“I had taken in a stray cat who was deathly I’ll”, starts Darlene in her submission regarding the white worm-like critter pictured below. “Actually the vet advised me not to but I thought I could save her. The cat threw up a pile of worms. Some looked smooth, like wet spaghetti with no lines in them, but some looked segmented so I assumed tapeworm and treated her with over the counter medication. The good part of this story is the cat is fully recovered and is magnificent. Loving and adorable. The bad part is, my home and my car are filled with these stringy looking things everywhere, and my family has some strange symptoms we didn’t have before this cat. So my question is, can flatworms and tapeworms be free living? Like hitching a ride in my car? These are in my car. These photos are from my cell and magnified two or three times.”

“I pulled this off my cat”, writes this reader in her submission regarding the brown, slimy-looking, worm-like creature pictured below. “Can you identify it?” For starters, we will say that, while we will provide an identification, it should not be taken as 100% accurate or certain. The primary reason for this is because our reader pulled it off our cat. Any worms that are found on or inside people or pets pose a potential medical situation. Since we are not medical professionals, we are neither qualified or legally able to identify organisms that directly affect the health of people or pets. In this case, it is not clear whether or not the worm is affecting the cat’s health: people and pets accidentally get worms on them all the time, just from going outdoors. For that reason, we err on the side of caution. If our reader suspects that this worm may have come from her cat, or that it is in any way negatively affecting her cat’s health, she should consult a vet about it and disregard our identification below.

“Are these guys horsehair worms?” asks this reader about the two long, brown worms pictured below. “Picture was hard to get but I did manage to catch two in one picture. I live in Northern Alabama.” It would have been great to receive more context in this instance, as the photos he sent in are slightly blurry. We understand, of course, that it was hard for him to capture the photo, which tells us the worms might have been moving pretty fast. Horsehair worms are typically found on land after having just burst out of their host insect (as they are parasites which develop inside insects), while they look for a mate. So, if these were horsehair worms, it is possible that they are about to mate.

“Could you possibly help identify this worm/larvae?” asks Gabby in her submission regarding the minuscule, darkly-colored creature pictured below. “I read an article which seems like something similar to what I experienced, but you were unable to identify the worm in that article with the information given. I’m dog sitting this weekend and therefore spending a bit more time in the backyard/ back porch which is cement and siding with a wooden table, and the dogs are on the couches and rugs inside. A day after the dogs arrived we started feeling like something was on us. We even thought we felt a bite once or twice (to be fair we have not seen any actual bites, only felt like something was on us and bit us). At first we thought it was fleas but we never saw any fleas on us or the dogs or the furniture. I finally saw this shortly after coming in from taking them on a potty break. I actually found two of them on my arm and one on the end of a strand of hair. I have not found any more of these on myself, blankets, furniture, or the dogs. My original thought was a baby tapeworm? But I haven’t seen any more in the house or on the animals so I started thinking maybe it was something outside that I carried in. Could you please help? I’m worried about my family and my mothers “other children”: her dogs. Thank you. PS: I apologize my camera has lines in it. It’s the best I could do.”

“I was wondering if the white, string-looking thing in the attached video was some kind of worm”, writes this reader about the creature pictured below. “I saw it in a bucket of dirt/rocks I’d brought home from a stream in South Dakota. They were visibly moving in the water but shriveled up quickly after taking out and putting it on a rock. Thanks for the help.” Based on the context, as well as the excellent photo and video, we would say it is possible that this is some type of worm. The only thing that has us questioning this is the video: the way that worm is blowing in the wind as if it’s a dry noodle seems a bit odd. We’re not sure a worm would be blown about quite so easily in the wind, even if it was dried out. But then again, we haven’t had a lot of experience with dried worms blowing around in the wind, so who are we to say?

“I found this on my bathroom floor”, writes this reader about the strange-looking, yellow creature pictured below. “I’m unsure if it came from a person, a cat, or a drain. We’ve all had some illness and my dad, whom I care for due to brain atrophy, had a stomach/bathroom issue earlier that day. This was found all by itself, however, on the bathroom floor. Can it be identified? Also, obviously the photo is zoomed in. I believe it measured around an inch long. Also, if it matters, I live in rural south Texas on the San Marcos river and have many livestock and wildlife in my yard and around me, as well as cats that stay inside and had an infestation of fleas but finally got rid of them completely!”

An All About Worms reader has discovered that the symptoms they were experiencing, including little threads of hair-like things, and the thread-like things stinging them, are not parasites at all but instead turned out to be mold illness caused by previously undetected mold in their house. Ken urges people to consider this possibility and get your house tested for mold.

“What kind of parasite is this?” is all this reader asks in their submission regarding the various organisms pictured below. The creatures range in color and shape: some white and some black, and most of them worm-like in shape with the exception of one that looks more ovate.

“Can it get on or in a man’s blood and skin? Because I have […] different spots on my body.” asks this man in his one-line query. No photos or more context accompany his question, but we will do our best to help our reader with his issue.

“Where can I get help?” is the first thing this woman writes in her submission, posing the question that many face when they are concerned about parasite-related health concerns. This reader in particular is concerned about a “hookworm” that “came out of [her] dog” which has spread to her and her family members.

“Please help, I have things clawing in my veins,” states this reader in his submission regarding the organisms pictured below. He states that he has “stuff” on all of his “lipnotes” and it is “very uncomfortable.”

“Has anyone experienced this worm or bug […] stinging like a razor?” asks this woman in Dayton, Ohio who is looking for any help she can get. She has experienced multiple symptoms because of what she believes to be bugs that are hatching in and on her body.

“Do carpet beetle larvae get under your skin?” asks this reader in her submission. She reports experiencing a “real infestation that happened in days,” though she sends no photographs with her query.

“I have some scary-looking, biting bugs of some sort in my house,” states this reader in her submission. She is referring to the small, brown bugs pictured below, and she asks that we help her identify them.

“I have been infested with insects going on three years,” states this reader in his query. He thinks that he is infected with “toilet flies” that have come from drinking water.

A woman who has been struggling with what she believes to be parasites has contacted us with her story. She does not ask any questions, but simply wants to share some sentiments regarding people suffering from parasitic infections.

“I have an infestation of some kind which really affects me,” states this reader from Phoenix Arizona. She asks for our help in identifying anything from the photos she sent in.

A long, black worm-like organism was found in the toilet after this reader flushed it. Our reader, who is based in Chennai, India, asks us what this “worm or creature” is.

“Have you seen these anywhere as endoparasites?” asks our reader about the matter pictured below. Our reader details the characteristics of an endoparasite, as well as the symptoms they cause for the hosts they take, and we will share that information with the rest of our readers today.

“I’m having an issue with a parasite that the doctor and vet don’t recognize,” states this reader in her submission to us. What our reader describes as little black things and white worms with black heads have infected her family, her friend and her dog, and she asks for our help in the matter.