Adopted dog has tapeworms. When did he get them? Do I treat my yard?

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Jasper. Congrats on your new dog! That is a roundworm. You will need to deworm him. I would get Panacur from the vet to treat the worms. It's a three day course of treatment, and you will need to give a second course two weeks after the first one finishes to kill all the worms. He should then be dewormed every three months. I hope this helps!

Based on the photo, these look like tapeworm segments. Tapeworms are harder to kill than most other intestinal parasites, so in most states you will need to get a prescription dewormer from a vet to get rid of them. As far as disinfection goes - tapeworms have an indirect life cycle, so they cannot be contracted directly from coming into contact with an infected dogs feces. Dogs normally get them either from swallowing a flea, or from eating roadkill or some type of rodent. So you don't need to worry about your yard - the best way to prevent tapeworms is to keep your dog on a good quality flea medication, and keep them from eating dead things outside. They cannot get tapeworms directly from the ground, so this should not be a concern :)

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your foster puppies. That is a tricky situation with the foster group. I do believe that the puppies require veterinary care. Fecal testing should be performed as puppies many times have multiple parasites. This allows the doctor to pick the best medication or medications to treat them. Some parasites, including roundworms can be transmitted to people. Transmission to humans is rare, but having infected puppies in your home could place you at risk. Tapeworms are most commonly spread to dogs through the ingestion of rodents or if the puppies have fleas. Flea control may be discussed. I recommend telling the rescue group about your decision to seek veterinary care and see if there is a veterinarian that they prefer that you use. Ultimately, the puppies need to be seen. I hope this information helps!

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.

You are correct. He has what appears to be tapeworms, which is caused by either fleas (most common cause) or ingesting another pets feces that has worms in it. I would notify the friend, get him on a flea preventative if not on one already, and then take him to your friends approved vet who can then treat for the tapeworms. These are usually easily resovled with 1 dose of specific dewormer for tapeworms. THese worms are transmissible (hand-to mouth) to people, so its best to always use good hygiene practices and keep young kids away from the pet until the worms are resolved. I hope that your friends pup Roxx gets rid of these worms soon. Best of luck and take care.

If they look like grains of rice it could be tapeworms which can be contracted from fleas. It could also be he is gotten reinfected if the eggs of the previous worms are in his environment such as in the backyard. There are over-the-counter flea medications that will take care of various intestinal parasites including tapeworms. However he should also be on a routine flea preventative to prevent re-infections.

Dogs typically get tapeworms from eating infected fleas, not cockroaches. If Hummer Shaggy (who is very cute!) ate a cockroach, then he won't get tapeworms from that. It's important to make sure that he does have flea treatment given month to prevent him from getting fleas and subsequently tapeworms. I imagine he goes outside to go potty, and even that would be enough to cause him to get fleas. Fleas can also be carried inside by other animals and humans (on their clothes). I recommend using a product such as Revolution or Advantage. I hope this helps :-)