There is little that is more disturbing than discovering that your dog has worms.
No matter how hard we try, most dogs will become infected with tapeworms at some point in their lives. While they may make us want to scream “yuck” at the top of our lungs, the good news is that tapeworms are fairly harmless to the dog.
Tapeworms are flat and segmented. The worm has a head, which usually has suckers that enable it to attach itself to a dog’s intestine, and neck that are followed by a number of segments. Tapeworms have no digestive system. They absorb nutrients through their skin.
The bad news is that each tapeworm segment carries its own reproductive organs. The new segments continually form around the neck region of the tapeworm. The segments at the other end are cast off as they mature. The end segments carry a large number of eggs.
Tapeworms are one of the easiest worm parasites to detect with just the human eye. The segments that are cast off are often found on the hair around the dog’s anus. If the segments were recently passed, they appear to be alive. The segments that have time to dry out appear as uncooked grains of rice.
There are several types of tapeworms that can infect dogs. Each type requires an intermediate host such as a flea. The adults are the ones that live in the dog’s digestive system.
The most common tapeworm found in dogs is the dipylidium caninum, which is also known as the flea tapeworm, double-pored tapeworm, cucumber seed tapeworm and common dog tapeworm.
A lot of dogs that contact tapeworms show little or no symptoms. Some experience digestive problems, such as diarrhea with mucous. Tapeworms can cause a dog’s stomach to rumble and growl and this can be accompanied by excessive gas.
Dogs that have a large number of tapeworms, which are known to grow to six feet in length, can suffer weight loss. Some dogs will vomit tapeworms if the infestation is heavy.
Tapeworms can cause minor skin irritation around the dog’s anus when segments of the parasite are being passed. Most of the skin problems are caused by the dog dragging his or her butt along the floor.
Tapeworms can infect humans, who rarely show symptoms. Young children are more commonly infected by the worms and usually get them by ingesting flea larvae. That is why it is important to take a dog infested with fleas and tapeworms to the veterinarian for an examination and treatment, if necessary.
Treatment of tapeworms is fairly simple. The most common drug is praziquantel, which is found in many leading tapeworm medicines used by veterinarians. The dosage is based on the dog’s body weight.
The best thing you can do to protect your dog from becoming infected with tapeworms is to use preventative measures. There are several good flea prevention products that your dog’s veterinarian can prescribe. Most are given orally or applied topically on a monthly basis. Your veterinarian can make a recommendation on which is best for your dog.
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