First, make your best effort to seek a vet. This cat might need to be humanely euthanized, if that is not an option you can try to flush the wound with soapy water and keep her rear end clean. I would not allow her outside and do my best to keep her rear end clean and dry. Find a vet would be my best solution. This is not fair to the kitty.
I have a baby Northern Mocking bird and his parents, both mom and dad, are here. Yesterday I found out that the baby bird has maggots in all areas of its face, such as: He has maggots all over his forehead, nostril, beak corners, and in a space behind his eyes. I got tweezers and took the see-able maggots out and killed the maggots I got out, but today the maggots were replaced again. The baby bird is 3-5 weeks old, and is a fledgling. I want this baby bird to survive since he is the only surviving baby his parents have left. Please tell some info of how to take care of him.
Is he eating or drinking? I will admit that I am not a bird expert. I would call a local wildlife shelter, or bird vet for advice. Most birds that have active maggots like you are describing are either cuterebra or bot fly larva. Make sure this is not the case. If so, then internal medication can help and pulling them out will be very helpful. If they are proper maggots then you need to find out why the bird has them… ie is the bird dying or very sick. Call the local wildlife center and they can help identify the maggots or maybe a local vet will give you some free advice for wildlife, they usually will.
my dog has maggots in his mouth what can i do or should do?
It is going to sound like a broken record, but get that dog to a vet. There is nothing I can help you with without loads more info and seeing the dog. Maggots in the mouth is a disaster usually and needs to be seen asap by a professional. Drive, walk, fly to the nearest vet.
I’m hand rearing some baby birds (mourning doves I think) tiny clear maggots keep appearing in the nesting material. I’m using cut up old curtains and changing them several times a day to keep the babies clean. I’ve checked both birds over carefully and I can’t find any sign of a wound. Is it possible the birds have an internal infestation? They seem healthy otherwise and are eating well and have just started streaching and flapping around.
No wounds? Could they be worms from their stool? Maybe lice larva? Very strange.
My dog had ady4 puppies and two of them had. holes and the wound has maggots, I already lost one and dont want to lose the other. I live in jamaica which a vet is very expensive and limited,please. Help
Why are there holes and wounds? You should flush the wounds with peroxide and clean the wounds with soap and water. If they are very serious there is not too much you can do. If they are superficial you can keep them clean and away from flies and dirt and hope they heal on their own. Can you keep the puppies inside? They should be kept clean and nursing. Other than getting antibiotics and a vet visit, this is your best bet. Good luck!
On second thought, are the holes small with one worm in them like a cuterebra or bot fly larva? (Google this) If this is the case then you need the vet to look and remove these worms. If they are maggots then cleaning them should help. Good luck!
Have this situation too. Out of 4 puppies, only 1 is alive and kicking. The problem is, his urinary is damaged because his urine goes out in his anus already and the skin around his penis is often moist. I am always trying my best to keep it dry, cos he always pee from time to time and I think he is already critical yet he still wants to drink milk oftentimes, and would move like nothing hurts. (I am not sure if all the maggots inside his belly was gone, but the hole was really deep) Please pray he dies quickly and would not make a loud cry. Thank you.
my cat came home today, and his paw has swollen and has an open wound on his arm. a few days back that wound caught maggots , which pulled out with a tweezer and cleaned with an antiseptic, applied antibacterial cream and wrapped a bandage around it. it started to recover and so the holes inside the wound where maggots thrived from were gone, leaving it nice and pink. however today i saw that it has swollen. plz tell me what i can do at home to prevent and protect my cat from maggots!? all creams and oral medicines. i can’t take him to the vet as the shop is closed right now, plus it’s way to expensive! already i’ve taken him several times in the past, making my parents furious !
Sounds like there is something else going on. You seem to have treated it well, but if it is still swollen and getting worse you need to see a vet. Sometimes all the cream and time you put into these cases are more costly than just seeing a local vet. Maggots in a cat abscess are not normal and are indicators of potentially something very bad. This cat needs oral antibiotics and a good vet exam. Sorry I can not be more help. See if the local vet will trade you services for cleaning the office or something?
thankyou for your advice 🙂 but the country i live in, kids do’nt do local, or odd jobs such as cleaning,news paper delivery,mowing the lawn etc, i wish i could but it actually servant work, which if i do will harm our family reputation !:( hence, just tell me if i can give him augmenton(anti biotic) , as i gave him last time on my vets prescription and he recovered ! fortunately ur a doctor too, so plz just tell me the medicine and its dosage ! pleaaasee ! i’d be grateful !
I can not give you a diagnosis or dosage for a prescription drug. Augmentin is not the drug we use in cats here, it is a veterinary version called Clavamox that we recommend (a different mixture of drugs in the pill.) I would call your vet and ask him what you gave last time, this should not cost any money. Good luck. There is a strict limit as to what I can recommend without seeing you pet.
okay, thanx 🙂
Hi there.
My cat was outside today and i noticed a lot of flies around her tail area. I shooed them and noticed tiny little yellow what i think are eggs. I washed her with soapy water and combed out any more that were hanging on.
There arr a few more still around her vagina but i read that they hatch in 1-3 days. Would the bath have killed them? If i bath her agaon tomorrow and keep her inside will that do the trick? I had a good look at the eggs and there is no movement in them. They look like specs of hay almost.
This sounds like lice, or maybe maggot eggs. A good bath and maybe a gentle flea bath should do the trick. Try to get as many off as possible. If she is healthy and wound free the maggots should not be a problem….the lice might be a pain. Good luck.
I have a 10yr old OES who is clipped. He had a dirty bottom yesterday & I washed it. His behavior has been a bit different overnight & today when I got home from work I realized he had another dirty bottom. when I looked closely I saw he had some maggots in the anus area and under his tail docking area. I have thoroughly cleaned this now and surrounding areas. The skin is red and I have applied Dettol (which a vet has previously told me kills maggots & their eggs). I am confident I have treated this well. I have some Cephalexin and want to give it to him to treat any potential bacterial infection from the maggots. Would this help him?
Why is he getting maggots? Can you isolate a wound or sore? Try to keep the area dry and clean with soap and water multiple times a day. I can not advise to give the cefalexin without seeing the dog, but some form of antibiotic would be advised. Keeping the area clean and dry is a priority, dettol will work but is very harsh on the skin and this should we watched for a rash, and the underlying cause should be addressed. I would try your regiment for a little and if you see no improvement or it is getting worse then go to a vet immediately.
Oes are prone to getting faeces caught in their coat. He has always had an issue and he is docked right back with a thick coat so that doesn’t help. I have my first one with a tail and it seems they stay far cleaner with the tail. Thanks for the advice
Got it, so it should be easy to keep that area clipped short and clean. We routinely clean and shave that area for dogs (and cats) and especially OES, Bearded Collies, Poodles, GR, BMD and other long hair breeds. This should be easy to fix and the wounds should heal. Be careful when you shave it not to damage the skin more! Good luck.
I just Found my puppy(a month old) with her left ear full if maggots. I don’t have money to take the pier girl to the vet I don’t know what To do?!!
You need to get her to an SPCA or a vet. This will just be the start of her medical bills and if you can not afford her care, you should probably find a home or a place that will care for her. Owning a dog is a big financial responsibility and not something to ignore. Sorry, but this sounds serious and there will be more problems in the future.
I have a puppy who’s about 2weeks with maggots in her ear I flushed it with peroxide and rubbing alcohol and the maggots are coming out enough for me to remove them should I still take her to a vet and is there a possibility that they can travel to her brain
YES go to a vet!!! I’m not worried about her brain but she is suffering and there is another problem going on. GO TO A VET!
I found 3 kittens in my pasture this morning. I moved them to safety ( I have 2 mules and 12 horses in that pasture) I watched for over 10 hours for the mama cat so I have started bottle feeding them while I was cleaning the kittens a maggot crawled out of its ear canal. I flushed it with ear cleaner for cats and 3have come out. Is there something I can do to get them out
Honestly I think you are doing the best you can do. Keep flushing the ear and getting as many out as possible. You just don’t know how deep they are or if they ruptured the ear drum. Keep trying to flush them out.
My puppy was attacked by Pitt Bull Dogs two days ago..we took him to emergency vet.. they flushed and stitched many wound… he is on two antibiotics and pain meds… we found maggots in his open puncture wounds.. taking back to get tomorrow.. what can they do?
Good questions. The vet can further flush the wounds and give you specific flush to use at home. It seems strange to have maggots in a treated wound, but it is possible if the wound was left before going to the vet. It might just take time to heal. Keep the puppy inside away from flies as well. If the dog starts to heal, there should not be any more maggots. Good luck.
My cat is suffering from maggots in his mouth. I took him to the vet twice and they do nothing but just fill the infected area with a cream. They are not removing the maggots not even on my request. And they are not even recommending any medicine.please help.
I would certainly try another vet. They should be be able to flush the maggots out and give the cat antibiotics. Maggots in the mouth is a very serious problem and needs to be addressed. Sorry.
My vet said that my dog’s poop smelled like it had larva in it……what does that mean? I have not seen any…..and how would a dog that does not go outside and get in other’s business get larva in her poop?
Not sure what that means… did the vet say anything about tasting larva in the poop? Just kidding. I have never heard of this. Dogs can get worms from their mothers or even just from licking the bottom of shoes if they themselves do not go outside. Not sure about the smell. That is a new one.
I wish I had found this site sooner. I thought my 10 year old Pyrenees had worms so I gave him dewormer but they were still there so I gave him an expensive one that covers tapeworm too. He had a messy bottom so I bathed him as best I could about a month ago, and rinsed him off several times since. He seemed to feel fine until a few days ago. He is an outside dog but has a large area to roam. When I looked closer the worms had multiplied greatly and were now in his coat above his tail too. His coat is very thick. I took him to vet right away. They weren’t worms but maggots. The vet said since the maggots had been in rectum so long there would be too much internal damage. I had to put him down. What I thought were worms were maggots and in my ignorance allowed my beautiful boy to be infested beyond treatment. I’m posting this so no one else will make the same mistake.
Very sorry for your loss.
thank you for giving reassuring advice… i came here to look for more info on maggots in a cats vagina…my medium length orange tabby… yesterday she was little unclean in the bum area… cleaned her up and off she went. just her pride crushed. this morning again unclean totally unlike her but i thought she had worms…. cleaned up this afternoon…grosses thing have ever seen … phoned the vet had surgery and medicine and a bare bum area…. i hope never to see that again
Umm. Yuck. Thanks for the story!
Hi Dr. Stewart,
I have an Indian runner duck that got a pretty nasty raccoon bite on its back about a month ago. I flushed the wound and applied. ointment/wrapped it daily. I let her got back outside after about a week when a solid scab had formed and there was no indication of infection. Since then I briefly examine the wound every few days to ensure it is still healing well. the scab had gotten down to the size of a dime l. howeve, i noticed she was limping. Maggots have gotte,n intoher eg. while flushing them out I began to see spots all over her body where maggots have star ted eating healthy tissue. I spent 2 hours flushing them out but I’m sure I missed some. ould Ivermectin help and be safe for a duck.Is there anything else you suggest I do?
Thanks,
Adrea
P.S. Sorry for the all the typo-s. I was trying to write this from my phone.
Great question. I think Ivermectin has limited action against maggots that are in healthy tissue, but I am honestly not a duck person. We give capstar sometimes if we want to kill the small maggots in mammals. There must be another problem going on if maggots have invaded the healthy tissues of the duck. This is a serious problem. Is there an exotic or poultry vet in the area? I have treated birds with ivermectin for Bot Fly larva and it seemed to help, so it might be worth a shot. Can you keep cleaning with peroxide or another flushing agent to get the maggots out? I would be concerned. Good luck. see if you can get to a poultry vet.
Hi
hope you can help. My pup has had runny poo since I got him 1 time a bit of bloody mucus. 2day he was chewing somthing and it was a maggot an then I found 4 more on his bed they looked like big not baby maggots he did not go outside 2day to pick them up I’m worried.
Thank you
Very hard to respond to this. I think you geen to get him to a vet as soon as possible. If he has runny stool and maggots there is a major problem. Bathe him well and see if you can find the source of the maggots and get him some good food and dewormer in the time it takes to get to a vet. He needs a vet. Sorry.
We have a cat who is not really disabled, but his back legs had to be pinned back together after an unkown accident that crushed both back knees. he gets around well, even partially climbs trees. But he is quite thin on the back end now, losing muscle tone and tonight we called him (he is an indoor outdoor cat, arrived here as a stray several years ago) and found fly eggs (no maggots that I found) on his back and back legs… he went immediately to the bath for a thorough scrub down nad then a brush and combing… as we were combing I can see clumps of the sticky eggs, most of which we got out, but singles still remain. We plan to go thru the process again tomorrow – what else can I do to help this guy? He was treated for digestive worms this spring… should I re-treat? Vinegar rinse? I just don’t know what to do…
I think you are on the right path. Depending on where you live and seasonality of the flies you might only have to be vigilant in the summer. Hopefully the larva (maggots) will not attach into healthy skin. There are some that do and there are even bot and cuterebra flies that are really problematic with healthy skin. You might try Frontline or another anti-insectacide topical to help with the flies or maybe a diluted citronella spray. They are making great advances in flea and tick collars and drops and I would assume these will work well. Good questions, good luck.
My tenant left her kitchen garbage can outside her door (instead of taking it to the curb) during temperatures over 100°C. There were maggots crawling on the floor right inside her door and on the ground just outside her door. I noticed that her cat has a skin irritation of some kind. Could the maggots get on the cat and cause disease? Thank you!
Sorry that should have read over 100°F, not C!
Good questions. I guess if there was an open wound it is possible but very unlikely. The maggots that eat flesh are not the same as the ones that eat fruit and garbage (usually) and contact like that is very rare. I would think a quick clean up and a cat bath would do the trick. I have never heard of this type of infection. Good questions.
pls help.i have alot of maggotts appeared from rubbish bags being in heat.how can i descretely and quickly get rid of them thats also safe for my dog??also can these maggotts infect or have or do anything to her if she does come accross any in the garden whilst out doing her business and noseing round.im worried to let her go out there.pls pls help asap!!
It is very unlikely that maggots from the trash will infect the dog. It might indicate bad food and bad meat nearby which will make her sick if she gets into that, but the maggots should not harm her. Just clean the area up and you should be ok.
I found 4 puppies that I’m guessing are about a week old. I’ve been bottle feeding them for almost a week now and I just noticed maggots when they use the bathroom and around their back legs. I’ve used tweezers to remove all that I saw and I haven’t noticed anymore .. I’m really worried and not sure what to do. Is there anything I can do to help them?
Bring them to the vet. These are less likely maggots and more likely intestinal worms coming out of them. Bring them to the vet or the SPCA or another shelter to be properly looked after. There is nothing I can tell you to do because they need more than just simple care.
Hi Dr. S,
My Beautiful Wolfeee wonder dawg was attacked by the g*d flies this spring… horrible. she was ‘circling’ for days… and her hind end was giving out… but, i didn’t make the connection till the 2nd or 3rd day… (((she was weak and in shock and i found them when i rolled her over when grooming her… terrible shock… for me… in all her years i had/have never encountered ‘maggots’.))). she has been ‘healing’ since may!!!!!!! mid~may. the vet shaved her and she did the round of anti~biotics fine. and i have had to re~fill the TOPICAL anti~bacterial once now. but, MY QUESTION is: should it be taking this long to heal??????????????????? the wound was on her Left Hip… and the ‘vet’ didn’t give her more than a few days to LIVE… (((that’s how close to death’s door she was))). i turn her every few hours and change her pee pads and fleece blanket top coat ((trying to prevent any ‘bed soars’ and other ‘weaknesses in her hide’… it isn’t red or swollen — but, still not ‘closed’. it was terribly deep and almost the size of a 50 cent piece. and it slowly repaired. and the hide did close eventually… but the new hide is now still weak and not closed … will that new hide fall off (since it’s opened again…???)??? my girl will be 16 in september. i hope she makes it to her birthday and beyond. (((she became incontinent of few summers ago… but, other than that she has been tremendously active and healthy her whole life.))). it took me a long time to figure out how to keep her ‘dry’… but, i finally did… thru the horror of the flies… puppy pee pads (bed pads for ‘elderly’) off of EBAY and the fleece blankets on top… to create more of a barrier and cushion have been beyond beneficial.!. (none of the vet prescribed ‘incontinence’ or wholistic treatments have helped with that one issue ::(((. i just want to keep her comfortable and safe thru our last days/months/beyond while she’s here… and i hope that that wound will CLOSE eventually! thank you for her insights and information. you are very helpful.
sincerely,
me and mama doggie
I’m confused as to what caused the wound. If it is a sore from not being able to get up or a wound under a hair mat that had maggots in a 16 year old large breed dog, then I would think the wound might not ever heal. If it was a wound from injury or trauma then there is a chance of it healing. It sounds like she is incontinent and maybe unable rise, these dogs often will not heal well at all. You will have to manage the wound as open for a while and hope a thin fragile piece of scar tissue will cover the wound. Make sure she is comfortable and remember it is not the length of life that is important but the quality of life. I would hate to keep a dog alive that can not rise or move just for the sake of doing that. Good luck.
I have a female Australian shepherd and as everyone has noted it has been a terrible year for flies. My horses, cows, goats and apparently my dogs are suffering as well. My aussie is heavy coated and typically we have no problems, however Iv noticed her liking like she needed to go potty and nothing happening. This setfoff alarms and I put on my glove tonight to do a light internal inspection and find maggots in her rectum. This is only intensified by the fact that she just had puppies two days ago. I didn’t think they got in to the rectum that quickly and this is the first day Iv seen any change in behavior. She’s is a working dog and hates to be up so we allowed her to have the pups outside. I know I need to take her to the vet, but is there anything I can do in the meantime to make her comfortable? I am a vet tech by profession with over eight years experience, but am currently unemployed due to having my first child. So I am slightly embarrassed this happened….please help. Basically, other than an antibiotic, can u flush them out internally via external methods? Enema, saline flush, light peroxide flush, iodine, etc…Just curious as to the effects vs the potential side effects. I’m already going to clean the area and clip her. Thank u for your time and I appreciate any suggestions.
I cant imagine why they would be in her rectum??? Is there dead tissue there? Are you sure it is not pin worms, or tapeworms? Tapeworms are more likely and look like maggots. If it is true maggots then you need to figure out why they are there. A sedated exam and see if there is a rectal tear? You can try an enema to flush them out, but I cant imagine that will work and the dog will be very unhappy. Anything other than saline or water with a drop of soap is a bad idea. Make sure they are really maggots and not tapeworms then visit a vet asap. If they are tapeworms, that is an easy pill but you have to make sure the medicine is ok for nursing mothers. The vet can give you stronger medication that will help if they are maggots.
Hey. I have a cat that is 9 months. He had got hurt by a car. His tail is broken in the middle. He was healing up fine until last night I found maggots had ate a hole in his tail. What do I do? I put peroxide on it but am not sure what else.
Bring him to a vet. He needs the wound opened and cleaned and antibiotics.
My yorkie was attacked by a pit yesterday. We thought he was gone but he showed up on our porch this morning with a couple of wounds and bugs all over him. They appear to be mites of some kind. I have given him a bath and washed and comes some off of him. Any suggestions? Vet won’t see him BC I have no money.
