Guest StriderDog Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Yikes!! DH just pointed at Strider's butt (snoozing on the couch, naturally) and asked, "What do you think these are?" Two little white "grains of rice" laying on the base of Strider's tail. I bagged the "rice" and I'll grab a poo sample tomorrow morning to take to the vet when they open. Strider's had no symptoms of any sort: good poops, normal appetite and activity level, no weight loss... I feel like such a bad mom!!! My baby has da wormses and I didn't even know!! (*hangs head in shame*) Should I grab a poo sample from Daza too or just assume she has them as well and get extra meds for her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 "Grains of rice" is classic flea tapeworm segments, Dipylidium caninum. Some meds will take care of it. I would treat all pets for fleas as well, just in case. So..... did they wiggle? Dogs get them from eating infected larval fleas. I would treat your other dog(s) too, and try to find the source of the fleas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest StriderDog Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Gah! There's the potential for wiggling? Thankfully, no, I noticed no wiggling. Otherwise you'd all be receiving updates about my treatment in the mental hospital. Do I need to disinfect the entire house? Cuz I'll find a way to boil the couch if I need to. (*heebie jeebies*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I have a pretty strong stomach, and I was studying parasites in school (lots and lots of fecal samples). But even I was horrified when my cat Grady had tapeworms and a segment came off his fur and stuck to my hand. I looked closely, thinking it was a noodle (I was eating pasta at the time!) and it started wiggling! Grady was pretty new to my house, and he did have fleas when he first arrived at the shelter where I volunteered. I figured he got the worms then, but I still Frontline-d all my pets, just in case. You might have a flea problem, you might not. Have the dogs been in contact with any other animals that could have had fleas? It would have been a few weeks ago now that they ate the infected fleas. I would treat them all for fleas just in case, and watch for segments coming from the other dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BauersMom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) If I disinfected the house every time someone came in with tapes, I'd have a MUCH cleaner house. Seriously, it's pretty common and easily treated. You might not even have to bring in a sample if you just tell the vet what you've seen. You don't even need a flea infestation to get it, all it takes is one. Nasty buggers. Once I fed the dogs rice and got all freaked out when they ALL had worms.... except, it wasn't worms, it WAS rice. Good thing I realized it before I called the vet. Oh, and I never treat multiple dogs with the wormer unless they show tapes also - and that's only happened once in 3+ years of fostering. I wouldn't treat, but just keep an eye out. There's a good chance that the others are OK. Edited March 4, 2009 by BauersMom Quote With Buster Bloof (UCME Razorback 89B-51359) and Gingersnap Ginny (92D-59450). Missing Pepper, Berkeley, Ivy, Princess and Bauer at the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 (edited) It's just tapeworms. No biggie. Get some Panacur and it'll be fine. Yes- it's totally gross - but not a big deal - and certainly no reflection on you. If Strider hasn't had any poop issues, you've caught it really early on. If you want to talk GROSS - let's talk roundworms or....the WORST .... hookworms!!! Those are WAY nastier - and WAY harder to treat. In the realm of parasites - you got the easy ones. BTW - if it were me - I wouldn't bother with the vet visit and stool check. I'd just call the vet - tell them my dog has tapes, and ask for the meds. Could save you a lot of $$ if you know what it is, and your vet is ok with that. My vet knows me, and knows we have fosters and deal with.....stuff..... so if I call and say I need med's for tapes - I just get the meds for tapes. No $50 visit, or $15 sample analysis necessary. But - I did go for a visit the first time I saw parasites - so it you want to that's ok too. Once you've seen them though - you know what it is. ETA: for tapes, I only treat the dog (the foster ususally) with tapes. But if a foster brings hook or round, I treat my dogs too. Edited March 4, 2009 by sobesmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WarmheartedPups Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Oh Blech.....I had the same thing happen.....I awoke looking at my dogs behind .....on MY bed....and saw grains of rice....!!! TAPE WORMS!!! I am sure I suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from it. Take in a poop sample Roo had no symptoms either and had been wormed for other worms. I gotta go take a bath........I am a wimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4greyhounds Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 My 3 got them when Pongo first arrived at my home. He had a very bad flea problem at the kennel, I was also horrified but I took them all to the vets and they all got a pill. I vacuumed real good and $65.00 later they were all gone....I know it is very contagious.... Before I knew he had them the other 2 had got them, Aladdin was the only one that did not.... Quote Darlene Mom to: Aladdin, Sophie ,Pongo, Jasmine, Relic Forever in our Hearts Champ at the Rainbow Bridge. Let a greyhound race into your heart Adopt Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions INC. Naples/ Fort Myers Chapter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BauersMom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 My 3 got them when Pongo first arrived