Tapeworms!!!

[chocolatepuppy]

All three of my pups have tapeworms. Ok Jake has them the worst. The vet gave them Cestex to treat them. Jake started his on Tuesday evening. There are still segments in his poop, not moving, but still there. I wonder if that's normal?
Now we all know tapeworms come from ingesting fleas. My pups are on Frontline Plus and do not have fleas. Early in July the crackhead next door moved out, her dogs were full of fleas. Her house is about 50' from mine and the yard is not mowed. We do have bunnies, squirrels and a few cats roaming, wondering if that's how they got them?

[Catlady711]

http://www.peteducation.com/article....articleid=1406

That article tells a bit about tapeworm and Cestex. Although I confess I've never heard of a case of an animal still passing segments after being given this medication. I suppose it could be from segments already on the stool that are coming out, but maybe call your vet to be sure.

As far as I know tapeworms take 4-6 weeks to show up after ingesting a flea or other carrier of tapeworm (rodent, etc). It's possible they could have ingensted a flea from your neighbors house, or if you had a lag time between Frontline Plus applications, or if they've gotten into garbage or something and got some undercooked meat. Either way the meds your vet gave you should take care of the problem but I would call him/her about still seeing segments just for reassurance.

[Craftlady]

Once they are Frontlined it keeps the fleas off their bodies but they can still ingest fleas from other sources.

[chocolatepuppy]

Thanks guys.
Catlady, no garbage, no lag with the Frontline. I will call the vet tomorrow, as I thought it said when I googled tapeworms that I may not see any segments. Five days later seems a bit much to me.
Craftlady, yeah, and I read they can reinfest after 2 weeks, great.

[Jessika]

Once they are Frontlined it keeps the fleas off their bodies but they can still ingest fleas from other sources.

Yup; frontline will keep fleas from living ON them, but the fleas occasionally may jump on them, maybe leave a little present, and your dog grooms itself and bam, ingested the eggs. Or your dog could be walking around outside and fleas from wildlife have laid eggs, they get it on their feet, get inside ingest the eggs or something, there are so many possibilities. Having them on a monthly flea preventative will certainly help but you can't control the environment. I suggest maybe bombing/spraying your yard to make sure the fleas stay as far away from your pups as possible!

[chocolatepuppy]

From the article posted by Catlady

. Due to the digestion by the host, no sign of the parasite is seen in the stool after treatment.

Does this mean after giving the meds or does 'treatment' mean after they're well? I called and talked to one of our Vet techs and she said it was normal to see the segments in their stool after taking the meds...Anyways, there's not much left of the segments in any of their poop now. I will continue to keep a close eye on the poop!

[IRescue452]

I've actually never heard of tapeworms from flea ingestion. I've only heard of getting them from other contaminated animals or meat (though I suppose a flea carring tapeworm eggs would be a contaminated animal). I guess I learn something new everyday.

[Catlady711]

From the article posted by Catlady

Does this mean after giving the meds or does 'treatment' mean after they're well? I called and talked to one of our Vet techs and she said it was normal to see the segments in their stool after taking the meds...Anyways, there's not much left of the segments in any of their poop now. I will continue to keep a close eye on the poop!

I've never yet had a client call to complain that they are still seeing segments after giving the medicine. I suppose it's possible that some are seeing segments for a time and just never have called to ask about it before.