Probably fleas?? Keep him clean and keep cleaning him with some sort of flea and tick shampoo, that might help. Make sure the bites are not bad or getting infected. Read the previous thread for specific bite advice.
thanks so much. i wondered if the ‘wound’ would ever heal. my girl can still get up !!! and has an appetite too… but, yes the ‘incontinence’ i was told ‘weakens’ the hide. and when she was healing from the maggot attack (it was DEEP) … i would lay her on the ‘good side’… that ended up causing sores that have since healed. but, now i rotate her when she sleeps to keep her comfortable. she is on 75 mg of Deramaxx and 100 mg of Gabapentin/ per day. but, with the original wound still not healed… i just don’t know anymore. whhwwww thanks very much. she is my first dog… and it is pretty heart breaking and hard to let go… her eyes are still bright and she is still present.!. (((::))) but, the last couple days… she is definitely breathing harder and not sleeping as well as usu. xoUs
Good luck! Ask you vet about more Gabapentin, that is a very flexible drug to dose and cheap.
This morning my neighbor motioned me to come over,(she was actually several houses down as she was on her wayto church. Anyway, I saw the plastic bin she was holding and my heart sank knowing that what was in there were either kittens or puppies.
They were kittens. One was dead and the other two have maggots. They are young with eyes barely open. One of them have maggots in the rectum as well as somerather large sores on both sides near the tail. The other one is not quite as bad but does have maggots in rectom I bathed them in a mild soap and water and hand picked maggots best I could, I have a feeling the one will need euthanasia, but would to save the other one.
Good luck, bring them to the vet asap or the vet ER
I just noticed that my dog has maggots in a hole in her ear. She has been itching for a few days. She has thick hair so I only just now found the hole. Can I wait till the morning to get her to a vet or should I get her to an emergency center?
Good question. It might have been there a few days and so another day might not be a problem. The sooner the better. You can probably wait, but the dog is most likely uncomfortable and the sooner it is fixed the better. It depends on your money and time and how much the dog is suffering. Good luck.
Last night we noticed a small wound on my dog’s nose, was worried and brought her to the vet this morning and found out that there’s maggots. We’re instructed to flush it out using peroxide and combinex. We already took out 10 rice sized maggots. She was also given amoxicillin syrup for the infection. Would like to know your opinion if this is enough or what else should we do, like medicines or ointments needed.. thank you!
That should be enough, but if it doesn’t work you might have to sedate her and open the wound up to get a better flush. I know people use systemic flea medications to kill maggots but you probably do not need these at this point. If you vet thinks that will work, I agree. Good luck and YUCK!
hi doc.
still nursing my (almost 16yr old) girl’s wound. and i keep fly spray on her when she’s outside (to keep the gnats and flies away). i had her sleeping on her bed in the garage…(afternoon nap otherwise i keep her inside to sleep with me…) but, it was a gorgeous day and she was up and at ’em. so when she wanted to rest i thought — so gorgeous outside and she’s got all the spray on her. ok. well i look in on her after an hour or TWO and those g*d FLIES are on her PAWS ((( the only place i didn’t ‘spray’ (((i focus on her toosh and hips and back legs and tail))).
why would they be on her front legs ???/PAWS!!!! so i trimmed all the fir between her toes… and brushed her and brushed her (b/c i don’t know where else they may have gone???). but, i found the start of the maggots ((( the white fuzzie little ‘nests’s))) on one paw for sure. i immediately brought her inside to her bed … and continued to clean and brush her… and cleaned btw. her toes … ?… why!? i am going to
put her in the bathtub tomorr. and hope i got them before they get her… i just can’t believe it.
I have a 2 week old calf, that has had the scours.. Bum is wet of course, but very weak and stopped eating.. Ears were cold, so I decided to check her temp.. When I lifted her tail found and open wound at her base of her tail, and maggots surrounding her anus.. Freaked out and took her temp, 101.7…. Saw a maggot crawl out of her butt.. Doused her with 7% iodine all around her tail n anus.. We are an organic farm, flies being one of our biggest nuissences. How do I tell if they have invaded her intestines, and can I treat her with anything organically? I heard flush with mineral oil to drown the maggots, I just have never encountered this before..
I really know nothing about cows. Call a vet, this sounds like you need a vet.
Hi iv got a iv got a pet squirrel. I rescued him a little over two years ago when he fell out of his nest when he was just a infant. He was so small he didnt have much fur and his eyes and ears werent even open yet. He looked like a little bald headed baby rat. His tail looked more like a rats tail then a cute bushy squirrell tail. Anyways I bottle fed him almost every hour dureing the day and every two hours at night. I got some kind of milk replacement powder you mix with water at the pet store. I kept his box sitting on a heating pad to keep him warm. That was over twoyears ago iv loved and taken care of him ever since iI found him. He is tame as a kitten he jumps on my leg and climbs right up to my shoulder. Now today I noticed a small hole in his skin back near his bottom I think he has a magot or worm burrowed down in there with him being a squirrell that im not legally suppose to have I cant rush him to my vet. What can Ido for him? My dog is recovering from an ear infection and iI have some antibiotics left over is it safe to give a small amount to my squirrell? The antibiotic my dog is on is called keflex.
If anyone has any advice please let me know. My email is katdonavon@gmail.com
I would contact a local wildlife rescue, and you can call a local vet to ask advice and if they would see you. I really do not know much about squirrels. Try a local zoo if there is nothing else.
My son left hot dogs in his tackle box and we ended up with maggots–a lot of them. We hosed down the box, squished a bunch, sprayed a bunch with Roundup and threw boiling water on them as well. I’m worried about the ones that got away. I have an 8 week old puppy and unfortunately, my son dumped the maggots right by our back door where the pup goes in and out to relieve himself. Any advice?
Dont worry about it. The dog would need an open wound that is exposed for it to be a problem…. Roundup? They are not weeds! 🙂
My dog Is 8 and I found out her food was infested with maggots the bowl has been there for at a week and my dog has been acting different than she usually is so I just want to know if she’s going to be ok
Can not say. If there were maggots in her food then the food was bad and she will likely have GI upset and diarrhea. This will not lead to maggots in her stomach, but the bad food can lead to all sorts of stuff. Change her food (duh) and see how she does. Bring her to your vet if you see diarrhea or vomiting. Make sure she eats well and drinks well and has no other clinical signs from bad food.
I have a female dog that had a blanket in her kennel it was clean when I put it in her kennel. She was let out in the morning and I was gone for 6 hrs and she had an accident on her blanket. She is pregnant and due Oct 15th. When I took the blanket out there were maggots under it everywhere. My question is can it hurt the puppies? There were only 30 maggots there and weren’t any where else. I gave her a bath and checked her all over and didn’t find any on her.
Are you sure they were not ant larva or something living under the blanket? I would have that kennel very clean before the puppies arrive, but I’m not sure there is anything else you can do now if the mother dog has no wounds. Just keep watching.
I gave my 10 month old pit bull chicken wings she seemed fine but the last 2 days she is very different drooling from mouth barely. Eating and vomiting up thick white mucus. I cant afford to take her to the vet i tried white rice but she wont eat it. And now flies are attacking. Her tail and anus. Please help i dont want to loose her…
She might have a wing stuck in her throat or mouth? Is she vomiting? If she has never been to a vet or vaccinated she might have parvo or worms…. there are too many options here. I would breing her to the SPCA and get her checked out or risk losing her. Flies attacking her rear does not sound good.
We found tons of maggots in Our 14 year old shepherd mix tonight. We were able to remove many. We plan to bring him to the vet in the morning. Since some of them are falling off of him, do I need to be concerned about our other 2 dogs getting infected? Can the maggots infect us?
They will only infect you if you have open wounds, immune system problems or get them in a very sensitive place. Clean them up and keep the dog clean and away from the other dogs. Good luck at the vet.
I have an 11 month old teacup Maltese…I have found what look like maggots in her stool…I took a sample to the vet yesterday and they just called to say she doesn’t have worms…that a fly must have laid the eggs on her stool…that is simply impossible, because I retrieved her stool immediately after she dropped it…the worms are about a half inch long…my sister first spotted them when we were out of town over the weekend…because of the extent of the rainy weather we have had over the summer, there was an abundance of flies this season…she is of course an inside dog…but she chases the flies when she sees them…could she have ingested fly larva from flies in this manner??? I explained to the vet over the phone that the worms were already in her stool when I retrieved it for him, so he has asked me to bring her in this afternoon…but my question is the same, could she have ingested live fly larva from chasing flies in the house???
Very very very unlikely. Probably Tape worms and the sample they ran did not have any in it. Or the vet never saw the stool and a tech ran it and did not look closely enough. Bring another sample with the worms or just bring her in to be checked up. You can not ingest a fly and get maggots.
i found a black hole on a feamale aged stray dog’s tail… the hole ws on the tail n as its a big stray dog, i couldnt take hr to the vet. instead i went to a vet medicine shop n they gave a topicure spray n neomac tablt. the hole ws there fr may b 3 4 days bfore i put th medicns on… nw its been 4 days n th hole hs become smaller bt th skin on n bside it hs startd rottening with bad smell n the skin hs bcom white. bt i stil applied th given spray as i saw flies were flying there. the nxt day i saw the white skin decreased bt the red soft skin under her tail came up.. al i wanna knw is it a good sign or bad? her apptite is fully fine.
Very hard to understand this. I think a bad smell and flies is always bad. I would be concerned with severe infection and would try to call an SPCA or some kind of shelter to help you. If nothing around, then I guess you have very few options. Keeping the area clean and flushing it would be my next best then apply what you have. The tablet and spay can only do so much without more care…. sorry
sir, my dog is of 6months old. it has wounds in its two legs. due to some infection worms have spreaded in the wounds. we taken to veternary but its becoming large no use of those sprays. plzz can i get any remedial measures to clear its wounds.. its a black lab category dog
You need to try a different vet, a vet should be able to get you antibiotics and flush the wounds. Why are there wounds? Why can you not flush out the worms? You need to keep the wounds clean and dry and flush them out. GO to a new vet ASAP.
All of these issues are strangely similar…
It is fairly simple. Please do not get pets if you can not afford a Vet.
Your dog or cat NEEDS TO BE KEPT CLEAN and preferably kept INSIDE. You will be putting that poor animal at risk for pain, suffering and possible death. Animals are innocent; like children. They do not asked you be here. They are 100% dependent on YOU. TAKE CARE OF THEM. I do understand that there are cases where things “happen”, or finances are tough and you can come up with a couple hundred bucks for a vet. There are precautionary measures to take so that you do not have to worry about things like MAGGOTS, yuck. Poor animals. They deserve to be treated like your family. Would you let your child sleep outside? Would you let your child eat rotten food? I would hope not.
Although I tend to agree, I am also happy that people are at least doing an internet study to try to help their pets.
Hello, just last night I rescued a baby field mouse from my cat. So far I have fed him three times, following an every few hour regiment. I’ve also helped it to go potty after roughly twenty minutes after the feeding, today I bathed it gently with a q tip, I got off an almost ear wax colored stuff off its side, can’t tell if it has a puncture there or not. I have a fear it may be crippled in one leg, or at least injured and have a fear it might contract maggots. Sadly my vet will not look at it since it is a wild animal. Advice, help?
Call a wildlife center, or an SPCA if you think it can be saved. If they will not see it and you are concerned about re-release then ask your vet for humane euthanasia. If your vet refuses…. honestly…..switch vets. In all my years of general and emergency practice I would HIGHLY discourage wildlife care and advise against people brining wild animals in to the clinic due to disease, liability (rabies) and my basic lack of knowledge… however, I would never turn a sick field mouse down for humane and correct euthanasia. Very rarely are these animals releasable and usually it is not fair to keep them as pets. Please make a good decision. By the way, this is not the cat’s fault, it is what outdoor cats do. Keep cats indoors unless you are trying to eradicate native wildlife in barns and other areas (like rats and mice.)
Hi…I have a German Shepherd and the ears is infected(maggots) ..it releases a bad smell , this is the second time my dogs ears is like this…the first time I brought my dog to the vet I applied the medicine it became ok….now again there is smell, so far now I have been cleaning the ears with cotton and applying Surolan(this medicine I got from my vet the last time my dog had the same problem)…should I continue cleaning????
I would bring him back to the vet and get oral antibiotics and a stronger topical antibiotic and a better cleaner. There is no reason to have infected ears that get maggots. You can also have a surgery performed that will really help with this problem. The surgery is if the other treatments have failed. Have the ears cultured for yeast and bacteria…. bring him to your vet and if you vet is not willing to get more aggressive bring him to a vet that will. This is unacceptable.
Dr Stewart, this afternoon I went to my 3 month old puppy daschunds’s food bowl and found maggots. These were not there when I replenished he wet food this morning, and my puppy has eaten most of what I served this morning. I am terribly concerned he may have eaten some of these larvae and might be at risk. Could you please let me know if I need to take him to the vet right away? I clean his bowls every day however it has been incredibly hot here in Oz over the summer and we has the screens open yesterday to let Geoffrey in and out do the house so a fly may have had the opportunity to nest. With thx, Jessie
I’m not 100% sure about Australia, but I suspect it is the same as here. Eating maggots very rarely if ever is a problem. They are usually digested easily. It is only when they are in open wounds that there is a problem. I would watch for diarrhea or any blood in his stool, but suspect there will be no problem. Just make sure to not leave moist food out too long. I think he will be fine.
My dog recently gave birth 5 days ago. I usually check on them, but skipped a whole day. I recently just checked them yesterday and noticed something very disturbing. I noticed something moving near the boy pups bottom, and so i flipped him over to see what it was. It was the worst thing ive ever seen happen. There were maggots crawling in and out of his bottom. Theyre bottom is turning red, and i know that the maggots are most likely killing them from the inside out. My suspicion is the mother of the pups did not clean the pups bottom after it “used the bathroom” and so maggots formed. I decided to check the remainder pups. the two female pups look fine. but the other boy pup has the same problem. They’re both growing maggots in there bottoms and insides. what do i do?? I dont want the pups in pain or to die from something like this.
TAKE THEM TO A VET RIGHT AWAY! They are suffering and they will die if left untreated. There is not much you can do after flushing and cleaning the wounds out. Take them to a vet to start antibiotics and have them examined. Flush the area with warm water and then go to the vet asap.
MAGGOT REMOVAL EASY SOLUTION, VETS WILL NOT TELL YOU ABOUT!
i have a stray kitten come in , no tail, maggot infestation, too many to pull out
EASY SULUTION! 50% SALT 50% warm water! if large area & millions, soak cat In solution for few minutes REGULARLY, (ware gloves as the cat may bite like it did me lol)
do this a few times as many times as needed to kill maggots, they will drop off the animal, NO HARM, NO POISON,. just time to hold the animal in the mix, no rubbing, no, tweezers, no more stress for you & the animal, keep animal away from flies so they cant lay more eggs.
Never tried this. Peroxide works easier than submerging a whole cat! Good luck!
Please can u help, over the last couple of weeks we have periodically found single live maggots moving around the fur near our cats bum. not sure if they are coming from from her bum or her vagina. She appears fine in herself and we can’t find any obvious wounds and she is keeping herself clean as usual. Any ideas??
Tapeworms? Or just fur maggots that are trying to penetrate. Try shaving the area for a closer inspection. Keep one and bring it to your vet or a shelter to identify as maggot vs tapeworm.
Hi Doc please assist my dog had a cut on her leg before i knew it it had started smelling went the 1st day to the vet and it was closed the next day after work i had noticed her entire nail and skin on her paw had fell off the skin is turning black and her bone can be seen i took her to a vet yesterday the vet he clipped of the dead skin put some yellow cream on it and bandaged it when we had asked what was the cause he did not know he had charged us R950.00 for the 1st treatment and requires us to take her back to him every 2 to 3 days which is costing R300.00 to R400.00 every visit for the next 5 to 6 visits please help in advising what can be done my dog has lost almost her entire foot , and this vet is very pricey he says his trying and can not guarantee her foot might be amputated im heart broken seeing her like this i have 2 other dog and all seem to be depressed watching her please assist
Sounds bad. Sounds like either a crushing injury or a circulation injury. Is there any chance the dog got caught in a wire fence or a trap or a piece of string was wrapped around the leg??? Black skin is dead skin and the fact that the bone is visible is VERY bad. I think the vet is correct that amputation will possibly become an option. I would continue the bandage changes, these are the best you can do without major surgical help or vacuum healing. Oral antibiotics and pain medication seem like they should be started. I’m not sure how much R950 is in dollars but it seems worth the treatment if you want to save the leg or the dog. You need to keep that area moist and healing as best you can and hope the damage is limited. Look for signs of some type of crush or stricture on the leg….those are your most likely culprits. Lots of luck and time might fix her leg, but I would be worried.
I have two Labrador retrievers. One has been having problems with blocked anal glands. She has been to the vet to have them expressed a few times. She occasionally scoots her butt both indoors and outside. The second dog I observed one time scooting her butt indoors. Both doors have access to my fenced yard and are taken on daily walks. They are currently eating fallen cherries from my cherry tree and seeds from the gumbo limbo trees. The problem: both girls are having mushy stool, some mucous coating AND their stool contains large numbers of dead appearing maggots. I thought it was a worm problem and had my vets office perform a fecal float. No worms, just maggots! I am still waiting to hear from my vet herself. I am quite alarmed by this – how do I treat and how do I prevent a further infestation?
Interesting. I would re-test the stool for tapeworms as these look like maggots and are often not seen on fecal floats. Ask your vet about this. Maggots in the intestinal tract would be a SEVERE if not quickly fatal problem. I doubt this is the problem. Maybe there is a slight chance of an anal gland infection with maggots but again very unlikely in a healthy acting dog. I would MUCH higher suspect worms of some kind then maggots. Please talk to your vet or have a full fresh sample of stool sent out to he lab with worm/maggot samples in it. Please let me know what happens.
Hi, I’m Joe. I have a 3 year old female German Shepherd. The dog had maggot infestation at its anus right after the heat cycle and it has happened 3 times. Can spaying prevent the future occurrence of maggot infestation after the heat cycle?
Sorry for the late reply, I was on vacation away from a computer. Yes, in that the heat cycle will end after the spay. No more heat cycles and this might help. I have no idea why they would be related, but IF THEY ARE then yes. If the infestation is worms or due to a wound, then the spay will not help at all. If she has a vaginal problem, then likely yes.
My one year old pitbull is an indoor pet and I decided to leave her in the yard for a week a few a hours a day and all of a sudden she got a really nasty rash or bites all over her body till the point where she’s shedding her hair where the bite/ rash is and now she has opened wounds. I don’t know if something is eating her alive because I don’t see anything and unfortunately I live on disability and can’t afford to register my dog much less take her to a vet. I do know that my next door neighbors dog is infested with fleas and my neighbor had the yard sprayed but I don’t know what’s causing this to my dog. She’s not vomiting nor does she have diarrhea, nor scratching so I’m confused as to what is happening to her . I love my dog she’s family and I’m really worried about her can you please help me . please email me nilda0872@gmail.com
Sounds like you need a vet visit or an ASPCA visit. It could certainly be fleas and a severe flea allergy. This is the most likely scenario. Why did you leave an indoor pet outside? There are many manges and allergies that can do this as well as a staph infection and other parasites. I would try try try to get to a vet for an exam. Sounds like she needs antibiotics and skin work up. Treat the fleas first if they are there. You can start with a good bath/shampoo with a mild dish soap, then examine her for fleas and go from there. Once a day bath or shampoo is the MOST I would do. Oatmeal baths work well too, but in the end a vet visit will e most helpful and maybe save you money on trial and error treatments. Good luck!
Hi my name is Joe. My 3 year old Rottie was attacked by a pit about 3 days ago. They were going at it for about 30 minutes. She has holes in both arms from the pitbulls bites. She is walking and eating just fine. A little discomfort when she sleeps but today i noticed the holes have maggots coming out of them. I flushed them out with water and peroxide twice and they keep coming back. I won’t be able to get her to the vet until tomorrow. Is there anything i can do to keep the maggots away until then. I feel bad for her. She keeps biting at the wounds. Please help. Thanks in advance.