at my home. He had a very bad flea problem at the kennel, I was also horrified but I took them all to the vets and they all got a pill. I vacuumed real good and $65.00 later they were all gone....I know it is very contagious.... Before I knew he had them the other 2 had got them, Aladdin was the only one that did not.... It's not contagious dog-to-dog. They all got infected via the fleas, not via each other. Fix the flea problem, you'll fix the tapeworm problem! Quote With Buster Bloof (UCME Razorback 89B-51359) and Gingersnap Ginny (92D-59450). Missing Pepper, Berkeley, Ivy, Princess and Bauer at the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trudy Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 If you boil the couch, I want pics of that process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4greyhounds Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 My 3 got them when Pongo first arrived at my home. He had a very bad flea problem at the kennel, I was also horrified but I took them all to the vets and they all got a pill. I vacuumed real good and $65.00 later they were all gone....I know it is very contagious.... Before I knew he had them the other 2 had got them, Aladdin was the only one that did not.... It's not contagious dog-to-dog. They all got infected via the fleas, not via each other. Fix the flea problem, you'll fix the tapeworm problem! Thank You for clarifying! I was told by the vet that if one had the tape worm then the others could catch it through the feces! Guess I need to get a new vet....I am not sure how the other three got them, we never had a flea problem nor did I ever see a flea on them, but I did see the worms in three of their feces... Quote Darlene Mom to: Aladdin, Sophie ,Pongo, Jasmine, Relic Forever in our Hearts Champ at the Rainbow Bridge. Let a greyhound race into your heart Adopt Bay Area Greyhound Adoptions INC. Naples/ Fort Myers Chapter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Thank You for clarifying! I was told by the vet that if one had the tape worm then the others could catch it through the feces! Guess I need to get a new vet....I am not sure how the other three got them, we never had a flea problem nor did I ever see a flea on them, but I did see the worms in three of their feces... So many vets don't know what the heck they are talking about when it comes to parasites. They have a small amount of schooling in parasitology compared to the rest of their education. To the OP, you don't need to visit the vet if you don't want to. You can get dewormer over the counter at most pet stores and online. Just make sure the particular medicine treats Dipylidium caninum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 As a side note Ivy had a particularly persistant tapeworm that resisted treatment so when the university the vet was dealing with got to the bottom of it they told me she had gotten it from eating a snail. At any rate when we followed the protocol they reccommended we finally cleared her of them. Always before it was just a simple dose of worm medicine and they were gone. I never did investigate myself to get to the bottom of it...perhaps there are different kinds of tapes that can come from diffferent things because she of course didn't have fleas either and they said it came from eating a snail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 The name-brand drug for tapes is Drontal or Droncit. Regular Panacur doesn't treat tapes, altho there may be a "Panacur Plus" or some such that does ...... Unless you've had a flea issue or regularly go someplace where the dogs pick up a few fleas (Advantage/Frontline don't kill them all instantly), I wouldn't treat both dogs. They won't get the tapes from each other, and you won't get tapes from them, so really no need. racingdog, there are some weird varieties of tapes out there that can come from eating odd things. Usually, tho, what you see is common dog tapeworm. Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cello Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 We have only had this issue once, with a new foster, but I must admit I was a little bit 'ickyed' out when I saw the tape worm "waving" at me from a fresh poop!! Yuck! One pill later and everything was fine. Quote Molly Weasley Carpenter-Caro - 6 Year Old Standard Poodle. Gizzy, Specky, Riley Roo & Lady - Our beloved Greyhounds waiting at the Rainbow Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KennelMom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Once I fed the dogs rice and got all freaked out when they ALL had worms.... except, it wasn't worms, it WAS rice. Good thing I realized it before I called the vet. OMG, I did that once too back in my single days when I only had Haley and Hanna :lol Usually no need to treat all the pets in the case of tapes, but def check everyone for fleas or flea dirt. Tapes don't shed segments all the time, so they can be easy to miss unless you pick up poop as soon as everyone does their business...after a while the segments dry up and you may not notice them. Wormies are a fact of life when you own dogs...if you own a dog long enough, you'll probably have a worm encounter (esp here in the South!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rycezmom Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Ours are getting treated for hookworm right now. They run in the best of families even though I'm horrified. Its like being told your kids have head lice! I'll get over it and so will they. Quote The more I see of man, the more I like dogs. ~Mme. de Staël Missing my Bridge Angels Ryce, Bo, Jim, Miss Millie, Miss Rose, Gustopher P Jones (Pimpmaster G), Miss Isabella and Miss Star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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