What Every Dog Owner Should Know About Tapeworms
Tapeworm, or Dipylidium caninum to give it its scientific name, is a parasite that is most commonly found in the small intestine of dogs. These flat, white worms are segmented, and usually grow to between 4 and 20 inches in length.
They survive by attaching themselves to the intestinal lining and then feeding off the nutrients in the food the dog eats. As they mature the tail segments, containing tapeworm eggs, break off. If the dog has tapeworm you will clearly see these, which resemble grains of rice, in the faeces.Dogs become infected by swallowing a flea that contains tapeworm eggs. The infestation cycle goes something like this. A flea larva eats tapeworm eggs. The larva then grows into a mature flea, living on the dog.
When the dog bites at an itchy spot on his coat, he swallows the flea. The tapeworm eggs then hatch and head straight for the intestines where they attach themselves and start to feed. After a time, they mature and the tail segments begin to break off. These are then passed by the dog and the cycle begin anew.
Aside from the “gross out factor”, tapeworms are relatively harmless. The amount of nutrients they consume is miniscule and has very little impact on the dog’s overall well-being. In extreme cases though, the infestation can reach levels where the dog shows clear signs of weight loss. It is therefore important to treat your dog if you see signs of tapeworm.
The clearest indication is tapeworm eggs in the faeces. A common belief is that a dog that scoots along the ground has tapeworm, but this is not usually the case. The behavior is more commonly due to skin irritation around the anal are, or to blocked anal sacs.
Fortunately, tapeworms are very easy to eradicate, Just give your dog a vet prescribed or commercial de-wormer and the problems will be over in no time. Be advised though that some over-the-counter worm medications contain pesticides, so they can cause health problems if used too often.
If you take your dog to the vet, the treatment will normally be a pill or injection that dissolves the protective outer lining of the tapeworm. This allows the worm to be digested and passed from the body.
Most dogs will get tapeworm at some time or another, but there are some things you can do to reduce the chance of your dog being infected.
To begin with you can have your dog de-wormed every 3 months or so. Most de-worming medications protect against other parasitic worms too, including hookworms, roundworms and other parasites
Keeping your dog free of fleas will also help. If no fleas are present the tapeworm infestation cycle cannot be completed, so keep your dog, and his environment free of these pesky insects.
If all of the above is not reason enough to treat your dog for tapeworm, bear in mind that, although it is extremely rare, certain tapeworms found in dogs can be passed to humans.
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