Sorry for the late reply. I assume you made it to the vet. THIS IS SERIOUS. Maggots are not good in wounds like this and your dog likely needs serious medical attention. You need immediate vet care.
Hey Doc,
I just picked up a kitten from the streets today and adopted her got my mom in with the Idea and now she’s doing fine the only thing I’d like to point out was that I picked her up once and later I found a maggot crawling around me arm gave me the jitters at first I was in denial it was the cat but as the day rolled by mom told me the maggot could have come from Raptor’s rear end and I started thinking this isn’t what I want for my new friend or myself I just picked her up around the street in the Philippines and was wondering if I could bring her to a vet but that takes money I don’t have yet was wondering what could be the best thing to do the maggot crawling around my arm wasn’t big mind you and I was just hoping to know if that type of maggot isn’t anything to worry about I’d appreciate any help sir thank you
Sorry but without seeing the cat or the maggot I can not help much. Best thing is to got to a vet as soon as possible and have the cat checked out. Maybe try to give the cat a good bath and see if there is anything obvious that is causing the maggots. Good luck.
My dogs were eating a dead bird that had maggots in it. They both immediately threw up thick muccos with their breakfast. They have continued to throw up periodically throughout the day. Is this something that should pass?
The maggots are not a problem, but the food richness and rotting bird might cause serious upset stomach and GI problems including pancreatitis. I would watch closely and if not better by tomorrow then bring your dogs into the vet for some GI protection and pancreas monitoring.
Hello Dr. Stewart,
I’m sorry to bother you. Two cats were left next to my trash can on my patio at my apartment complex. One had fur and skin missing on its back and maggots coming out of the skin and infested in the eyes:(. The other has no injuries I can see but had maggots on his fur and a few maggots in his eyes. we read about mineral oil to flush them Out on another website. But there were just too many:( We had to give the one with skin missing to our animal care services. I just don’t think we had the proper tools to save her. It really sucks and our hearts are broken..I’m sorry i guess my question is if the other cat doesn’t have any open wounds how did the maggots get in his eyes? And is there anything we can do temporarily? The mineral oil didn’t work as we hoped. We’re trying to come up with money to take them to the vet. But with the holiday it won’t be until Tuesday. Do you think he will make it? I feel so horrible I can’t believe someone would do this.
Unfortunately I think the best for the cat is to have SPCA or animal control take it to a vet. If they are going to euthanize then I’m not sure. The kitten needs vet care, antibiotics and surgical scrub to help with any wounds and eye medication to deal with any eye infection. Mineral oil in the eye and for maggots? Never hear of that. I would consider giving the other one away for vet care. Maybe contact the SPCA or nearest ER and ask them what they can do to help. Sorry.
I would like to thank you for all your help that you give people, i wish there was a like button or lol. My issue is there was a girl that said she needed help with these 3 newborn kittens that she said the mother had them in the parking area and abandon her kittens, she said she left them out there for 6 hrs hoping mother would come back and didnt, as i believe they were dumped there hoping someone would help them, when i picked them up to foster then get them ready for a good family all three where cold with flys on them, the 2 seemed good and meowing but the 3rd one did not look so good, after getting them home i found out the sick one had maggots, there where alot of flys on them when i picked them up. after getting them warm was when i saw maggots on the sick one. the other two where checked and they did have some white small stuff in a certain area , the 2 kittens where washed and cleaned up and the 3rd one did not make it. the question i have is since these two where cleaned up and seem to be eating and urinating and one has pooped , still working on the other one hoping he does his stuff on the next feeding. Can there be any harm to them since the other kitten had the maggots, could of any of the small maggots went in the kittens rectum area or do you think they will be ok. I could take them to the pound but if they cant find anyone to foster they might be put down. We have so many abandan kittens this year, i can not believe people would throw them in garbage or leave them for someone, they need to fix there animals and wouldnt have to deal with stuff like that. Any guidence would be helpful. thank you
Chances are if the 2 are doing well and eating and going to the bathroom normally then they should be fine. I would still take them to the pound to at least get some medical attention, vaccines and check up. You can likely foster them yourself after if you want to. They need vet visits in the first 6 weeks for vaccines and deworming anyway. I’m not sure I exactly understand the questions but I hope this helps. If you like my advice you can always give the clinic 5 stars on google…:)
They other day my cat had why we think was a dead squirrel with maggots on it I believe he ate some buy he did throw up not sure if he threw it all up my question is will it hurt him he’s had his rabies shot can someone please help me with an answer
thanks
Eating maggots is not a problem for cats. They should be digested, or vomited up. To my knowledge there are no squirrel rabies cases either, but I could be wrong on that. I dont think it will be much of a problem.
My cat has maggots in her front paw in a sore on her carpal pad it just came up yesterday but its swollen and the maggots are visibly moving also they have created a hole in her other paw and the same thing is happening I am very worried I sprayed it with Screwworm spray but no change it has progressed very fast and i don’t know what to do HELP!
GET HER TO A VET!!!You need to got to a vet or give her to an SPCA. If you can not take care of her you need to reliquish her to an organization that can. This is not something you can fix at home!!!!!! Please, your cat is suffering!
I have a kitten that had fly eggs on him. I bathed him and tried to get as many eggs off him as I could. Despite my efforts there were still some eggs and when I checked on him this morning some had hatched. I washed the maggots off his belly and got most of the still remaining eggs off. He keeps meowing though. I’m not sure if its just because he’s miffed about his baths or if he’s in pain. I couldn’t see any visible signs of the maggots actually getting inside if him, but I’m still concerned that they may be. I guess in summary I’m asking if there’s any way I can tell if they’ve gotten inside of him and if I’m handling this correctly. Any advice would be really appreciated
Certainly take him to a vet to find out why the flys are laying on him, but otherwise it sounds like you are handling it correctly. If you do not see any wounds or holes then likely they are not getting inside of him. It is impossible to tell without seeing him, but if he is acting normally then you are probably ok. Get him to a vet for shots and a check up.
Okay. Thank you for the advice!
Hi. My pitbull has been getting fly bites on his ears and back. His ears are really bad, but I cant afford a vet. Is there any way I could help relieve him at home?
You can try AVON Skin So Soft as a non-toxic rub. There are other home remedies, but you need to see what works in your region. The you need to wash him with a good dog shampoo regularly like every 4-6 days to keep the infection down. If it gets really bad and there are infected open wounds, then you need a vet. Hope this helps. AVOID tea tree oil, and other “natural” insect repellants that are not vet approved. They can make things much worse.
I have been feeding an abandoned cat outside for several months now. I gave her a doghouse with bedding and she does very well. I am concerned that I have seen flies around her food bowl lately. I dont wash her bowl daily, but I do change it out weekly. Can the flies lay eggs in her food and she then ingest them? I’ve never seen flies around food bowls like this before and have fed many strays over the years, so I want to make sure I am not putting her at risk. Thank you
Usually orally ingested fly eggs and larva are not a problem, except if the cat has an already per-existing condition. There is really no way to know, so we do not usually concern ourselves with orally ingested maggots. I would think this might indicate rotten or spoiled food and this can be a problem, so make sure the food is good. If you have a dog house you can try hanging fly tape to keep the flies down? Good luck.
Thank you so much for your quick response, you put my mind at ease regarding my outdoor cat.
My next question concerns my 7 year of Pomeranian. 2 weeks ago she started vomiting clear liquid with small bits of food in it. I took her in the next day and she was given an anti-emetic shot and put on antibiotics. She did fine, but started vomiting again 4 days later, so I took her to another vet as my vet was not available on Saturday. They did a blood test that showed elevated white blood cells as well as an xray that showed no blockage so they gave her another anti emetic shot and another round of anti antibiotics, saying they thought it was an infection as well. She continued to vomit off and on, so she was then tested for pancreatitis and had an ultrasound, both showed nothing. I was feeding her boiled hamburger and rice on the vets recommendation, but she still was vomiting off and on. This has been going on for two weeksnow. I have kept both vets informed of the others findings. Both vets finally determined that she has a sensitive stomach and have recommended special food, which will be delivered tomorrow. Does this sound right, or are there other possibilities we need to explore?
Thank you so much for your time.
Sounds about right, and I would hate to disagree with vets (multiple) that have seen your dog in person. Next step might be a GI scope or a specialist visit. Sounds like you are doing the right thing. Try the food and see. If she continues to vomit on the food and with the medication, seek out a medical specialist or a university and see what they have to say. Good luck.
We rescued 2 abandoned kittens today. They are likely 7-8 weeks old. The male has had an accident where the end of his tail was cut off. Because of this he now has maggots. I know I need to take him to the vet Monday but I did clean with warm water. Is it unsafe for me to have him running around my house like this. I don’t want to have a maggot infestation on my home & i don’t know enough about this to know whether that’s even An issue.
The simple answer is you are safe from maggots. The kitten desperately needs to see a vet, but until then keep the wound clean and contain the kitten until you can take him. You will not have a huge maggot problem in your house.
My outside cat recently had kittens and while giving birth, I guess she was chased away when she popped the first one out. My step mom and I found It and the kitten was covered in maggots. We rushed it inside and bathed it, getting all the maggots off. Later that night when I was bottle feeding it, I noticed maggots in its ears because they had made the ear holes bigger. If I had taken it to the vet as soon as I realized it had maggots on it, could the vet have flushed them out before they could have done any major damage? I was torn when this kitten died because of those disgusting things and I don’t ever want to see another newborn kitten die like that again. Should I rush it to the vet immediately to have them flushed or just let the vet put them out of their misery? I want to be prepared if this happens again to one of my kittens. I’ve gotten all kinds of opinions from different family members, But I don’t need their opinions, I need an expert opinion.
Probably a quick vet visit would have been VERY helpful. The kitten would have started antibiotics and had the maggots flushed out. Also the vet could give the kitten fluids to re-hydrate it and maybe it needed sugar? Hard to tell without seeing the kitten. Maggots mean very sick kitten and that is just something to think about. There is always the possibility the vet would have suggested euthanasia and not been able to save it, but that is helpful to know too.
My pet rabbit started having matted fur yesterday and today when i went out the clean the cage and refill the water i noticed neither of her back legs were working but yesterday only one leg was limp, also I noticed the her anus, vagina, and a wound that had mysteriously appeared in the last two days were full of maggots. What do I do short of putting her down
I would bring her to a vet asap, but be prepared to put her to sleep. It doesn’t sound good. When rabbits get sick they go down hill very fast. If they can not use their back legs, they are usually in big trouble. Sorry.
I have a duck that was attacked by our boxers and about 2 weeks ago I found maggots in her wound. I was able to get them all out and she’s on antibiotic. Her wounds now look like they are scabbed over. Is it safe to put her back outside? We had her in the she’d in a big box but she is getting very restless and she’s not able to get exercise. Can maggots break through scabs?
The simple answer is yes, put her back outside. Maggots can not eat through scabs and if the wounds are clean then she should be ok.
Thank you for your help
I found a feral mama cat and her 4 week? old kitten. The kitten had matted eyes completely closed. I tried to catch kitten but he ran. While I was trying to catch him, I noticed there were maggots near and on his closed eyes. I was able to finally catch it next day and picked it up to check him. No more maggots but eyes were still closed. I cleaned the eyes with warm paper towels and put some antibiotic onintment (from vet for previous visit on another stray) in them. Did this for few days but still closed. Is it possible he has his eyes and will be blind? Can he survive? He does appear to have some vision or just really great hearing. Tries to tear me apart everytime I pick him up. Amazing how strong a baby that small is. Has managed to shred me with claws and teeth little bit. Then today I also noticed he had these little white bugs on him. Not sure if fleas or could it be lice? They are on his fur instead of on the skin with fleas. Have thought about having him put down but hate to do that if he has a chance. He seems happy. Mama has brought him to the back porch and he has made himself at home. Jumps around, eats well, goes to bathroom well, even does some climbing! He appears calm when approached until you try to pick him up. Sure he is scared so try to cuddle in old towel before turning him loose. Sorry, so long. Please help. No money for vet.
Ok, possible he lost his eyes and he would be a fine indoor cat. Not such a great outdoor cat. With a few days of handling he will be tame and a great kitten. You need to put in the time. The white bugs might be mites? You need to give him a flea bath and that usually will kill the mites. I would make sure to bathe him multiple times over a few weeks. Like every 4 days or so depending on the quality of the flea bath. His eyes and crust might be viral (likely) so if you have other cats make sure they are up to date on vaccines and away from these cats. I would try to get him to a vet for a viral check and deworm and vaccines asap. Good luck.
Corrections. Should be “possible he lost his eyes”. And the white bugs are on his “fur instead of on the skin like fleas”.
Hi Dr. Stewart, your information is very valuable and I thank you for what you are doing..
Two days ago I picked up a tiny bird.. cute, small guy that couldn’t fly very well but would sing lots.. something was under one of his wings but I didn’t know what.. he was on a busy city street and I thought he would die as he would not fly.. I thought he was just weak or too young… I noticed Mr. Chirp wasn’t eating either and after a couple of hours I decided to take him to the vet who discovered fly larvae under his right wing and hidden under feathers of his body (about 9) and took them off and gave him a dosage of ivermectine.. I gather that the ivermectine probably started to cause a reaction with the larvae as today, tiny as he was, had three more larvae in the vicinity of the rectal area.., he started to get really sick and I took him to the vet again who had to put him down… beautiful bird, impressed me very strongly given his attitude and strength, completely opposite to his size. Oddly, he also caused some positive events without knowing, all in two days.. So, I hope people reading this act immediately with the vet’s help.. I wasn’t able to do much for Mr. Chirp, but I hope his suffering was reduced.. I am still in shock for such a way to die, very painful, no creature deserves that suffering.
What happens if my dog eats the fly poop on the dog food
nothing
hi,
My dog has a hole on this lower skin and has high fever, the hole caused by maggots is near to his testicle. the thing is, the vet told me that he need to do operation and clear up the hole and infection.
can you tell me , is this a serious operation? and is my dog at very high risk? will it able to cure or it will pro longed sickness ?
thanks.
You need to do what the vet recommends. Without seeing it I can not go against the vet’s opinion. It sounds like it needs a drain and some surgery to clean the wound. Holes with maggots do not heal well without serious vet intervention. Do what the vet says.
I have a 6 at old calf that has the scours and we took him to the vet an had him checked out but we are trying to get rid of the maggots…..any idea what to use to get rid of them?
Try peroxide and water, but there should be no maggots after the vet visit?!?!
The vet didn’t do anything about te maggots he only gave us medicine to help him eat
Thats not good, flush the area with a peroxide and water mix and see if the maggots come out. I would possibly try a new vet? They should not send home a kitten with maggots and no antibiotics, pain medication and clean the area????
What if you can’t get the animal to the vet right away
Which comment is this in relation to, sorry it comes up by itself. I can try to answer if I know what the comment is. I cant see them in order.
the animal I have is a calf not a kitten and there are maggots under his umbelical cord and his but area and crawling around his hind legs
Whoa, my mistake. Im so used to hearing about kittens and I’m treating kittens now. My mistake. Ok, so don’t go to another vet. But I would flush the area with a cleaning solution, possibly diluted betadine and then flush the wound with water. We really do not treat large animals so my advice is going to be to call the vet and ask what they recommend. We try to removed the maggots with pressure (water) and then often manually pick them out or pull them out. If there are loads of them, then trying to get the animal healthy is first and removing the maggots is second. Sorry about the confusion, but I would still call your vet and ask advice of a person who sees a lot of calves.
What kind of animals do you work on?
Dogs and cats. Read the blogs.
There are some swollen parts on my dog’s body which have maggots in them ,what can i do to save my dog’s life
You need to see a vet asap. This is something that seems very serious.
OMG, this has me in tears. Many years ago our 14-yr. old GSD mix became immobile due to paralysis in her hind legs. My mom and I took her to be put down but instead the vet recommended a cortisone shot to prolong her life and mobility for a short while. He did mention keeping her away from her stools but did not explain why. I was living away from home and my mom worked FT and had a broken arm in a cast. My mom called me in a panic a couple week later. Tosh was laying unconscious in the patio. I rushed there to find her still breathing with thousands of maggots burrowed into her spine. I freaked out so bad. Soon after she convulsed and died. All these years I took comfort in the supposed knowledge that maggots only eat dead tissue, assuming she must have gone unconscious first. Now I realize that probably wasn’t the case and it’s very painful and disturbing.
I found some worms on the skin of my dogs ,we had to press them out and they have different sorts on their skin
What should I do
Not enough info to help you. My advice would be to find a veterinarian as soon as possible.
I have two pet fancy rats. A few weeks ago I let them play outside and they got lost for a few hours. They both seemed fine when I found them. However, recently I noticed scabs on one of them. I assumed she had mites so I bought some ivermectin, cleaned her cage, and I gave her a bath. When she was wet I noticed that underneath her worst scab there was a large lump. I gently pressed down on either side of the wound and out of the opening came the entire body of a fairy small bot fly larvae. I have given my rat one oral dose of ivermectin before removing the bot fly and I applied some more ivermectin to her scabs after the removal. I believe that most of the scabs she has are from her itching herself due to the discomfort caused by the bot fly. However she still has a sizable lump under her skin in the area that the bot fly was. Could this lump be swelling caused by the parasite’s presence or is it more likely to be another bot fly? Also if it is another bot fly, will treating the wounds with ivermectin kill it?
Thank you so much!!!
Hard one as I do not do a lot of rats or see a lot of bot flys anymore. Bot flies can certainly cause a very large inflammatory response and even an infection/abscess where they were. If you killed the fly or ruptured it on removal then that is a serious problem and can lead to a bunch of issues (like a dead fly in a hole.) If you got the whole fly out intact and are giving ivermectin then you might just have residual swelling and it will go down. The next step might be explore that hole a little and start antibiotics with a vet. Good luck.
The entire body of the bot fly was removed and it was alive when it came out. However there is a possibility of a second one being present and most likely squished from the removal of the first. But there was only one open sore for a larvae to get air from. The rest are closed scabs (which I think are from her itching herself). How long should the swelling normally last? Also what kind of antibiotics would she need?
Thanks!!
I agree wit what you are saying, but not sure without seeing the animal. Sounds like you got it all out and the rest are scabs. I can not legally (or morally) advise on antibiotics type or dose, you would need to see a local vet about that or call your vet. I would expect the swelling to go down after a few days, but be concerned if it remained swollen longer…. good luck.
Alright thank you so much for your help!!!!
I would like some advice on my boyfriends cat. She is 14 years old and is mostly and out door cat. She is a fluffy cat. Her fur is matted and there is fecal matter stuck in it. We gave her a bath and trimmed what we could away from the area. We noticed it was really raw and irritated around the rectum and vaginal area. So I put cream on her. Today she smells of urine and seems to be really uncomfortable. Which of course she is being in that state. When I looked at her a little bit ago I noticed maggots in her rectum. Now I know she needs to go to the vet asap. I just wanted to know if an animal hospital is cheaper than a vetenarian office. What do you think the price might be so I can let family members know so they can help financially. I would very much like any input. I am very worried about her and stressed out!! Thank you!!!
She deliberately needs a vet. Animal hospitals and vet offices are the same thing (at least in the US) so there is no difference in price. I have no idea of a price. If you are in New York City it will be more than rural Alabama. I would call your local vets and get prices. She needs a vet soon!
