Tapeworms!! Help!

[bernice13]

I was cleaning up the dog poop in the yard today and found the poo was crawling with tapeworm segments. We do not have a problem with fleas, however we do have a problem with wild rabbits. One of our dogs thinks rabbits droppings are m&m's, and I believe this is how she got the infection. I have treated the dogs, but I am worried about a few things:

- Will the chickens get it? In our suburban yard, the chickens spend most of their time in an enclosed run, but we let them run around the yard for about an hour or two every day.

- Can it get on the garden plants from rabbits? Our garden is fenced off, and The chickens and dogs don't go in there, but rabbits often squeeze under the fence and hang out there.

- How long will the eggs live in the grass? I cleaned up the poo, but it was impossible to get every worm segment.

Thanks for input!!

[ghmerrill]

Are you sure they are tape worm? Tape worm segments are broad and flat. Round worms are..... Round.... And either short, like white rice, or long, like a thick string. Most of the time when people see lots of worm pieces, its the short roundworms. Totally normal in dogs, they get them all the time, and any over the counter wormer will treat them.

Tapeworms are a whole 'nuther ball of wax. You can buy over the counter tapeworm meds, but I'm not sure how well they work. You may have to get some from a vet.

[Bearfootfarm]

The eggs can survive for years, but don't normally pass from one species to another.

Safeguard "goat" wormer will take care of them easily.
The dosage is 1 ML per 5 lbs body weight, given orally, on 3 consecutive days

[CarolT]

Safeguard (fenbendazole) does best against one type of tapeworm, also roundworms and whipworms, praziquantel works against more types of tapeworm. Pyrantel pamoate works well on roundworms. Be sure to dose 3 days on fenbendazole, like bearfoot farm said.

Also, it's very unusual to contract tapeworms from feces, they have to go through another cycle inside the flea. You may not have problems, but all it takes is one flea, maybe even when a puppy and they can catch them. However, rabbits can carry other types of worms that the dogs can get, and you

[bernice13]

worms are 0.5 - 1 cm long, tapered at the ends. Not quite flat - more like oblong cross section. I though this was tapeworm - am I wrong?


Interestingly, I DID submit a sample to my vet when my dog had this exact same thing last year. I waited a few days and the vet secretary called back and said the sample was negative for parasites. I said "are you kidding me? I handed you a jar full of worms!!". She put me on hold, then came back on and said I should come and pick up a broad spectrum dewormer from them. I guess they just mixed up the sample or something. They still charged me $50 for the lab. I called them today and she said they were about to close so call back Monday. Instead I went to petsmart and got 3 days worth of fenbendazole and a single dose of praziquantel + pyrantel.

I am just worried about the chickens now, and preventing further episodes....

[bernice13]

I took a picture but I can't figure out how to upload it. But they look just like this image I found online of tapeworm:




I have seen this dog eat rabbit droppings many times, and there are fresh piles of rabbit droppings in our yard now, so I'm fairly certain that is the source, whatever kind of worm it is ....

[Maura]

Your dog is getting tapeworms from fleas. The fleas could be on mice that frequent the area.

[lasergrl]

Yup, your dog ate fleas one way or the other. They cant get it from the droppings. One of my dogs ate a wild rabbit and was passing tape segment the next month. Could have eaten a mouse carrying fleas too. Fecal test at the vet wont catch tapeworms because the fecal test checks for eggs that the worms are passing. Tapeworms dont pass eggs, they pass segments, and they just dont "float" or get into the sample. happens all the time. You got a good choice of dewormer. The fenbendazole isnt the best but the prazaquantal will get them (drontal?)!

[CarolT]

Drontal is a brand name, I believe. The ingredients are the same as what she got.

The vet I worked for taught us to look at the hair on the dog's rear for little tan squares indicating tapes

lasergrl was almost dead on :-) The segments are full of eggs :-) Breaking them open is almost impossible, so very seldom will they see eggs on a fecal. Doc called everybody in the clinic to come see them the one time I can remember there being a positive tapeworm fecal float LOL

You'll probably want to retreat in about 6 months to be sure all of them are gone.

[farmmom]

There are two types of tapes that dogs can get. On from fleas and one from eating the livers of rodents and rabbits. Is there any chance that your dog is hunting? The Drontal will kill both types while the safeguard will only kill the type gotten from rodents.

[GoldenMom]

How fresh was the poo? We're getting tons of calls lately about worms in the poo. Turns out most of them are not fresh samples and people are seeing maggots, which kind of look like tapes.

[BoldViolet]

PetSmart sells TapeWormer over the counter. Far cheaper than getting it at a vet. Has worked fine for me in the past.

[DaynaJ]

Their worms are flat with a frilly edge on them. Cats occasionally have what looks like rice on their rears. Occasionally will vomit them up.
Will kittens automatically have them if momma has them? I have to many to be able to afford buying worming meds at the vets. Will they cross contaminate from dogs to cats & vice a versa?

[bernice13]

Thanks for the replies everyone!