Is my dog's tapeworm contagious to me, my cat, or other dogs?

Oh no. This is a nuisance to deal with for sure. Tapeworms are contagious to people, but it would require ingesting (eating) a live worm to become infective. As long as you clean up the feces and use good hygiene (washing your hands and avoid putting hands in the mouth after touching your pet or any live worms), then you are less likely to infest yourself. Clean up the poop quickly and don’t let your pet around other dogs or cats to avoid transmission until you can get Coco treated. Best wishes and don’t forget to also get Coco on a good flea preventative (ie Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica, Vectra etc) at your vet to avoid further infection with tapeworms. Take care.

Tapeworms need to go into a secondary host to spread. That means that cats get them from eating rodents and fleas, and you, your family and the other cats and dogs can't get them from being exposed to the segments. Please get Mr. Kitty treated for tapeworms and use a flea prevention product on all the animals to prevent them getting tapeworms from eating fleas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear that Rashmika had tapeworms but it sounds like you are addressing that. This is a good question. Tapeworms require an intermediate host so a pet cannot transmit them directly to other pets or people. Other pets would have to eat the intermediate host (most often a flea carrying tapeworm eggs) to get a tapeworm infection. So your other pets and your family are extremely safe to be around her right now. Good luck with Rashmika

I am guessing that these worms might be tapeworms. If this is the case the types of tapeworms dogs get are not contagious to people. There are some other types of worms (like roundworms or hookworms) that could potentially be transmitted to people although they do not cause intestinal infections like they do in dogs. I would recommend having her dog examined by a veterinarian to determine the type of worm, and then having your daughter contact her OB. Tapeworms are usually transmitted either through fleas or ingesting animal tissue containing the worm cysts so they would not be directly contagious to your dog. You should make sure all pets are on a good flea preventative. Hookworms or roundworms would be contagious through feces in the yard but your dog would be covered if he is on a good heartworm and parasites preventative.

Oh no. Well he good news is that Tapeworms are only infective if they are alive and wiggling around. Once that are dead they are no longer infective. Good hygiene practices (washing hands) is generally enough to avoid being infected with them because they have to be digested for transmission.

Yes, Bubba can pass the tapeworm to your cats as well. I would recommend using a product such as Profender in your cats and Drontal Plus in your puppy for treatment of tapeworm if confirmed. I would recommend bringing a fecal sample to a veterinarian as there may be other worms in the stool as well that need a secondary medication for treatment. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

There are intestinal parasites that are contagious to humans. These are hookworms and roundworms. They are contagious via fecal oral contact. Cleaning with regular cleaning products should take care of the problem. And also washing your hands before you eat. I have been in the veterinary profession for 16 years and have never gotten parasites myself. More than likely as long as you're cleaning regularly and washing your hands, you should be OK. Good luck!