Ok so my mom just got this puppy 5 days ago. We don’t have the money to take it to the vet or anywhere else so please don’t bother saying we shouldn’t have the pup. I know this already, I told her what would happen if she got it and she didn’t listen. Now just yesterday the carpet was literally covered in maggots. Then it happened again today. I’ve already checked the pup all over and her feces but there’s no sign of any maggots! My mom is gonna try worm medicine but is that the right choice? Should we give the pup up or try to help it?
Depends where the maggots are coming from. This might be the first of many problems especially if the puppy is sick or Mal-nourished. If you can not find them, maybe they are worms and not maggots and dewormer will work. Otherwise it will not help. Look in the ears and around the rear end most. Also look in the mouth. Good luck. Sorry I can not help more.
Thanks I hope it will work
Hi Dr. Stewart,
Just this morning, my 2 inside Chi(s) barking, alerting me something outside, found a puppy outside on our street (Labrador/4-6 weeks est.?) Looked like a bit of mange on backside and maybe an animal tried to bite her on the back. It was making this horrible scream that my 2 inside dogs alerted me to. I brought the puppy in keeping away from my 2 Chis (thinking mange) and immediately gave puppy some warm milk and bathed it with flea & tick shampoo. While bathing, many, many little worms started appearing and surfacing and I kept pouring warm water for about 20 minutes and they just seemed to keep coming to surface around injured tissue area; but also many around the top of her neck area and there are no exposed wounds or tissue that I can see. The puppy seemed soothed by this bathing. After bath, dried her and she easily ate a bit of dry food that I softened by adding water. I took her out to see if she would potty. She urinated and had a movement and did not see any worms in the stool. She enjoyed the little walk and followed me everywhere I went. The puppy has good weight and I think very survivable, called my vet.
Unfortunately, I cannot afford to take her to the vet and received the runaround from my vet and referrals given me. I have bathed her a second time and a few more of the tiny worms appeared & came off, but not near as many as was the first. Much better; I flushed the mangy area or hot spots (?) on her back with Hydrogen peroxide and have now put Bactroban cream I had on these areas. Put a small wading pool w/food grad diatomaceous earth (to somewhat contain any small worms that may come off) in by Bathroom with a small dog bed in it. She is now sleeping comfortably.
WHAT DO YOU THINKS THESE LITTLE WORMS ARE & WHAT ARE YOU RECOMMENDATION TO TRY TO HELP HER at my HOME OR DO YOU THINK ITs IMPERATIVE SHE GET TO A VET? I soooo much appreciate your assistance and your helping the public here.
Much love and eternal blessings always…. Linds
Not sure what the worms are. Are they maggots? Are they lice or flea like. I would keep doing what you are doing, it seems to be working and then try to pinpoint the source of worms. If you find it, then you need to flush them out and probably contact a vet. If she has mange, she needs proper medication BUT some mange gets better with the dog getty healthy. I can only say good luck and I really dont know. If you can get to an SPCA or shelter they might help for a reduced cost. This is just the tip of the iceberg and she will need shots and more so prepare for the costs.
Hello, I held my puppy and found maggots on his face… I didn’t know he had maggots…. I held him in my hands and ever since than I been paranoid about maggots… Would the maggots transfer from his body to mine?? This question had been stuck in my mind sinces than. If it does, what should I do? And my puppy been outside for 1-3 days would the maggots develop before he went outside or being outside?
Moggots will not transfer to healthy tissue so you do not need to worry, but why does your puppy have maggots on his face??? They developed from being outside and you need to take him to a vet to get looked at. Maggots on the face are very serious! There must be a wound or cut on his face or in his mouth or nose.
I have a red nose put mixed with a chocolate lab. He has a habit of eating flies and other insects around the house. We have recently found maggots in his urine and feces. Could it be the flies he eats are hatching their eggs after? Of so what should I do? I have never had to deal with maggots on a live anamial before please help.
I find it VERY unlikely that any fly eggs could survive the GI tract of a dog regardless of how many he eats. Maggots in his stool are probably either tape worms (they look alike) or post defecation maggots. In his urine there is NO WAY they can get there via the GI tract. These are either post urination or something much more severe. I would get a stool sample to your local vet to look at and if you are seeing any signs of illness bring the dog to the vet…..otherwise its just old poop and flies are laying eggs in it.
When you say that “you find it very unlikely” that fly eggs could survive the GI tract of a dog, is that an opinion or has any research been done which proves this isn’t possible? We are struggling now with this issue. We see fly larvae in our dog’s stool all the time, when we look immediately after he goes. It’s terribly frustrating as the vet says what you just said, but we know what we are seeing and it’s not possible for a fly to land and lay live maggots in the stool in the 15 seconds it takes me to walk over to the pile. Can you refer me to studies that i can search online which conclude fly larvae can not survive the GI tract of dog?
I do not have any articles off the top of my head, but it will depend on your region and the flies there. In America there are 4-5 known cases in humans of maggots surviving the GI tract. Most of those people were immune compromised or had other GI ailments. Try a dewormer and maybe the maggots are in the rectum, or anus? Have the stool and maggots tested…. they might be pin worms or tapeworms.
Hi I really found your article helpful. Thank you for the information. My dog is 11 years old and recently his tooth came off…leaving an open wound which allowed maggots to lay eggs..though we have seek help from a vet and he has given him an injection and cleaned the wound…but still i would request you to advise me how to further take care of his gums and how serious the problem is?
Sounds serious, you can buy dog tooth brushes and paste but i think antibiotics and keeping the area clean is the best. Sounds like once the infection is cleaned and healing and there is not too much more you need to dog.
Hi there,
Thanks for all this great info. I found a kitten in my back yard last night about 4 weeks old. It was tangled in tall grass and it’s foot was blue and swollen to the point of skin cracking and it had a lot of maggots and worms coming out the bum. I brought him to the vet and they didn’t want to amputate the foot right away but thought it would likely be necessary in the future. They gave me antibiotics/worm and maggot killer to give twice a day and also gave the cat a lot of wet food specifically for babies. They also gave the first dose of antibiotic.
This morning when I went to give the next dose of antibiotic it was very obvious that the kitten was not going to make it and it looked severely dehydrated. The maggots had multiplied like crazy. I gave the antibiotics anyway and tried feeding it (didn’t want to eat) and tried using a dropper to get water in it’s mouth (the water just fell back out again). I also used lukewarm water to try to wash away some maggots (a lot came off – I didn’t scrub). Before the clinic opened the cat passed away anyway. I know a whole lot of things could have killed him, but I’m wondering if by feeding the kitten we created a lot of feces for the maggots to multiply in and if it would have been better to wait to feed the cat until the maggots had died down a bit. I know it’s too late, but I feel like it would be good to know for the future.
Thank you
I think nothing you could have done would have helped it except MAYBE IV fluids and IV antibiotics. My guess is the foot was causing major infection to be shed and the kitten was just septic and too much infection killed the kitten. I am SURE the food had no negative effects. Glad you tried to help the kitten, sometimes they are just too sick. Sorry for your loss.
I recently found a bay squirrel about 5weeks all her fur is now clean of maggots and eggs (she was covered in them) she’s eating from a nurse bottle and urinating and dedicating regularly. Today we found a sore in her mouth and it had maggots in it. She doesn’t have them anywhere eles that we can see and not in her feces either. What should I do other than remove the maggots as we find them?
I always recommend taking wildlife to a rehab center or wildlife veterinary center because they often make poor pets and if they are in human hands too long they can not be rehabilitated. Also there are disease concerns. Having said that you should try to remove all the maggots and keep the baby clean and well fed. You probably can not get antibiotics or dewormer for the baby, so the best you can do is try to strengthen the immune system and remove the maggots with warm water and some mild soap. Call your local wildlife shelter for more exact advice and I would highly recommend bringing her there and having them get her ready for release back to nature,
My dog caught a flesh fly in his mouth and spit it out on the floor. When I went to clean it up I could see that the fly had maggot larvae on its back. I got rid of it, but am concerned that some may have come off in my dogs mouth when he caught it. I figured he’d be fine and I’d just keep an eye on him, but do you think he needs some medication or to go to the vet?
Probably be fine. Just watch it.
I have a white mouse dat I rescued after a heavy rail today and it has an injury on is tail and small pore on his skin which contained maggots after I pressed it,I saw a big maggot with a lot of tiny ones and I applied salt to the surface and I don’t know what to do next because I don’t have the money to visit a vet so I want a traditional method asin sometin I can do by myself alone at home
Contact a wildlife center. Other than keeping it clean, there is very little you can do. Do not get bitten.
Dr.
Im a complete mess right now. My dog is hospitalized at the vet, since last night. They say hos white blood count is low, and his fever is high, and he *might* have spesis. And thaf the next two days will be an uphill battle.
We moved from the smoky mountains to ohio on the 1st. He is two years old and has only ever lived in the mountains. The weather here is very hot in comparison, different altitude, chemicals in the water as opposed to fresh mountain water, and new plants in the backyard that we have yet to investigate. He has diarrhea starting on tuesday morning. Explosive. Dark green. No idea why. Because everything changed. We went from organic food to store bought chemical food when we moved because we couldnt find a co-op. I feel it may have been the food and the two days of faucet water (before i knew how chemical laden the water here is, now have a filter). He had diarrhea for three days. Refused pedialyte. Switched his food to organic chicked and rice and he ate one bowl full. I then took him to the vet on thursday. She said he was dehydrated and gave me a powder packet to sprinkle on his food and pills. Yesterday morning, he was acting lethargic. He refused to eat or to come inside. I hand fed him around 11 am and kissed his head and rubbed his whole back, several times. Didnt notice anything unusual in his skin. I had been putting comfry on his raw backside per the vet (who suggested diaper rash ointment). Yesterday morning i did this, and didnt see anything at all. He refused to come inside and laid outside with flies swarming his back side. I tried several times to get him to come inside, he wouldnt move. He was head oressing (i know now) all day. I finally got him inside amd gave him his pill in peanut butter and he drank half a bowl of water. Still not noticing anything other than lethargy. Finally, around 930pm, i went to add more comfry, and bent down to see a swarm of maggots crawling over a spot on his back (not backside). I took him to the vet. They are keeping him for two to four days. Said he has a 50/50 chance and his prognosis is guarded. Im so confused because all articles im reading say that if treatment is immediate, itll be ok. The doctor says 50/50, but the other doctor seemed more hopeful. Please tell me with complete honesty, what you feel the prognosis will be.
Worried sick.
Honestly I have no idea. I do not know the details and do not want to give you a prognosis. Sepsis is less than 50:50 and maggots are a very bad sign, but with good aggressive vet care he could pull through. Make sure you are at a modern and well staffed vet office and keep up your hopes. Explain where you are coming from as there might be local diseases that are important. I wish you the best of luck!!
I own a dog aged 12 years
His ear had been bitten by onother dog of my locality
My dog looks as if he had a lot of pain
He shooks his head most of the time..
I had been applying betadine in the wound
But i noticed a maggot on the wound
He wont let his ear to be touched now!!
I concerned a vet doctor,he gave a pain killer and a epi-otic named solution rinse his ear.. but its not killing the maggot!!
What should i do now??
Is there any medicine or any solution to remove the maggot?
Go back and get medicine from the vet. You need to pick out the maggots and keep the wound clean. Have the dog sedated and the wound cleaned.
I was just curious as to weather or not fruit flies can infect dogs like any other worms do?
No, not that I know.
Is there anything you can give to dogs to flush out maggots? My dog had maggots around her anus as she had pooped and it got stuck in her fur. I trimmed the fur and got rid of the maggots. I pulled out some more from her anus but what if there are still some inside? I live on an island and there’s no vet. She seems better since I bathed her but she is weak and can’t stand or sit.
Are you sure they are not tapeworms? That sounds like tapeworms, in which case there are wormers that can help. If its internal maggots then you have a serious problem that needs immediate vet attention.
I took in an abandoned kitten about a week ago. It’s probably only about 6-7 weeks old. He looks better than he did a week ago. He eats well, poops fine, but he’s still thin with a pot-belly. He’s also got eye boogers and crusties on his nose that I keep cleaning.
I haven’t seen the maggots you’re referring to, but I’m posting to see if it’s possible to have an infection without visible maggots. In the last few days, my kitchen has had a fly outbreak. He’s the only thing new in my house, although it could be the changing weather or the fact that it’s a very old house.
He runs and plays like a healthy, happy kitten. Would it even be possible for the flies to gestate in a week and leave the kitten with no visible or behavioral symptoms. I’d love to be able to rule this condition out, but I can’t figure out where the flies are coming from. Thanks!!
I’m guessing the flies are not from the kitten. I would have him checked up by a vet for the pot belly and weepy eyes. Sounds like he needs a deworming and some medication for an upper respiratory. Good luck. The flies are probably just from the weather and the house.
Hey Dr. I need your help. I don’t have any money for a vet but I fond this cute kitten and it’s a baby any ways how can I take the maggots off her skin?
Bath it in soapy water. That is the best bet. Figure out why there are maggots? Get the kitten healthy.
I have a 5 month old outside rabbit that had got out for almost 2 weeks, we caught him and noticed a black quarter size area behind his eye, in front of his ear. I cleaned it with sterile water and kept an eye on it. then began googling what it might be. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is in deed a maggot that has burrowed under his skin. there is a small hole near the center and hair is missing around the wound. I’m curious to know what treatment they might do for him at the Vet. I’m also wondering if he will recover from this. Poor thing. It seems like there is a large lump right above it, almost like the maggot is growing and moving up. I know, pretty gross. Please help with any info you might have. thanks!
A vet will remove it and start him on antibiotics. He should recover with the correct care. Go see your vet soon! Good luck.
I have a six week old kitten that has had diarrhea for like four days and hasnt really been wanting to eat or drink so i have been giving him water and chicken broth through a syringe I have been trying to keep him clean and change his bedding everyday but today after I got off of work I went to check on him and he just looked so sad and smelled so bad because of the diarrhea so I went to give him abath and noticed that he had maggot eggs in his fur where the dried poop was so iI washed him really good. I called the vet yesterday and he told me to give him some deworming medicine so I did that yesterday might I add he was up and walking around yesterday. And then today I find him like this I have no idea what to do it is now the weekend and the vet doesn’t open until Monday any suggestions?
That kitten sounds really bad and it need to see a vet ASAP. Fluids and antibiotics and a full exam. Something is wrong with the kitten and de-wormer is not going to fix it. I would call an ER in the area or a 24 hour vet office. It is now had diarrhea for too long to be simple.
I found a kitten today I estimate to be around 6 weeks old, he was covered in flies laid still….his eyes were infected, and smelt terrible…With further inspection I noticed many many many maggots all over his body. His anus looked swollen. So I took him to the vet, he used a liquid I believe to be peroxide to cover the maggots, then applied some cream, and put him on the drip, gave him an injection. However before he put the kitten into the intensive care unit, he did not wipe away any of the maggots, so there were still maybe a hundred maggots crawling over the kitten. Is this the correct way to deal with this situation as I would normally believe that the maggots should atleast be wiped away or washed before putting into a unit, am I wrong? i trust your view, and would like to know if this was the correct way the kitten was treated…I am extremely upset as 3 hours after taking him to the vet let said he passed away…
I can not really comment because I didnt see the kitten. In our clinic we always try to remove the maggots as soon as possible to prevent further discomfort and damage they can do. We are pretty good about getting the maggots off with soap and water if they are just on the fir and skin….. Sounds like the kitten needed a lot of care and might not have made it either way BUT I like to get the maggots off as soon as possible personally.
hi dr stewart .im really worried about my shar pei.a few years ago she had skin problem so i took her too the vets and they gave her antibiotics.however two days ago she started scratching below her ears and it wasnt a pretty site (she drew blood under both and tore her fur out) her ears have always smelled since the day i had her (shes 8 and ive had her for 6) i clean and check her ears every day if not every other day at most.because of what happened a couple of years ago i went a bought a neck collar till i cud get her too the vets monday(tomorrow) presuming it was the same problem however a couple of hours ago i found a couple of maggots on the floor so i inspected her ears and i found 6 more so i delicately removed them with out harming her ears but i know theres some more in them,unfortnatly i can tell if its 2 or 200.i have a limited amount of money tomorrow (200 english pounds) for treatment so instead of going into the emergency room tonight which would cost 140 im forced too wait till the morning whe it will be 30 pounds.i can afford another 200 friday but im not sure if the vet will let me owe them till them.sorry about the essay but my question is this.because i found maggots in both ears and im right too presume that the maggots have managed too tunnel somewhere straight throu her head ??having them in both is this even more dangerous and should i be prepared too say my goodbyes before we go?? many thanks
I think you should be worried about bad ear problems, but not maggots going through her head. It is more likely that she has 2 infected ears and needs severe antibiotics and medication. Go to the vet first thing Monday morning and get as much treatment as you can afford. I do not think it is time to say goodbye……
My old dog had cancer in her paw/leg which led to an infection. We had her on antibiotics and were waiting to see how it progressed before having her put down (was too old to risk surgical removal of paw/leg). It started swelling up more and more and was still infected despite trying different antibiotics (they did nothing).
The very day before we were going to have her put down I saw maggots on the wound. I was horrified and sick about it, I took them off (they had only just appeared that day) and had to take some more off again later. I am completely guilt ridden and feel like I neglected her, I was just trying to do my best for her trying different treatments but nothing worked. She was still eating well and not showing any signs of pain or discomfort except limping a bit when she walked.. Am I a terrible person for letting this happen? I was so shocked and sickened by it. We had her put down the very next day after I saw them on the wound (which we had planned to do anyway due to her infection/cancer getting worse). I feel so awful that we didn’t get her put to sleep sooner. I don’t know how i can live with myself, do you think I am terrible for letting this happen or is it just one of those things that can happen to anyone? I loved my dog so much and just wanted the best for her, if I had known how her cancer/infection would progress i would’ve had her put down before, I had no idea it would get that bad! I hope it looked worse than it was.
It almost definitely looked worse than it was. Sounds like you did what you should have and just missed the date by 1 day. I think the fact that she was acting not in pain was a great sign. Sorry for your loss.
Thank you Dr Stewart. It’s just such a shock seeing something like that. I now realise that the infection was never going to go away because of how the cancer was growing so quickly and spreading. Anyway, thank you for putting my mind at ease a little.
We are tying to trap an injured stray mongrel with a gaping hole (blacken) filled with maggots infestation. His right ear has been eaten up i believed. We believed he was injured around mid-Sept and we have been trying to trap him for medical treatment since beginning of Oct. May we know how high is his chances of survival without treatment? Could he have died by now as the dog has been evading rescuers?
Very hard to say. Very possible he died or will die due to infection. Ear infections and open wounds with maggots can really drain a dog of any energy and lead to a septic dog situation. No way to tell without seeing the wounds and assessment. It is very possible he will not survive without treatment. Good luck.
Hey I found a maggot egg on my dog and it feel off I took care of it but I did see another I am trying to find again. I’m wondering what will happen if it already feel off and hatched? My dog seems to be ok I check him everyday and I don’t see any bite marks or anything like that no irration but I’m wondering if there is a way to prevent this from happening again?
Not a worry if there is no wound or hole. Might have just caught it up in his fur?
Hello, I found a hole near the anus area of my poodle. I went online and from the description I think is was either a botfly or maggot. When I try squeezing around the area this brown goop came out so I then sprayed the area with alcohol and squeezed some more and just kept squeezing it until no more brown stuff came out. Then I spray the hole with hydrogen peroxide. Does this mean the larvae died inside of the hole or is it infected?
You need to see a vet. If you killed the fly in the hole that will lead to a nasty infection. It might just be an anal gland abscess or regular abscess. A vet needs to look at that….
Hi! I have a dog with a hole on her back (around the pelvis area). And yes, just ‘a’ hole. It started from a scrape and I thought it would just heal like it normally does, and because she can clean it.
Then after a day or two from seeing the scrape, I noticed that the wound is not getting any better. It then started to swell so I decided to inspect her wound. Upon looking at it closely, I noticed that there were things moving inside! I then dried the hole with a cotton. Got a clearer view and found out there are maggots inside.
Since I panicked and I wanted to remove them immediately, I dropped in a couple of drops of efficascent oil in the hole. In no time, the maggots started to crawl out of the flesh, one by one, and I picked them up using tweezers. I got 11 of them and put them away in a jar where they can’t crawl out, and checked the hole closely if there’s more with my phone’s flashlight. Sadly, I couldn’t check the deeper parts of the hole because it’s too swollen, and the hole’s just around 1/4 of an inch. The swollen area has a diameter of around 2 to 2.5 inches. So yeah, the wound is filled with those 11 maggots I got, and I’m not even sure if I removed them completely; I hope I did.
By the way, the only flies I could name of, and have seen here (prominent) are houseflies and mango flies. I cannot distinguish which the maggot belongs to.
Now the hole keeps secreting a cloudy, translucent, pinkish fluid, and I keep on drying them off. Is it a good sign? I squeeze the wound in a not so hard way, only just to, well, extract the fluid and wipe it off. I also noticed that every time I do it, there are bubbles forming.
Then I rest and waited, not touching the wound anymore, and let the wound secret these fluids on its own, and until most of the efficascent oil have been wiped away. I then took out another fresh tweezers, my betadine and a piece of cotton. I poured some of it over a cotton–letting the cotton completely absorb it until it is almost dripping–then squeezed it above the wound so the betadine drops inside the hole. After filling it with betadine, I squeezed the wound (ofc, in a not-so-hard manner), so that the betadine would flow through the places I cannot reach and see. After a few squeezes, I wiped it off and dropped some betadine again. I think I did it thrice. Then I dabbed the solution around the external part of the wound as well. Since that’s the most I could do for now, I covered her wound with a gauze and let her rest.
No question there…..see a vet for a maggot infected hole in your pet is my best advice. Sounds like you are treating it at home though.
Yes, I did it at home. It happened at night so I cannot go to a vet. And I went out this morning to go to the vet, but unfortunately they’re closed since they’re preparing for the coming holiday. And there are no veterinary clinics here that are open til 6pm onwards.
I was asking if it was a good sign if the hole/wound keeps secreting those pinkish fluids I’m talking about..
By the way, I noticed that the wound is not so swelled up anymore like it used to.. I hope it gets better.
Secreting a clear/pink fluid can be a good sign or normal. Anything cloudy or smelly is obviously bad. Sounds like it might be healing. I would go to a vet as soon as one opens and maybe take a few pictures to show them progress over the holidays.
I just noticed a nickel size blackish scab on the lower half back of my guinea pig. It seems to be oozing some clear liquid and (believe it or not) smells like feces. I’ve been reading up on various parasitic and bacterial infections that it could be but the smell has really got me concerned. I will be making an appointment with our vet but thought I might get some answers before they are able to fit us in for the appointment. Any information would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Sorry, sounds gross and serious, but I dont know much about guinea pigs.
my dog has got an injure on his tail over 1 year ,so i had put antibiotic and alcohol but still the tail continue rotten and it has got a lot maggots on it i don’t know what to do ,and i don’t have the facilitate to take it to the veterinarian.
please help tell what kind of medicines i will have put on it.
Sorry, you need systemic antibiotics and a vet visit VERY SOON!
What if maggot are coming out of his butt hole my dog doesn’t have a wound around him or anything they just come out of his but hole and I’m just wondering what should I do because he leaves maggots everywhere and now he is pooping maggots.
Seriously??? See a vet. It is most likely tapeworms not maggotts. See a vet. What would you do if it was a child?
Hi Dr, my puppy border collie has been sneezing since last night. When I woke up there were maggots all over the floor and in her water bowl.
I immediately took her to the vet because I thought a fly must’ve laid eggs up her nose. This morning the vet said it’s highly unlikely, gave her a physical and said she should be fine.
All day she has been ok hadnt seen any more maggots around but then, an hour ago she sneezed again and there was a live maggot on the floor. It could only have come from her.
The vet will only be open tomorrow morning – what should I do tonight?
Thank you!
Keep her calm and collect some of the maggots to show the vet. You need to get her seen and have the vet do a sedated nasal exam or send her to a specialist to do that. This is serious.
Watch her like a hawk and see if the maggots are truly coming from her nose. I mean watcher her all the time. Good luck.
My one cat of two has what looks like dried fecies on its butt hole so i pulled it off and my cat was instantly in pain as she let out a meow. little did i know it was attached like pulling off a scab and it resulted with a tiny sore now days has went by and its happening again. does it sound like an infection or?
thank you Dr.
Sounds like a scab that might need to heal. It also might be a slight infection. Try warm compresses next time or better be safe and try a vet visit. It might be nothing but better be safe than sorry.
I recently found maggots on my dog’s top bottom near his tail, he is very hairy and I usually leave him outside when I have to go to work. As I was petting him I found maggots on his top bottom near his tail and I believe how they got there was because due with his hairy fur feces might have gotten caught. I shave all of his hair and bath him with pet shampoo. I didn’t find any maggots around his anus, just where I found the feces. I removed all of the maggots. There is redness on his top bottom and I place antibacterial cream. I ordered Capster and it should be in the mail by the end of the day today, just in case the maggots did some affected internal. His inside now and will be inside until the redness in his skin decreases. He is drinking water and sleeping. He ate some food and went back to sleep. He is walking slowly when he needs to get water. His 10 years old, I believe is old age to that his legs are slowly weakened.
Visit a vet if you are concerned, but if the maggots are gone and he looks ok then you might have cleaned the area well enough to be ok. I can not tell exactly what caused this from you letter.
My dog was diagnosed with miasis with the larvae rmoved today at the vet but we noticed new bumps keeps coming out and when squeezed larvae comes out. Is this normal or do we need to take them back to the vet
Yes, more will likely come up and need to be removed professionally. I would talk to your vet about the future, but depending on the species they will continue to come and need to be removed.
Hi, yesterday i found out that my dog has deep hole on its neck….since we are very far from the city and transporting my dog to the vet seems impossible,i just took a photo of the wound and show it to the vet,she gave me antibiotic.Just this morning i saw some maggots on my dogs neck so i flushed the hole with hydrogen peroxide and betadine afterwards… i also bought diclofenthion combinex wound spray and sprayed it on the wound,the maggots were crawling out but i think there are still more inside,is it ok to continue spraying it with combinex? is it safe?….thank you in advance
I dont know much about that spray, please ask the vet you spoke with about it. It seems like you are doing everything correctly. Keep at it until they are all gone. I would use more soapy water and peroxide to ride the maggots.
hi my name is kat I have my dogs food outside on the patio .so today I went to go get him food and I found maggots in there.he has been sick for 2 days he also has diarrhea non stop he is not throwing up but he is not wanting to get up and he wont eat anything I have a 7 year old sister and she is tromitized I don’t know what to do plz help me
First replace his food. Dont let it sit out so long. Food should not sit over 24 hours. Second, bring him to a vet ASAP. Sounds serious. If you can not bring him to a vet get him drinking a lot of water and eating bland healthy fresh food. I would still try to get to a vet fast if he will not stand up. The bad food might be to blame but the diarrhea is making him weak and he will likely get worse. Start with clean fresh food!
My dog got maggots inside his mouth. He lost his 2 teeth as well.. We have remover all the maggots. Bt the wound is not so clearly visible. M worried if all the maggots are removed completely or not.. Please suggest me what to do to save my pet.. I have concerned veterinary doctor as well.. But even he is not so sure that maggots are completely finished.. Please help me.
I’m sorry I can not help with out knowing a lot more. The local vet should be able to help you and if not you need to ask another vet. Sounds like there is a serious problem with the mouth and your dog needs a dental and sedated oral exam. Sorry and good luck.
Please help me as soon as possible… M really so worried.. My pet is in pain..
Hi doc.i have a dog and he has maggots in his ears.i already bring him in a vet.but the vet said that let the maggots stay in his ears it will go away eventually and he give me drops for my dogs ears infection..is it really safe for my dog?his ears is now bleeding.
Sorry to hear this….time for a new vet. I would NOT advise leaving the maggots and I would start oral antibiotics and pain medication. Can you imagine the feeling?!?!?! Please try a more modern vet.
My cat got out 2 weeks ago and I found her yesterday in the woods behind our home. She’s lost half her weight and has hurt her toe , I noticed she had/has maggots between the nail and wall of skin on toe. We removed 3 big maggots so far, is there anything else I should be doing? I cleaned her toe with peroxide and put triple antibiotic ointment on it , today it looks 80% better. I can’t get her to a vet till Saturday ( tomorrow ). She’s a little over a year old
I hope you got her to the vet, I can not always answer these in time. Sorry.
Yesterday, my kids found a maggot crawling on our kitchen floor. I assumed it was a fluke thing and came inside somehow. However, a couple of hours later, I found more in the kitchen and some in the foyer (no where near the kitchen). I immediately cleaned the floors with bleach. Today, after being gone most of the day, I found many all over my kitchen floor. I found none in the foyer… But a few hours later, while vacuuming a room off of the foyer, I saw 4 of them. I cannot find a source for the maggots, my husband has checked outside, we have nothing rotting inside. I thought maybe the dogs could be bringing them in on their coats through the dog door… But we can’t find any maggots outside. The only thing I can think of is that one of my dogs has maggots in them, and they are dropping them behind them as they walk through the house. One if my dog’s is 13, and I have been thinking it might be time to put her down. Recently, she started becoming incontinent when she’s sleeping. Is there a chance she has a maggot infestation in her digestive system? Could that be causing her incontinence?
Are you sure they are maggots and not tape worms? If you cant see maggots then there must be a source somewhere??? Bring your dog to the vet if she is incontinent, there are medications for that. Why put her to sleep before trying some cheap and simple medication?
I have a 6 month old bird dog. He is a hyper puppy. In a 3 day period he went from chasing my kids through the yard to wont move wont eat. He has maggots pouring out of his rectum. I am taking him to the vet today. My question is how does this happen?
Could be infection, or worms (tapeworms not maggots) or obstruction….. hard to say. What did the vet say?
My cat returned home the other day. She has maggots crawling out of her anus and vagina. And her vagina is open. I’ve sprayed blue coat on it which is a spray that helps with preventing infections and getting rid of infections. I can’t take her to a vet. So what do I do? Put her down or keep spraying and trying new things? She still walks around but most of the time she just lays on the ground and sleeps and flies surround her constantly..
SOUNDS TERRIBLE! Get her to a vet or a shelter??? I would suspect she is not enjoying life right now and needs to see a vet.
I have one question, where I live is in michigan. Would there be alot of maggots near the area?
I really do not know. There are maggots anywhere there are flies. I imagine in the summer there are plenty.
My Sheltie has been outdoors in the nice Spring weather. I smelled dog poop and saw that it has hardened in the long hair under her tail and so I soaked her tail in in a bath and shampoos and conditioned. Within days she was acting uncomfortable and whining so, on examination I found her bottom and under-tail bright red.. I washed with a wet cloth and applied an herbal skin cream covered with a thi layer of Vaseline. I thought that maybe this irritation was caused by me having doubled her glucosamine that she is on due to arthritis in her shoulder,
This morning I examined her to see if the redness was improving and noticed an odor and damp, slimy hair around her inertial and inner flank area so I sat down with her on my lap and ripped her over to get a better look.
I found clumps of maggots infesting the underside of her back end and realized that flies must have laid eggs when she had the stool on her fur and that after the bath, possibly the maggots hatched and had been biting at her skin,I let her out to pee and she immediately sat down on the back patio and I we I in to call a vet. While looking on line for a phone number, I did a “search’ for maggots and read up on it.’
I got my clippers and a shower curtain and paper towel and decided to get the maggots off but by the time I
got out there, it looked like she had chewed the maggots off.
I clipper end all the wet, slimy hair from under her tail, inside her flanks, and her lower belly, I chipped away a couple patches of maggots that were still there and examined her vulva and rectum where I picked off about 7 more maggots. I am not sure if any maggots that could have crawled inside would live very long.I am bathing her now, with medicated shampoo and will dry and put polysporon on the area,My question, Dr. Stewart, is there anything more I should do, other than inspecting the area daily, keeping her indoors, and keeping the area clean, dry and helping it get better, If one or two crawled inside, is there a worry now that I hopefully, have removed the others, Her belly was looking better just from getting the wet, maggot-slime hair off and from the area drying out as I cleaned her up,
I think you did everything right. The only other thing might be antibiotics to help with any skin infection that could open the way for more maggots. Keeping the area clean and dry is the #1 though and it sounds like you are doing that. Unlikely any maggots that got inside will survive as long as the tissue is healthy. Infection and sick tissue is what they need to survive and wet-fecal mated fur will certainly create that and attract them. Keep vigilent and if see any other problems get your dog to a vet asap.
My dog has maggots on his bottom. We took him to the vet today he howled so much with pain, the doctor sedated( being a huge dog, a Tibetan Mastiff) and treated the wound and has put some powder several times and said it will kill the maggots, and also injected it. So will the maggots die and come out of the wound on its own ? Is it normal to get maggots in summers? This is the first time in 3 years that he has had maggots
Maggots are more common in the summer certainly when the flies are thickest, but it is not common to have them in a healthy dog wound. I’m glad you took him to the vet and it sounds like he is getting good care. Make sure the wound is clean and you can flush the maggots out with water if you need too. Have your vet advise you on the future course of treatment. Good luck.
Can maggots that may have crawled into her anus survive and breed or is only thru the fly? Should I worry about the inside of her anus being ravished by any possible maggots . I saw something about putting tips soaked in anesthetic with their points inside the dog to make the worms come out, but where do I buy that, I may be over-worrying. I am still wiping her belly and perinatal area and upper tail and inner flanks with antibacterial wipes and then a-lying Meeca burn ointment and news-iron and her tummy is now light bonk and dry, her tail though is still red but lighter and that maybe due to it’s contact with her shaven. anal and surrounding area.
I still catch a smell of the maggots but cannot spot any and my much happier Sheltie actually licks me in gratitude after I clean and apply ointment 2-3 times a day.
Should I apply gauze wrap to her tail to help it dry and heal
Thank you for your reply, Dr. Stewart
P.S. ;One final comment–She was actually incontinent yesterday morning but she may have refused to go out as often due to th stinging of her urine, therefore held it too long, poor girl.
I notice she drinks a lot of fresh water which I know will help her dilute the acid in her pee.
Lost our family dog from this sick nasty disease. Don’t waste time!! Treat it fast when you first see it. If flies are swarming around you dog investigate the problem and take action. No, not just a bath like my family member did. I was unfortunately out of town for work 4 days and I got a phone call the day of my dogs passing and was told something isn’t right with my dog and it looks like he isnt going to make it. I rushed back to town in shock, over to my parents where my dog was too see him laying there unconscious. Investigated and saw maggots crawling out of the spine and near his tail area. Ive never felt so sad and mad at the same time. He was an outside dog, hes been around 14 years and he was very healthy. It happened so fast. So please, get your loved one to the vet ASAP. I regret being gone for 4 days, its a tough pill to swallow. I lost a good buddy over stupidity.
Hello,
So this may seem a little odd, but I have searched with no avail. On Monday I had been called out to rescue a bird, barely a fledgling, that had fallen from its nest with the neighbors dog trying to get to it.
When I inspected the bird, it had impaled itself on pine needles, one in his thigh and the other on his lower back. We removed the needles and I brought him home to spend the night until he could be returned, expecting a full recovery. It wasn’t until the next day did I notice it having breathing problems. Upon closer examination I noticed little maggots making their way out of his nostrils. I removed them with a tweezers, and waited until the next day for more to make their way out but found none. This worries me, especially now that when he breathes he occasionally creates this clicking noise in his chest. The woman from the rehabilitation center said she wouldn’t take him in because his chance of survival is slim if he’s infested with maggots or any other type of worm.
So my question, is there really anything I could do to help him improve? Would maggots have been in there due to an infection, and would there be more in there?
Because I’ve been told he probably doesn’t have a long time to live if he has an infestation, I’ve named him Milton, and he’s currently snuggling against my neck. He’s had around the clock care. I’ve been trying a high protein diet and hoping the maggots didn’t do too much damage.
I would ask the wildlife rescue woman how to care for him at home. My guess is that he got an infection and was either kicked from the nest or tried to fly but was too weak (not sure how big he is.) The maggots in the chest are a very bad prognosis but you never know. TLC and nutrition can go a long way. Little birds are especially fragile. Good luck.
Hello, I’m concerned about a kitten we just took in to help. She’d had a puncture wound above her right eye, and afterwecleaned it up we noticed a maggot trying to come out. We haven’t been able to remove it, it’s too fast. We doused the area with neosporin, trying to force it out, also saline solution. We can’t get it to the vet this weekend, because, of course, it’s holiday weekend, we can’t get her there till Tuesday. Sny recommendations?
Soap and water flushes or peroxide if it is not near her eye. Try to get the maggot out and keep the area clean and dry. There is not too much hard if the maggot stays, but its just painful and gross. Get her to a vet asap.
I understand the maggots will often enter your pets body through some kind of wound, but I grew up on a farm and that’s often not the case. It mostly happens in newborn kittens during the summer months, but I’ve also seen them on healthy adults as well, if the cat is so much as wet the flies will harass them endlessly and lay thousands of eggs! Normally, the cat would try and lick them off the fur or skin, however, if some of them are missed the maggots will go straight for the closest form of moisture in order to get inside, meaning any orifice from the nostrils, rear, to even the eye sockets or ears! It dose not matter if they are wounded\ill or not, if you your pet is moist, or gives off a smell for any reason, it may very well attract the flies.
Dr. my dog has had maggots on his backside and genitals and on his bottox for at least 3-4 days now. I lack money to take my dog to the vet do to bills and kids and I have shaved him balled and given him baths to wash off the maggots off his backside. I have put A&D ointment on him after each bath. My dog likes to chew his bottox raw. What can I do to help get rid of the maggots till I can take him to the vet when I get paid an help stop him from chewing his bottox raw in the future?
I think you are doing what you can. You can try to keep more flies away from him after you bathe the maggots off. Use a pet friendly fly spray or keep him inside. Otherwise I would keep up the baths and ointment.
First timer for a goat. It has a wound just at the base of his horn and maggots are already present. I place betadine and after which put some extract neem leaves. Will the maggots be eliminated and the wound will be healed?
thank you very much.
I’m not a goat expert and really can not give you good advice. I would suspect it will take more than just this but I really do not know. Sorry
Hello Dr Stewart
Wondering if you could help I have a 8 year old chocolate Labrador retriever who apart from being a little overweight seems to be in healthy condition no wounds cuts swollen anus ect she’s dopey during the day which I blame it on the weather being too hot, at night she’s energetic eats her food passes her stools, I found 1 single maggot which grossed me out crawling along the floor of my home last night I cleaned it up baffled as to where it’s come from as I clean and Hoover daily, this morning I have woke up to 6/7 more maggots in my kitchen crawling around and on my dogs bed I’ve put that straight in the wash, there’s no obvious signs on my pet, could this be a fluke or do you suggest I still need to take my pet to the vet I’m extra paranoid after reading these other comments
Good question? Could be a fluke and if she is normal at night that is a great sign. Keep watching and looking for the source of the maggots. I would not freak out just yet. Sounds like you are doing a good job watching for any problems. Make sure she eats and drinks and stools normally.
My dog have maggots on.his left front paw, i just discovered this last night, i took him to the vet immediately in the morning, the doctor was.not able to remove everything, and suggested.to amputate the whole foot, i.am hesitant for.the procedure bec my dog will be amputated, is it really necessary? The left toe i think is necrotized bec of the big wound inside the toe, what shall i do? I dont want my dog to be amputated.. Can the the other toes be saved? Thanks.. Im from the Phils. By the way.. Thanks
Without seeing the foot and toe I can not give you great advice except to say that the vet knows better than I do here. I would listen to the vet and express your concerns. Amputation of one or 2 toes is not always ideal and the dogs do better with the whole leg removed. 3 Legged dogs are very able and can move very well. Why is the toe infected so badly in the first place?
Hope you can post a.reply soon because the vet procedure is tomorrow at 9am.. Pls help i need all the advise I can get.. Thanks! He was checked this morning, was given an antibiotic shot and will be on fasting starting 9pm tonight.. For him to be ready for the surgery.. Pls help thanks
If the vet thinks that is best, I would probably tend to agree. You can always get a second opinion from another vet??
Would any intestinal parasites get larger outside of the intestine? I found what I thought were tapeworm segments in my dogs poop but it was older poop so I thought maybe it was maggots. When I first checked my dogs fresh poo I didn’t notice anything in there. I checked some poop that looked relatively fresh and noticed really small worm-like things in it (I wasn’t out there when they went) but when I checked the poop that you could tell had been there for a day or 2 the worm-like things were much larger and the poop seemed void of substance as if it had been eaten. What do you think I’m dealing with? I’m sending my hubby out with a ziploc bag next time he takes them out so we can better inspect it while it’s fresh.
Unlikely to get larger. More likely fly larva. Do a better inspection. Tape worms are flat and look like white rice, maggots are like worms with heads….
How long does it take for a dog to recover from Myiasis?
Depends on the fly, region and how bad the infection is. I am not too familiar with tropical fly strike. You need to have the maggots removed and the area cleaned and then it is “cured”.
Hi doctor. I have an orphaned kitten, 6-7 days old with what looks like maggots in his ear. I cannot get him to a vet tonight, is there anything I can do and is this overnight wait dangerous? I’m so afraid to loose this little guy as we lost the mama, that was hard enough. There seems to be a discharge from that ear as well. I am thinking he has some kind of infection in there that attracted the flies and I didn’t know til I saw them moving in his ear. Please help me!
Clean the area with warm soapy water and keep him well fed over night and warm. Bring him to the vet tomorrow.
It may be pointless posting this, but for my own peace of mind I’d like to know. I’ve had a very upsetting experience with a maggot infestation this evening, recently we had a stray female cat have kittens and just today were able to find where she’d hidden them. One of the kittens had large holes in it’s back, and was very weak. We thought they were bite wounds and tried to treat it topically, then later when we checked on the kitten the mother had left it alone. It smelled like it was rotting, even though it was alive, and we checked it again and found more holes in the skin with a maggot creeping out. We found several more under the skin and pulled three out but by then the kitten was becoming unresponsive and cold. So We wrapped it in a towel and brought it inside and called the vet. The vet advised us to just treat it at home by flushing the wound with water to get the rest of the maggots out. The kitten died in my hands shortly after the phone call. Needless to say it’s been very upsetting and I don’t feel like we were given adequate advice, is there anything more we could have done to have possibly saved it? Personally I felt that they should have been telling us to bring her right in.
I have no idea how the conversation went. I would have just brought the kitten in…it was obviously suffering or very sick. We get these calls fairly often and they are always started with “its not my kitten, its a stray that I will not pay for….” and for that the vet might have given one set of advice. If they conversation was “this is very important to me and the kitten looks sick and I am willing to help it” then they vet might have a different response. I think any animal that is suffering with holes and maggots needs to see professional help, a vet or SPCA or animal control…. I do agree that this kitten needed vet care, but I’m not ultimately sure it would have saved the kitten at that point. You did a good thing trying and reaching out and for that you should feel good. Kittens are actually quite fragile and hard to save when they are very sick.
I went to go check on my puppies they are about 1 month and a half old. One of them has white stuff, maggot’s and flies on its anus..I don’t know what to do.
Clean them off for starts and get him to a vet for a check up. That is not normal. Bring them inside and away from the flies and keep them clean. Read the blog, I have answered this in questions before. Good luck.
how much of a chance there is for a wound on a dog to heal with maggots still inside ??? i recently treated my dog for a maggot infested wound and now its healing up. I cant see underneath the flesh so no way for me to know if there are still maggots left in there … Dog temperature is normal there is no sign of infection and wound also doesnt give any foul smell. BUT STILL IM NOT SURE.
Usually you would know. If the wound is healing and looking clean and good with no discharge or smell then there are LIKELY no maggots. It is possible there are a few left, but healing tissue is not what they like and they usually can not survive. Good luck.
lets hope for the best
dr. please help me. i found a baby cat of a stray parent cat here near our house. it has 2 holes in the skin and if you look at the tiny cat you can see his muscles through the hole and the skin is already lose from his right shoulders to left back somewhere in the spine. i try to take a look and lift the skin so i can see what i can help and found out that there are maggots feeding under his skin that’s why skin is no longer intact on the muscles. i tried to flush the magots with water hoping it would lessen then tweezed out more. from what i can see inside his skin there still are magots but i can no longer reach it with tweezers so i decided to flush it with hydrogen peroxide(not sure if its safe to use but im trying my luck to help). i looked again for magots and nothing is visible now but not sure if i removed everything. i pat dry the wound and covered it with gauze to prevent flies touching it again. did i do it right dr? i know i have to send it to a vet right away but i cant pay for it. i just want help the poor baby cat. it looks like its just 2 weeks old. =( pls help what else can i do.
Sounds like you did it correctly, but the kitten still needs to see a vet for antibiotics and overall care. There are likely other problems going on with the kitten, but getting it stronger and cleaned up is the first priority! Good luck
Was it safe for this person that you responded to, to put straight hydrogen peroxide into the wound where muscle tissue was showing? I thought it was supposed to be diluted?
Best not used at all in my honest opinion, but diluted is ok and straight is ok for the first 1-2 hours. After the first few hours I would not apply Hydrogen peroxide to wounds and use water and mild soap. I’m not sure the post you are referring to. I usually don’t dilute it, but just prefer a more mild flush.
My goats are getting attacked out int the field and the wounds have maggots in it by the time we find them they are still alive but it’s killing them how do i get rid of the maggots at home and not spend a bunch of money to keep them alive we spray them with a water hose then pour salt, soap and water it works but its not working very well. Is it too late are is there a way we can save them please answer as soon as possible
Antibiotics, and a vet would be the best start, but after that you can try peroxide in the wound to flush out the maggots. Why are they getting attacked??
Hi Dr. Stewart! well I’m having some maggots in my house on the carpet. I started to notice them 2 days ago. My concern is about my dog. I would like to know if it is possible that my shih-Tzu can get affected from them. They are in a different area where my dog eats and sleep. But she walks many times around it. Thank you so much for your help.
Unlikely unless the dog has open wounds? Why are they just there? Maybe they are coming from the dog? It is strange to have them just on the floor for no reason….
Hi my dog has maggots in his rear end I treated it by picking them out dalily gave him an antibiotic and screw worm spray it and now he developed it on his ears and I have to be picking them out screw worm spaying it gave him a human antibiotic red and yellow capsule to take along with washing the area with Luke warm salt after and bleach added alovera to it along with the antiseptic liquid for wounds the human one in the water has will now his butt seems to be healing in that it’s no longer bleeding no more maggots just the hole and it’s a bit pussy his ear I only got two out of it this morning from the 20 add I frist started taking out not I keep seeing working him both spray and powder it also seem to be healing just puss and the hole I wanted to know when it starts sending off the puss is this a good or bad sign? he’s now actively barking and walking around a bit more than frist time he was always hiding he’s due from some proper groom I also wanted to know if I would wait until he fully heals before I bath him?
Whoa. I’m not sure I can answer that: human red and yellow capsules, bleach water, salt water, sprays, picking out maggots are all out of my comfort zone. I will ignore that and just answer your question. You can bathe him in clean water with very mild soap anytime you think he needs to be clean. I would take him to a vet for a check up and find out what is going on and why he has the maggots. But bath wise you are fine….
*added Luke warm salt and bleach water with the human antiseptic wound liquid the orange look one
Orange antiseptic and bleach water still worry me.
Hi it’s like 2am and one of my cats just threw up, 3 times the first two spews had maggots all through it wriggling away, his third spew just looked like his wet food with no maggots! I start work at 7:30am and am from out of town, I’m all about pet care but am worried that waiting till my lunch break to bring him into the vet might be too far away! I don’t know how serious this is, I imagine it can’t be good, taking to the vet is a number one priority but it’s the fact that he wouldn’t be able to get there for another 12 hours
Very hard to say. Is it maggots or just severe intestinal worms? Google round worms and tape worms and see if that is it. I can not answer these questions on the spot and sometimes it takes days to get an answer….sorry for that. I assume you made a decision by now…… what was it?
I have been finding maggots I think coming out of my cats bottom I’m not for sure what to do. Could someone help me out I can’t lose my baby. She just finished a round of antibiotics about 3 weeks ago and now this so some information would be amazing thanks so much.
Where are they coming from? If it is inside the rectum you need to make sure they are not tapeworms first (they look like maggots) and if they are not then you need to find the source. That is a vet visit with a good vet that can run diagnostics and see where they are coming from. Maggots from the rectum are very bad. If they are from a hole around the rear end then you need to flush them out and find the source and clean it up. Antibiotics and pain medication are usually needed. I hope this helps, but you need to visit a vet.
My dog threw up twice tdy. I noticed he has maggots in his food. Will he be ok and the acid in his stomach take care of it or do I need to rush him to the vet? I can’t sleep worried about it!!
Why are there maggots in the food?? Change the food and see if this stops the vomiting. The food is rotten, its not the maggots to worry about.
My 7 months old dog has got maggots in inner side of his upper jaw, what we did’nt know about before, 2 days back i saw him frightened and after few hours he just could’nt sit and started laying lifeless, i took him to the vet after one hour, but vet treated him for heat strock and called again next day, yesterday he had no fever but still could’nt stand they gave him saline and when i was back with him home i saw maggots in his mouth which he did not opened for 2 days i took him back to the vet again and they injected him sumething by which maggots should come out as pet vet, they called me tommorow to do his blood test, is my dog ok or is it very serious, he was not moving for last 2 days but now he standsup but doesnt have streanth.
Honestly I really dont know based on the information it sounds like he has an infection in his mouth that needs to be treated with great haste and care. I would bring him back to the vet as soon as you can and describe the mouth problem and get more antibiotics. 7 months old is very young for these problems. He needs IV fluids and to make sure he is drinking and eating. Please let the vet know all of this. Sorry and good luck!
How i’ll know if he is blind because he bumps into things around, is he doing it because he have’nt ate for two days or he lost he eye sight?
I don’t know if you can help with my question but my daughter has 2 guiena pigs one of them suddenly has bad diaherra all of a sudden and her eyes look very weak also noticing neither one of them have been coming out of their house inside the cage at all hardly. I thought wet tail maybe but I read that hamsters get it not GPs could it be some kind of stress or something?
Sorry, I know very little about GP’s. I would certainly call an experienced exotics vet. Sorry.
My boyfriend just picked up a puppy thay he believed was getting abused. He was stuck in a deep puddle of mudd. Once he brought him home to me, I was scanning over him to see if he was hurt, he has a huge knot on the top of hit head, and his nose is busted on one side.
I began to try to feed him and get him to drink something, then noticed he had hundreds of maggots in the upper part of his lip. Does anyone know why that would be? He doesn’t have any holes in his lip, that I can see atleast. And doesn’t have any other holes or sores anywhere other than the Knot and his nose….
I’m not sure what exactly I need to do… please help me 🙁
The puppy needs to see a vet. Maggots are not a good sign and mean infection or dead tissue or sick dog. If you can not bring him to a vet then I would bring him to an SPCA or animal control agent to get the proper care it needs. See the bog for more details but the short answer is you need veterinary care for the puppy.
Thanks for doing this Dr. Stewart, I think all of your responses have been completely appropriate, and in the best interest of the animals.
A couple of days ago, a friend and I rescued a dog who had been hanging by his leg from a bush on the bank of a river. Apparently he had been swept away in a flash flood, and entangled. To my amazement his leg was not broken, although it seemed completely limp and he couldn’t use it. A few hours after getting some pain meds and an antibiotic, maggots began to crawl out of his skin in several places, starting w/ hot spots around his crotch and scrotum. At first I thought they were hatching out of matted hair that he had urinated on (ammonia smell) but as i began to cut off the clumps of matted hair, they were emerging directly from his skin. For a few hours a couple of us trimmed his hair, bathed him, and continually found spots where maggots were literally boiling out of his skin, and all we could do was help them out then wash them off. I had had the dog for about 18 hours at this point, and the more we cared for him, the more places they started to emerge from. Eventually they were crawling out of places somewhere in his mouth, out of his tear ducts, and even right out of the top of his head. Needless to say, the dog was put down, but my vet (who I also use for various livestock) said he had never seen anything quite like that. Keep in mind that this dog had been dangling from one leg for somewhere between 1 and 3 days, but had no sign of exterior maggots when we rescued him, and he rode a few miles between my legs in a kayak, so I would have noticed. My questions are:
Do you think this is something that had been eating at him for some time? or could this have happened in the 1-3 days he had been stuck there. (based on weather, I assume closer to 1 day)
and
Could the shot of antibiotics have caused them to start eating their way out of his body?
I’ve still not found an example, quite like this, although the issues w/ the wild animals sound similar. Thanks for your time.
Wow, terribly disgusting and probably euthanasia was the best option. I have heard of mass maggot underskin “pooling” if there was an underlying wound or damage, but just erupting out of everywhere I have never heard of. BOT flies can do this and look like maggots, but they are singular and come out of holes that look like pimples. They can be everywhere and all over the dog in 2-3 days and then hatch but maggots in plural with no obvious holes or wounds I have never seen. Sounds like the dog was lucky you found him but you made the best decision. The antibiotics would not likely have done this…..
My boxer had a litter of 8 pups. She has done very well with them. Now they are older 6 weeks and not nursing as much. They are are in great health. She still has diarrhea and has lost weight..but last night when we put them all to bed(crayed) she vomited out maggots! She has no wounds, as neither do the pups and the vomit looked just like her diarrhea!
That needs a vet visit. The maggots, the diarrhea and the puppies is too much for any dog. The puppies should not be nursing at 6 weeks if the mom is so weak. They can easily eat dog food. The mother needs a vet asap and the puppies are coming up on their first shots too.
My daughter is taking care of a rabbit it started pulling it hair out on the right side above her hip. And now she has a whole looks infected and there are maggots burrowing in her skin. She is loosing weight and her wound area is starting to smell really bad she started pulling her fur out yesterday and today has a big open wound. 🙁
Get her to a vet.
My cat has a wound on his tail and I just found out that he has maggots,is it okay if I leave the maggots on him for a couple of days or do I take them off with something?
Seriously? Take the cat to a vet and take off the maggots. Would you want that on you?
Need Help. Local vet will not see the cat i have rescued. She was found with kittens and had some abscesses that we were told were ‘healed’ bite wounds. One of them burst today, and was filled with maggots.
Local vet says to ‘let her pass’, which i find unprofessional as the while serious, i have seen far worse wounds in far worse condition where the animal recovered.
I have flushed the wounds, removing, i believe, around 90% of the maggots. I used BluKote, as it is what i had, and the local Tractor Supply is closed. I covered the wound with a nonstick gauze pad and wrapped her back end with an sports bandage to keep her from licking the BluKote.
Besides finding a vet, and possibly a feral cat rescue to help (she is in shock right now so easily handled, but is normal people shy, but not aggressively so) What are some things i do to help her survive this? The wound site includes her hind legs, her abdomen, her mammaries, and while i cant be sure,. i do NOT at this time feel they have gotten into the abdominal cavity. I have washed as well as i could, however i had to do so alone, as no one else was able to keep their stomach in line when the smell hit. (i worked in an ER as a custodian for several years, ive smelled it all)
I’m hoping she lives as we had a home lined up for her once her kittens were set to go, they are half weened so i think they will be fine, but they will be going to my normal vet on the 3rd (first available appointment) to make sure.
Just need some ideas on how to help her through this, last time i saw an infestation this bad, it was on a horse.
My cat was hit by a car the other day. When I got her to the vet, I realized that what I thought was dried mud in spots on her fur was actually green fly eggs, and there were TONS. I had to make the hard decision to put her to sleep. I am struggling with wondering if I made the right decision, or if she could have lived. I am guessing she had internal injuries and/or bleeding, and that’s why the flies were laying eggs on her? She had no external wounds or cuts…..
Sorry for your loss. I cant really comment without seeing the case and knowing more. I’m sure you did what you thought was the best for the pet.
hi please could you advise me on waste bin maggots, we have a severe infestation in our communal bin store i am harassing our housing for cleansing & fumigation but in the meantime how do i best keep my outdoor cat safe ? im really concerned as the bin collections have changed to fortnightly from weekly & our streets are littered overflowing, i dont kno where he goes or eats i am feeding him extra so hes not hungry but opportunistic cats will scavenge, i wipe his paws wen he comes home & occasionally his bottom with wet wipes hes waiting for a haircut, weve been waiting a while as his groomer is having dificulties in life, but my cat is male hes 11years+ & seems to be suffering depression its been a few months i know my cat, he has been to the vet & has lost a 1lb but no obvious illness at check up & since then i have been lacing his biscuits with a little catnip & jus got him interested in a water fountain he has senior food now after a long process of rediscovering new food to combat ibs hes also had a leaky bottom hes forever cleaning himself & has real bad stinky wind but hes getting better & hes doing okay but the maggots how can i best protect him ? today i gave him his regular vetinary basic flea & worm lotion to his neck/shoulder area a little earlier than due by a week, & hes covered for worming treatment at this time im jus afraid of losing him after such a tough past 6months he has had, i got him a little garden chain as he doesnt stray far so he can be away from bugs & insects & he loves to sit there or in the cool dirt under a tree in hot weather, i cant collar & track him he chose to live with me & was already street’ so i dont want to chance him strangling in the sheds or wherever he goes in the rain, he was badly abused back then weve been through a lot & hes the reason i get up in the mornings i brush him every day im jus so scared of him eating maggots or sitting in them advice on prevention of infections would be fantastic im sorry its so long but i need to give a full picture i dont kno if his bottom still leaks droplets of poop im worried bout flies too, is there any remedies or things i can do to keep him safe also to make him feel better in himself , one more thing ive jus brushed him & can feel a round small lump on his neck its a bit black so im guessing a recent tick ? will the flea lotion kill it off ? im thinking of putting petrolem jelly on it wen he comes back is this the best way or do we need to go straight to the vets quickly 🙁 thank you so much if you can answer any for me your time will be appreciated much , tilly
Whoa there is a lot in this post. I would honestly bring him to your vet to discuss all of these questions. If the vet will not talk about it then find another vet. There is very little harm in having a few maggots around the garbage where your cat goes….after that you need to ask your vet as you need an exam and a work up for the other questions.
My friend brought me 3 baby kittens she found in a dumpster. They can’t be more than 24 hrs old. I cleaned them off and was stimulating them to use the bathroom and it looks like one of them has tiny maggots in his rectum and it looks really red down there. Is there anything I can do. The vet I called said they’re to young and suggested I have them put to sleep. But I just can’t do that. I’ve raised abandoned kittens before but the youngest was about a week old and I’ve never seen one with maggots.
1) Change your vet 2) wash with warm soapy water and remove all the maggots.3) feed a high quality milk replacer ever 2-3 hours for 2+ weeks. 4) understand that many pre-weened kittens die but you can often save a few as well. Good luck!
My chicken has maggots in and around her vent. I was cleaning her because of diarrhea and feces collected in her feathers. When it was clean, I saw a maggot infestation. I removed all the maggots I could see. What now? I suspect how this began. It began in the compost.
Im sorry I really do not do birds. I would call your vet of the ag department at the nearest university. They are usually very helpful.
I found my dog eating something in the yard,and went to see and it was maggot. She is not feeling well. I’m disable. What should I do? I’m really worried. Antoinette.nurse2@verizon.net
A maggot should not survive the dog’s GI system but the dead thing the Maggot was on might cause some GI issues. Watch for symptoms then see your vet.
One of my cats were sick with a diarrhea problem and we took her to the vet and get medicine. One of my other cats must have also gotten it but she got mad when I gave her medicine and left the house for two days. She came back today and has maggots in her vagina and anus and a sore on her stomach next one of her legs with maggots coming out of it. They are small magnets but they are constantly pouring out. Her eyes were covered and pus and she couldn’t see. I clean those and put medicine in her eyes I watched her all is good as I could and I’ve been wiping off the maggots. I also put peroxide on the wounds. I gave her sub q injection’s with Saline. Because she was severely dehydrated. The vet is closed until tomorrow. I gave her some Flagyl and some immune booster but I’m out of anabiotic. Any suggestions would be great.
Vet first thing in the morning, but you are doing everything you can. Try to get her to eat is the last thing…..
I have a wild 5 year old cat. She has a respiratory infection for awhile now and today her eyes were crusted closed. I cleaned them and in 1 eye there are all these little white wiggly things near her tear duct. I used a wet cotton swab to get them out but they just keep showing up when i check her eyes every couple of hours. Long story short I knew it wasn’t an option to ever take her to the vet because she is wild. Anyway, I went to my vet to see if i could get some meds for her without them having to see her and the lady at the desk gave me some amoxicillin and a eye ointment like the triple antibiotic ointment for humans.
She thought the things in her eye might be maggots. They look like the worms that cats have in their fecal matter. small and white. What i want to know is will this eye ointment get rid of these things if they are maggots?
Nope. They might help with the infection but not the maggots. I would bring her into the vet and get her a sedated exam if needed. There is not much they can do without seeing the cat……in fact dispensing antibiotics without an exam is not normally allowed (I wont tell.) Even wild cats need annual check ups and vaccines and I would test her for FIV and FELV just to make sure she is healthy. A Rabies shot is key too. If you can get oral medication and eye drops in her then she can 100% get into the vet office. GOOD Luck!
My kitten is at least 2 months old and he dug into the trash can and took out a very old bag with rotten good in It covered in maggots and he are everything. What will happen to him?
I ment Food, and he ate all of it
Probably not, watch for GI upset.
My rat had maggots in her vuvla, she went under at vets, had them (apparently not all) removed and antibios, shes now finished the antibios but is still rolling around trying to chew her back, she seems so uncomfortable but when i cuddle her she still chatters to me, although i think shes miserable. Is 7 days enough time for her to improve, i need to decide whether her quality of life begs euthanasia but dont want to decide too soon. She’s my baby, i love her but im 7months pregnant and know i have to decide and focus on moving forward.
Sorry to hear this. I do not know much about rats (rat terriers yes, rats no) but I would ask these questions to your vet and see what they say. 7 days is enough time but she might need more time and more antibiotics. Bring her back for a recheck and ask these questions. Your vet will be helpful I’m sure.
My cat (9)had gotten maggots after I assume a wound from another animal. She also had fecal matter on her fur that we removed. We didn’t find out until the maggots and increased really badly. We shaved and bathed her and removed the maggots ourselves. I’m worried that some of the maggots have gone to far to reach. She has improved behaviorally. She hasn’t pooped in 3 or more days. She has two major holes in her back. One is close to her tail (she’s tries to clean) and was purple with some white liquid. The other is also close to the tail but is on the spine about an inch higher (is dry). We gave her antibiotics which we think caused her skin to rip from the tail wound to the higher wound. The ripped is filled with white puss as well as the wound by the tail is also green and white. It wasn’t like this before the antibiotics. We will only be able to take her to the vet in a week. Will she make it? What should we do in the meantime? We also put anybacterial and antifungal on the wounds. She has been eating and drinking water. I love her so much. If possible, the best way to get in contact with me is by email.
You need to get her to a good vet asap. Sounds like a serious infection and the maggots are not a good sign of her ability to fight off the infection or care for herself. You are doing everything you can at home and she might need to be sedated to have the wounds flushed properly. Sorry and good luck. Keep her inside and away from flies and keep the area clean and dry.
My dog brought in a bone, she buried sometime ago…. i let her happily chew on it and run around the house… then she brought it over to my lap and I saw it was covered… i mean covered still with thousands/hundreds totally ew….of tiny wormy skinny maggots. Is this something i should worry about my dog having ingested? how about my house? I vacuumed and threw the dog bed outside to deal with in the AM.
Should not be a problem. Watch for severe GI problems.
My cat caught a fly last night, when I saw it I quickly shoo-ed him away from the fly. I don’t know if he had put the fly into his mouth, but I saw maggots crawling out from the fly. Should I worry? Would my cat be infested?
Very unlikely to cause any problem. Maggots are easily digested by the cat.
My dog is having moggot infestation in his upper jaws just above his front teeth and i saw a moggot crawling out from it and i also noticed that the infestation has caused soreness around his teeths and the maggots are also present in his inner jaws. What can i do to atleast prevent them because at this time no vet is available and my dog is now less active than usual from today.
You need to bring him to a vet. He is likely suffering and has a serious infection…drive to a new vet no matter how far. This is serious and needs urgent care. Nothing you can do easily from home
I am coming here for you opinion because i’m wracked with guilt. My 18 year old terrier’s hind legs began to drag and she had a huge fatty tumor on her chest (which had previously been removed) that started to grow back and starting crying in pain when I found maggots in her rear end. I took her to emergency vet and they checked her out and tested and gave antibiotics and pain medication. when she was about to be discharged, i asked since she was sedated, could they clip her nails? they said there would be an extra charge, i agreed, and they went back to clip her nails. ten minutes later the vet came out and said she’d like me to come back. she took me to where my dog was lying sedated and showed me the maggots and said her rear end was infested and infected. they had missed that fact earlier. and she recommended putting her down. this is $800 later. We’d been there for 4 hours. it was 3 in the morning. i broke down. and asked if she truly felt that was the right direction to go since they had given her the meds and were cleaning her and her two assistants along with her said a resounding Yes. So I agreed. i wasn’t expecting this. said good bye to her and we went down to pay the bill and left. Afterwards, driving home, I realized i had felt somewhat outnumbered and intimidated and wondered if i’d really made the right decision. I’m haunted. Wondering, with the information i’ve given you, what your recommendation would have been. thank you
An 18 year old with a huge fatty painful tumor and dragging back legs, a rear end that was infected and full of maggots, is not a good quality of life. I think putting her to sleep was the best option and would agree with the ER vets and staff. It is quality of life, not quantity and if you were just keeping her alive it would be 100% for you and 0% for her. Sorry for your loss but you did the right thing.
Hi,,
Please, i noticed a mole on my 2months old puppy and when i pressed it, maggot (something like maggot) came out. And i later noticed it in four different spot… What can i do?
Bring him to a vet immediately. Sounds like BOT fly or serious infection. That is something you will not want to treat at home.
Hey my kitten almost Cat (she’ll be a year old soon) is having some stomach problems that my vet can’t seem to figure out. I’ve alredy spent so much money on her over $550 dollars and I only work 2 part time jobs right now so that’s a lot of money considering I have to be able to buy groceries, pay rent, etc. She was throwing up what I would say is bile and not eating and I just thought she had gotten better for the maybe like 5th time but then today I came home and she had left a spot on my hardwood floor that looks brownish red that hardened and stuck to the floor. I’m not sure what it is but it had to have cams from her. She was the only living creature here while I was gone at work. I’m not sure what it is and don’t have much more money left in me to take her to the vet. Is there anything I can do. I’m calling the vet tomorrow to see if they can figure out what it is but. I might bring try to bring in the think stufk to the floor and see if they can’t figure out what’s wrong with her but like I said I don’t have much money left to put towards her expensive vet bills.
Sorry. There is not enough info to really help you. I would try to figure out what end it came out of and start there. Vomit and diarrhea are 2 very different treatment paths. If you have spent a lot of money then at least call the vet and ask them for advice. They have her test results and hopefully an idea of what is wrong. Good luck.
The weird thing is it was very hard and small Ana brownish red in color but there was no throw up or diarreah or poop around it. Idk what it is. My mom thinks it was something that she swallowed and it finally come out somehow but she seems to be doing fine. Before when she was having stomach issues she got very lethargic and couldn’t move well. She didn’t have much energy. She seems to have plenty of energy for now and hasn’t thrown up in a while. So maybe she did finally get it out. Thanks.
My dog is 15 years old and has developed a tumor on her chest that is exposed. Lastly it has been bleeding and smelling horrible. Today we cut away matted fur around the tumor to have a closer look. Upon this we discovered a large amount of tiny maggots around the tumor. We did our best to scoop up as many as we can. Any suggestions seeing that she is an old dog?
That dog needs a vet is is likely suffering.
Hi, I found a very small kitten. It had flys all over it when I found it. I took it and warmed it up then feed it some milk. Now the next day I have noticed maggots coming out of its ear. What should I do? It can’t be any more than a couple of days old.
Bring it to a vet or SPCA…. there is very little I can tell you on a blog that would help here.
Magots on elder cats behind:
Hi, if anyone wants to answer they are welcome! My cat is a 13-14 year old female (I don’t know exactly because we got her from an old neighbor). Not sure what breed (orange, brown, grey, black fur if that helps anything). She’s 20 pounds and we have her on a diet that the vet recommended.
My cat got out and was missing for about a week (5 days really). Our neighbors found her hiding in their shed. We have had her home for about 3 days now. When we first checked her over she seemed fine except for some matting on her bottom/genital area, we cleaned her up as best we could (she’s a fighter and we didn’t want to agitate her since she’s pretty old). Two days later I notice some little white maggots moving around her genital area.
We washed her up with soap made for cats (Walmart brand) dried her up and threw out her old litter box in case there were eggs in there.
We plan on taking her to the vet soon, but is there anything else we can do at this moment to help her/prevent it from getting worse?
We didn’t find magots/worms in her stool so we believe it was just on her fur.
My current date is: may 29th, 2018
If you can shave the area that would help see if there is a wound or reason for the maggots. You should continue to bath and wash that area to keep them off. You never get them all. A vet visit is ideal and she might need a full body exam. Why they laid eggs there is the question.
I think I can help with the why. Since she mentions the matting on the genital area there. Why the cat has the problem with it’s bottom would be good to know and prevent if possible.
I have just cleaned up my second case of fly strike on a rabbit. First one was last year. These two rabbits have urine sludge and are angora so it builds up on the wool fairly quickly, stinks, and stays wet. I have other rabbits without this sludge problem and they just don’t attract them or provide the moist environment for maggots so I think that is probably why they were attracted to the cat. As of now all of the sludge buns are going to stay naked on the bum and backside from now on since it’s hard to imagine a more horrifying condition.
I out the botfly maggots out of my kitten but since the hole sealed up he now has a large bump that is very sensitive what do i do if I don’t have a way to get him to a vet?
That hole might have a remnant of the fly in it and is very infected. He needs to see a vet. You can try to squeeze it to see if it ruptures pus, but this might be very painful. You could also would warm compress the area and see if it ruptures. You should have a vet lance it.
Hi, my GSD is currently being treated for Borrelia. I had taken him and my other dog in for their heartworm screen and just by fluke, right before the samples were being disposed of she noticed a slight blue turn up around the 10 minute mark. I took him back (2 weeks) for the recheck on Thursday past and the Borrelia levels were unfortunately quite significant so he has started on a 4 week regiment of Doxycycline 100mg x 4 tablets twice daily. After getting into some garbage yesterday afternoon, he ingested a small portion that had maggots on it and then this morning when I took him out his stool had several (at least 20 or more) throughout.
His vet is currently unavailable today as it’s a holiday weekend here (Ontario Canada), so I am going to call her tomorrow morning but in the meantime, after reading many of the comments and replies in your blog, it appears that you suggest antibiotics are required for most cases of internal maggots. So my question for you is, what types of antibiotics are you referring to, and is Doxycycline an acceptable antibiotic treatment for treatment?
Your advice is greatly anticipated and will be very much appreciated!
P.S.
I have a couple of photos for reference. If they may be helpful, I can forward them in a private message.
Thanks again for any advice!
I think you should be fine with the doxy, but more importantly you dont need medication for ingestion of maggots. The things you are seeing might have passed right through him, or been in his stool after it sat for a bit, or more likely are tape worms? Usually if a dog eats maggots then they are digested or just pass out. These are not internal parasites without infection. The other cases you are reading about are sick dogs usually with rectal or oral injuries I believe. I think your dog should be fine. Good luck.
I found maggots in my cats water bowl and underneath the water bowl. I cleaned all bowls with bleach and the glass tray I had them in. What should I do if my cats ingested them or if I find any maggots on them? I haven’t seen any signs of maggots on their body, but I do have 3 cats eating out of the same bowls.
Please advise?
Just watch to see if there are any issues but I would not imagine there will be a problem.
Hi my dog at a hamburger that was outside from a cookout months ago and it had little brown things and little white worms that were moving and she threw up and it was infested with them. What are they? and what do I do?
Maggots and nothing unless the dog starts getting sick.
Hi Dr. Stewart
I have a 12 year old male Samoyed and he had diarrhea about 4 days ago. Hes very difficult to handle most of the time especially when it comes to trying to trim his nails or brush him in places like his belly area or his behind and tail(He really gives us a hard time even though most of the time we barely touch those areas). Due to his fur being so long he really managed to stain his behind area and like I mentioned before he gives us a hard time when trying to clean him(He tries to run away, barks and sometimes snaps at whoever he sees handling any kind of brush or clipper, he makes it difficult for us to detect anything ahead of time).
We had him in the bath tub tonight (About a few hours ago and almost 5 days since his little accident) and while soaking him and shampooing in we noticed maggots “swim?” from under him(Maybe they came out because they could not breathe?).
I could count about 10 or so medium sized ones and a few smaller sized ones when we got him out the tub and onto a dark colored towel(He will not let me or my mom have a look and he has all that fur stopping us from getting a better look).
I booked an appointment to take him to the vet the very next morning and to be honest I am worried about the costs(I will sell the computer I’m writing this on if I have to). I know for sure that he will need to be sedated as he tends to be quite defensive when anyone tries grooming him. Another thing that worries me is the sedation process, as mentioned before he is a senior, will he be ok during his anesthesia?
Do you have any tips that will help me keep him somewhat happy after the procedure? He’s the sweetest companion and I don’t any more harm to come to him 🙁
Thank you.
Ok, first sedation at a good vet is much less risky than in the past. The medications are better. Second, he needs to be shaved and the maggots explored and cleaned off him regardless of his “personality” and that is for his own health. Third, when they have him sedated please have them do EVERYTHING, like clip his nails, clean his ears, do a senior blood test…..whatever you can afford because you dont want to do this again. Most vets will work with you on price if you have a relationship with them, but I would certainly have him seen asap. There are also pills they can prescribe to make things easier for you to do at home, like Acepromazine or Valium….good luck.
Hi,
I have a St Bernard who is covered in maggots. She is very sick, we’ve called the vet and she was given medication and injections. Now she isn’t eating, we find new worms on her every day and she has numerous holes eaten out of her back. She can’t stand by herself and I’ve tried to clip away her fur and im finding more and more holes infested with worms. There are worms between her toes, on her neck, in her anus/vagina, all along her tail and on the under side of her belly. We are doing everything we can to remove them. She is outside and we are keeping her covered but we can’t stop the blue bottles laying more eggs on her. Does a vet need to do this? I feel like all our efforts are in vain. She is 8 years old and I dont know how much longer we can do this. Please give us some advice.
Jennifer
You dog sounds like she is suffering a lot. Something else is going on and she needs to see a vet ASAP and possibly be put to sleep. This does not sounds good and it sounds like her quality of life is terrible. Please call your vet.
Hello,
The other day my dog attempt to rub his butt on the carpet. Today I noticed what looked like maggots in his poop. No other health problems that I notice at the moment, just the maggots in his poop. I was wondering if I can treat at home and what’s the best at home treatment. We also have another dog, should we treat him just in case? Thanks in advance!
Sounds more like tape worms. If maggots then you need to see a vet immediately. If tapeworms then you need to find tapeworm medication, usually from a vet but sometimes over the counter. You need to identify the worms. Good luck.
Hi doctor Stewart
Yesterday I was bathing my dog (silver lab) and I saw tons of these seed or egg things all over her tail and on one side of her under the tail. I hosed it off before I bathed her. My research shows they are the fly eggs. She just had puppies the day before.
Question… if pups ingested any will the eggs die?
How do I kill the eggs? I used a flea comb to remove what is left.
How do I know if any hatched and are in her skin?
How fast do these eggs hatch?
(Unfortunately I just spent an unexpected $700 on vet costs last week from grass seed in a dogs ear and a tooth pull.)
Thank you
If they are just fly eggs and there are no wounds for maggots to climb into then probably a good bath and good hygiene should do the trick. They are usually killed on ingestion but it depends on the strength of the puppy. I would not want to risk that aspect of the young puppy health. I would make sure there are no wounds, by clipping the fur and really bathing the dog. Then I would watch the puppies closely and make sure none get sick and the mom has no more flies…..good luck.
Thank you
I shaved her tail and back end. 3 small patches hatched and were tiny worms. I picked them all off. As a precaution I took her to the vet. They said everything looked good. They gave a capstar incase.
Question… since the capstar 3 pups have died separately. I think she laid on them OR was from the capstar. Can capstar kill newborns?
Thank you! For your blog and your time. You must LOVE animals and it makes you a wonderful vet!
Everything I have read says capstar is extremely safe in puppies and can not transfer easily in milk. I think she might be sitting on them? Sorry for the loss.
Hi um so I had a pregnant Pitbull and a small German weenie dog puppy, my Pitbull attacked my puppy and this resulted in dog bite wounds, the day he got attacked on his neck we couldn’t do anything but stop the bleeding since he was in so much pain and didn’t want to be touched, so we cleaned him up a bit with some water, and tied a piece of cloth on him, the attacked happened early evening so we decided to see if he would make the night, the next day my sister and I went to check on him and barely got him to eat, tho he has been drinking water just fine, we still weren’t able to clean him up so he was dry with blood, that night was able to get him to eat and I put a small amount about a gram altogether of children’s ibuprofen in his food and water, and some substituted benadryl, but it was for children so it was a substitute I don’t remember what it was called, but the next morning he was doing much better and I was able to clean him finally, he had had swelling which had gone down, and didn’t seem to be in much pain as he started to walk around and wag his tail, so I bathed him, first I rinsed all the dried blood, then I generously poured peroxide on him to see where his wound were from the bubbles, this helped me to cut his fur sound his wound and I saw he has two holes big enough to stick your pinkie into and they were about a centimeter deep maybe a bit shallower, he also had some wounds on his head but they werent bad, so I rinsed him and cleaned the two holes with gaze and peroxide, this all happened in the tub so there wasn’t much lighting, but I washed the rest of his body and just cleaned his neck and rinsed off pretty much most of the peroxide, unintentionally tho but I took him and dried him up and let him rest for an hour or so then I took another look at his wounds and I poured a cap worth of peroxide on his wounds twice, I took a closer look and saw he had some maggots inside, I tried to flushed them out with the peroxide but tried not to use to much cause it pained him, I ended up taking out four maggots, and then I left his wound to dry I don’t know how long he’s had the maggots it’s only been 2 days since the attack, how much would a vet charge because I think the maggots borrowed as said in the comments above, I’m nervous because our family has a hard time being financially stable ( and the humane Society suggested I had my Pitbull put down which was consulted over the phone)
No idea of vet costs in your (unknown) area (or country) but there are so many concerns at this point and I would say you are really not treating the wound correctly and the dog is likely in serious pain and suffering. You need to see the SPCA immediately and get your dog fixed, this would be defined as pet neglect in my book.
I have a puppy he was sick for abt two days and we took him to a vet be was injected and given some tablets the tablets were given on time but my dogs legs which are at the back got swollen and he still is not able to walk its been a week now i found maggots on his tummy between the legs i removed it at the same instance and cleaned that part with soap and water and applied powder as well he is still the same no change seen. Im worried what this could be ?
Hard to tell from the description. Bring him back to the vet! Maggots are not minor and he needs to be treated!
My dog eat her dogmost of dog food . I notice it had very very tiny clusters of white things . sticky I might add. I got a magnify glass and found they were fly larvae really really tiny larvae . what will happen ? Please Help !!!!
Nothing most likely, change the food.
Hello Doctor, I have an out side dog. I check on him 2 times a day when I feed him. It’s been getting really realy to hot out for him so I decided to give him a bath a bring him inside .When I went out to bring him in ..he had small maggots going Up the top of his back just the lower half .. I put gloves on and put him in the bathtub and rubbed out every where i saw them with water then used medicated dog shampoo and let it sit till they came clean and I noticed them around the folds around his testicals .as well . I believe I washed them All off then dried him well and applied Neosporin because it looks like the folds where a little irritated but No open wounds , he looks fine now. Do you think I still need to be concerned.
Yes, it sounds like he is suffering from a nasty rash due to the heat or his skin or something. I would see a vet or at the very least give him a medicated bath every few days and let him come inside to cool off and get out of the humid heat. He has skin fold rashes and the fact that maggots got into them is a bad sign.
Thank you so much Doc That was my thoughts as well ill keep a close eye on it , No signs of any more maggots any where. he will just have to get used to being inside. I’m thinking they just hatched and I caught it on early…I’ll make a vet appointment for Monday to make sure all is well Thank you for you quick response .
My dog is shaking and throwing up these what look like maggots
Seriously?? SEE A VET
I saw what looks like maggots in my cat’s feces today. Is that possible? There were a lot of them. How do I get rid of whatever worm looks like a maggot that could be found in cat feces?
Likely tapeworms and you need a tapeworm dewormer. See your vet about a fecal and dewormer.
hey my goat gave born to a baby and the cord witch connects to feed the goat got ripped of so can u help me ther are maggots inside it and my mom pored anti biotics and put soducream a skin fixer so she coverd the hole with bandage pls help me email me Kavinxxxxxxxxxx Dr. Stewart and thanks for telling other ppl what to do right i read the comments
Sounds like she is doing the right thing, but I really do not know much about goats. Can you call a vet? All you can do is keep the cord clean and covered so there are no more fly strikes and the maggots need to be removed. …… I removed your personal email from your questions…. you should be careful about posting that.
Dr Stewart,
(I did not see where I could post new, so I’m replying to a response of yours. I’ve read all these questions as I wait in the car)
It must be so difficult to get questions like these. Obviously these pets are loved to pieces, or their owners would not be writing to you. Pets provide such a comfort; and from them we are given warm, unconditional love…
I can totally understand financial problems. But there will be expenses involved in owning a pet and keeping them healthy and comfortable. I’d never say don’t own a pet if money is tight, but I would suggest one pet at a time, and the very first day you take them home, start putting a little bit of money away every day for unexpected vet bills. A dollar a day. Before they get sick, look around for a vet clinic you might be better able to afford. Annual visits should go hand-in-hand with owning a dog or cat, and can often discover ailments before they get worse — and more expensive.
And I wish I could address Norm who had to put his pet down and had doubts if it was the right decision, but his post did not have a reply button. He did exactly the right thing. Quality of life must be considered. You don’t want to have them suffer if nothing much can be done to bring them back to a level where quality of life can be experienced again. And it breaks my heart that they don’t know why they can no longer walk or why they are in so much pain, or can’t breathe… I wanted to keep my 11 year old little dog around as long as possible. He saw a vet at least once a year, and after his birthday was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. A canine cardiologist was recommended and he had regular visits with him, with all the tests run.. Six months passed and he wasn’t doing better, he gradually got worse. He wasn’t responding to the medication, and for two nights in a row, at the end, he began to be panicky (for the first time prolonged) when he couldn’t breathe well. We stayed up all night with him those two nights, trying to provide comfort and reassurance, trying to keep him calm. His cardiologist had just left on vacation, and we decided it was unfair to our little sweetheart to have him experience this kind of anxiety, until that vet returned, with a prognosis that was not going to be good anyway. We went back to his regular vet the second morning and told her we can’t put him through this. I held him in my arms as he was put to sleep. I cried for days. I could not move his food and water dishes, or his bed, or his toys… I knew it would’ve been for my own selfish reasons (not wanting to say goodbye) had we waited the week or two for the cardiologist to return, while his breathing worsened; and unfair to him to keep him suffering and scared because saying goodbye would be hard on us.
Yes, it’s SO hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet, and my heart breaks for anyone who has to make that decision. It’s so unfair that pets, who give us so much love, have such short life spans.
I found a meme with these comforting words: “Don’t forget. Somewhere between hello and goodbye, there was love. So much love.”
Hi Dr Stewart,
We live in the tropics and take our dogs out for a walk 2-3 times a week in the forest. Last year they both had to be taken to the vet with bot fly infection.
Is there anything natural we can use after we are finished walking in the forest to prevent or kill the the Bot Fly larvae, perhaps Neem oil?
Wow, that is a great question. I would honestly assume a good soapy bath after the walk should remove the larvae. I think they can be killed with most soaps and if you want you can add a 5% or less mix of hydrogen peroxide or maybe chlorhexidine or other disinfectants (over the counter and diluted to minimal amounts) to help with the process that might work. Neem oil can be very caustic and I would hate for you to make your dogs’ skin irritated with Neem or Tea Tree, neither are my favorite.
Hi Dr. Stewart —
I just came across your blog. I was impressed by both your patience and your ability to exp!ain things simp ly.
I think I may know what the “secret poison” injection is that Maha’s vet used to treat maggots. t
Ether was no longer used as an anesthetic when I started practicing, but many hospitals still had it around, despite it being a dangerous (and possibly illegal) substance, We kept it because it was great for treating maggots.
The worst case I ever saw was in a sheepdog with diarrhea. We shaved his back, which was covered with dozens of evenly spaced maggot airholes. My boss filled a.syringe with ether, inserted it into one of holes, and emptied the syringe into opening. Immediately, wriggling maggots emerged from every single hole in the poor dog’s skin. I still think that was one of the grossest moments I have ever experienced.
Unfortunately, once the supply of ether ran out, other less efficient alternatives had to be found. On the other hand, given how dangerous ether is, maybe it’s just as well!
Great story, but ether is pretty dangerous for the entire staff (and flammable!!) but sounds like it worked well. We need a new product like this!
Yeah, I can’t believe we just kept bottles of th e stuff on the shelf, not to mention how dizzy we all got from the fumes when we used it…
I described how.we.anesthetized poisonous snakes to an human anesthesiologist and she was horrified! (Put the whole cage in a plastic garbage bag, stick the hose from the anesthesia machine into the bag until the snake’s asleep, then hold your breath as long as you can after you open the bag and get the snake out.) We got exposed to so much gas, x-rays, zoonoses, etc., it’s amazing we’re still around! And people think vets.do this for the.money…
Keep up the good work. You’re helping and advising a.lot of people who don’t know.where to turn, and many of them do realize you are doing this as an unpaid volunteer, simply because you care about people and their beloved pets.
Reading this blog breaks my heart… I had to lay my buddy of 1o yrs to rest today because she got maggots in her and it was too late according to the vets.. I urge that if you see this you take your pets immediately… It is a matter of life and death.. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone… Plz act fast… It’ll be the difference between bringing ur furbaby home or saying goodbye forever… RIP loyal friend…
Sorry for your loss…
Dr. Stewart question for you. Do you believe euthanasia was the best option for my furbaby? She had maggots in her genital areas and lost all her muscle mass. She hadn’t been eating or drinking, was too weak to walk and no longer had bowel movements.. I am filled with guilt and remorse and would like your honest opinion. Did I fail my friend at a chance at life? Or did I male the best choice for my 10 yr old loyal companion?? Thank you in advance for your feedback.. I am broken hearted and didn’t know who else to ask..
From that limited information…I would strongly agree with your very difficult decision. It sounds like this was the most humane decision and the best gift you could give your best friend. Sorry for your loss, but I think you did the right thing.
My cat is an indoor cat but got out and was missing for 5 days. He just came back about 4 days ago and for the last couple days I have started seeing random maggots mostly in my bathroom but sometimes in the kitchen and living room. Now I generally vaccuum and scrub every two days and our garbage goes out daily. I do babysit and the kids only eat at the table but sometimes I find them hiding food. I checked my cat over for bites/ wounds and do not see anything. I wonder if there is a possible he could have them even though there are no visible sores or is it more likely that there is a piece of food somewhere that I can’t find, or could my cats have injured a mouse that then died somewhere in the bathroom and the maggots are from it? I pride myself on cleanliness and this is really freaking me out! Healthy animals can’t have maggots unless they have sores right? I was also told they will burrow into my son’s genetalia if one crawls into his diaper. He gets changed often and never stays in dirty diapers/clothes very long.
I really can not help you. There is a source of the maggots somewhere. Healthy cats should not have them, you are correct. Lock up the cats in one room and see what happens?
Hello…. i didnt get an email and ive never used one of these things before…
im the person with the injured Button Quail
Hello my cat has just vomited up live maggots after coming in from outside because we couldn’t find him last night. he vomited two chunks, one looked like cat food and I’m not sure what the other one was. He’s a relatively healthy cat and didn’t seem any different than usual. There are no signs of a wound or a way that maggots could’ve gotten in. Is it possible that he’s eaten a rabbit that been infested?
Yes, very likely.
my dog have maggot wound a hole on his body. We bring him to the vet and they manage to remove all the maggots inside and gave him medicine and ask me to clean his wound apply iodine. Today is the second day after the vet how long does it take to completely seal the wounds. Will there be maggot again even do i clean his wound apply iodine and Aerosol Spray daily. Thank You
Sorry, hrd to say. DEpends how big the wound is and where it is. It can take days or even weeks to close a big wound. Ask you vet if they are the ones who have seen it.
good day my dog has maggots under his ears because fly messed in his wound i only realise he had worms when i saw the hole i removed some of the maggots with a tweezer and i would like to know if there is any particular drug i can purchase to kill the maggots. i cant go to a vet because it is to expensive right now. i used peroxide, black disenfect, alcohol and sulvatizer powder already
You have used everything you can get without a vet visit, but you need to see a vet to address the infection.
Hi, we have a dog (Collie) and just found faeces in the garden that was full of maggots. They are all dead and clearly show that they are encased within the faeces rather than around it and were excreted from the animal that left us the unwelcome gift. I do not think this was from our dog as it looks a bit small in diameter (possibly a fox that had been eating a maggot infested carcass?). But just in case this was from our dog, should we worry and is this common?
Thank you.
Probably not, but check your dog’s stool for obvious worms or make sure your dog is not losing weight. They might be tapeworms and that is something your dog could catch. You can bring your vet a sample?
My little kitten has fat worms in his skin and he has lost so much weight
I don’t know what else to do as I have pressed the worms our severally but the keep appearing
Vet visit. That sounds bad.
Vet removed 3 cutebra on a 3 pound yorky. Doing well. Would itmake sense to shampoo yorky with a special shampoo to prevent cutebra recurrence when we go in the wood? Is there such a shampoo?
Great question. I have never heard of it, but many of the flea and tick medications work to prevent fly strike as do the fly sprays. You can try the dog treatments that target mosquitos? I would make sure to use something from your vet and not over the counter because of the size of your dog. The HARTZ or other products can be very toxic to little dogs.
My cat, 8 yrs old, has been staying outside. It rained all day and most of night. I found the cat under a bush the next morning and she had light yellow
clusters of what appeared to be fly eggs along both sides of her body. They seemed to be covered in a sticky like, furry substance. I immediately combed them off, and upon closer examination, they looked like tiny, elongated clusters of eggs.
This cat had no urine or feces on her, or no open or wet wounds. She has lost some of her hair but maybe due to a skin allergy.
I have never saw this before and need to know how this can prevented again. I did bath her soon after removing the eggs.
Fly eggs and hopefully you got them all off before she had an infection or larvea. If you get them off then you are usually fine.
Doctor, my dog has developed a wound on his paw with a small hole on it, upon looking I was unable to find trace of maggots, I still wonder what can be the cause of that hole and if there could be insects deep down? I am cleaning it with dettol and applying betadine as well as bandaging and changing it regularly. Am I doing right?
Sounds right. Stop the betadine and dettol and just use a mild soap and water.
I found some maggots in my 1 year old cats’ anal and he is very weak at this moment and he looses his appetite. what do i do? i cannot take him to the vet because i think it is too dangerous to go outside due to the pandemic.
Take him to a vet and drop him off for the exam. The cat needs a vet please.
Hello there Dr. Stewart x 🌻
I hope you are keeping well and are still having the kindness and care to offer advice to many regardless of those that are insulting. 😊🌿 I have a massive phobia of bot flies and any flies part of that family or parasites in general. But I keep my doggo and I safe and clean and healthy! I need to ask you please in full honesty, is it rather rare for maggots (not tapeworms, as many confuse tapeworms with maggots) to climb into the anus/vagina of an animal ? And it will not just happen to a healthy animal but one that obviously has health issues or an underlying condition? I would love your answer on the matter, as many people I know are panicking and saying that their small pets (guinea pig, rabbit, cat, mouse, chinchilla, teddy hamster etc) can easily and quickly have fly maggots climbing into their anuses. I am annoyed as I know this can happen but rarely and they are listening to some viral thing that is circulating and I tried to explain its most likely tapeworm not maggots from the outside climbing, and they need to care dor their pet, do vet visits regularly , clean their space they live in along with a healthy diet and all that they need. But people judge me and say that I do not know what I am talking about due to the fact that I am ADD (people think those that are ADD are stupid and lazy) and that I have not gone to university (I have not had the funds, support and time to do so and struggle with my health immensely) when they all have. So what do I know. I would love your opinion on the matter please ! 😊🌿🌻I have read a lot of comments and so on and found it very interesting and saddening. Thank you for your time and care !
Kind Regards
M
You are 100% correct. It is rare for healthy animals to have rectal or anal maggots or any maggots without a wound or disease. It does happen, but is not that common. Again you are correct that most of the time this is tape worms.
Thanks for the article!
What if my new born puppy’s leg was eaten, can it grow back
Not unless it is a baby starfish.
my cat has been acting funny for the past couple days first he was in his litter box trying to use the bathroom for hours then he was just laying around and wouldnt really move and when he did he would cry he hasnt eaten or drinkin anything what should i do? just let him rest or take him in?
That is a serious emergency and sounds like a blocked cat. GO TO THE ER or your VET ASAP>
If anyone needs a case study, my cat is it!
A young (few months) injured stray that showed up over a year ago. We have had more vet visits than I can count & she frequently sees different vets, as the nearest clinic has rotating vets & she’s almost always an urgent care visit. This often results in conflicting diagnosis & treatments. It’s frustrating.
History: lame tail & permanent nerve damage d/t (vet 1: intentional abuse, vet 2: accidental injury from tail pulling – probably a young child, vet 3: accused us, vet 4: car ran her over)
Regards of how it happened, she has limited control over her bladder and bowels… on advice of a vet, we put her in washable diapers & change her FREQUENTLY- when she’s not diapered, she’s in an easy-clean sick room. She stress licks if we’re gone, has crystals (rx food) & has had to have lodged feces removed 3x (new rx food). She frequently has infections (15). We’ve learned to express her bladder – 2-3× daily. However, she still relieves herself as needed. One vet tried antidepressants and she went insane/had her first bowel block.
Enter 4th of July weekend – we took her out back with us to “air out” as the bowels were being unreasonable again. She went 2 days passing nothing and was starting to appear uncomfortable- miralax (vet ordered) was given & she passed a large plug – it appeared painful. By the next day, she was smelling foul – we knew a vet trip was coming but she wasn’t at emergency level & they were closed. (They’ve given us the “when to call emergency” list – she was still moving, eating & drinking – though coat was dulling and getting skin flakes)
The next morning she was chipper & the odor had subsided (yesterday) … this morning the poor creature had maggots falling out of her bum. I called immediately and had her in within an hour. I spent a great deal of time trying to convince the never before seen vet that we were not dealing with worms. They kept her, called me back and advised they weren’t seeing anything & tho the skin was raw from grooming, there was no tissue that housed maggots. They were sure it was worms. I was sure it wasn’t.
I pleaded, & asked them to check the carrier. They said they had. Then I dug in the trash to find one & deliver it… en route, they called to advise me that there were, indeed, maggots in her anal glands. I was advised that they flushed her out, treated her for tape worms (they stated this is the same treatmentused for maggots), & gave 2wk slow release shot of antibiotics.
I’m debating whether or not to make a 2hr drive to the other vet (small clinic) to have her see the same vet each visit.
I feel like the poor beast is a roller coaster ride from hell & we’re riding shotgun. We spend a great deal of time re-explaining her unique condition, how all we cope, and defending ourselves- often for following the previous doctor’s advice.
This time we were told they believed it was worms because that’s most commonly the issue. In retrospect, they now feel that a fly laid eggs on the moist tissue, while we were out. The eggs hatched and the maggots were inbedded in the anal glands, as her glads are just a little different. She may continue to shed more, so don’t panic if you continue seeing them for a few days. They closed with this is nothing to worry about.
I feel like it is something to worry about.
I believe she should have a follow up & possibly a vet change.
Wow, terrible. Find a vet you trust and ask to see that vet each time. If it is urgent care or ER then you are stuck. Maybe worth the 2 hours to visit the same vet if its someone you trust…. sounds like a lot of work. Sorry!
Hello, I have a cat, a bit under a year old, who showed back up after being gone the other day. She had a sizeable wound in her side, a bit shorter than the length of my pinky, so maybe 2.5-3 inches. I’ve been doing my best to keep the wound covered with sterile bandages/gauze pads, despite her constantly trying to lick it off by slowly eroding the cotton. While changing her bandage today I noticed a maggot on her fur, it caused me to freeze before I could get it and it receeded into her wound. I have no clue how many might be in the wound, and I 100% mean it when I say I can’t afford a vet bill for something like this right now. It just scares the hell out of me and I just want to know what I could do to stop it before it becomes a possibly fatal issue.
She needs a vet, or at least a shelter or some help asap. Maggots are not good in a cat wound. She needs an e-collar, antibiotics and the wound cleaned. Sorry, she needs a vet.