Canine Intestinal Parasites: Cookie Has Tapeworm Infection
Dogs normally get tapeworm infection by ingesting an intermediate host—a flea.
Cookie never had fleas, though. So how did it happen?
Cookie’s story
Hunting and snacking on rodents has backfired. Cookie has tapeworm infection.
In theory, we knew this could happen. In practice, this is really our first experience with intestinal parasites. Jasmine did have roundworms once when she was little. Other than that, our dogs never had this issue. But life up here, in the wilderness, is different. Places to see, critters to hunt and snack on.
We cannot practically prevent Cookie from hunting the little critters and we couldn’t take that fun away from her anyway.
That means we have to become much more vigilant and get on parasite watch and see what we can do in terms of natural prevention.
Tapeworm infection symptoms
Potential symptoms of severe tapeworm infection include:
- weight loss
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- lethargy
- swollen abdomen
- dull coat
We caught it early
Cookie did not have any symptoms.
It was sheer luck we found out when we did. So it happened that after major snowfall we got a warm day when the snow partially melted and then froze with a thick hard crust. Because this is unsafe to let Cookie running through that like a fool, she’s doomed to leashed walks and runs until the snow melts, hardens all the way through or gets thick enough cover of fresh stuff on top of it.
I was taking her for her morning walk when I noticed something below her bum.
It wasn’t snow. It was not moving and kind of looked like a piece of thread and later it was gone. That’s what I concluded it was – a piece of thread from something.
Later that day I noticed another one, at about the same location. That, I thought, was strange. And I couldn’t really figure out where all those pieces of thread would be coming from. As it was at the beginning of the walk, by the time we came back home I forgot all about it.
Crawling out of Cookie’s rectum
The next morning I saw one actually crawl out of her bum.
Ok, this was alive, moving, crawling out of her bum. This was a worm! Kind of looked like roundworm but it was kind of short for that. Also, even though it looked white, it was kind of semitransparent.
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| This is exactly what I saw. Photo and video by Artem Castillo |
Tapeworm didn’t even cross my mind.
I was under the impression that the segments would look like segments. Kind of like a grain of rice, as it is often described. I didn’t expect it to be this long and squirm around.
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| This is what I would have expected to see. Image Little Creek Veterinary Clinic |
It wasn’t until I discussed it with Dr. Krista who pointed me in the right direction that I confirmed that it indeed is a tapeworm.
Called up the vet and they prepared the meds for Cookie. She got her first dose yesterday.
Not knowing how long Cookie has had this, I got also wondering whether this could have been behind Cookie’s elevated ALT.
Most vets whom I asked said it would not. Jasmine’s vet, though, said that if it is a flea-transmitted tapeworm it wouldn’t but if Cookie has a large tapeworm burden that may have caused the elevation.
How did Cookie get infected?
I always thought that tapeworms come either from fleas or uncooked pork.
Turns out that there is more than one kind of tapeworms and all kinds of ways a dog can contract them.
Dogs most commonly acquire Dipylidium caninum that does come from ingestion of fleas. But dogs who have access to various small mammals can also get other kinds. I always thought tapeworm was a tapeworm. Apparently not.
They can also be found in all kinds of places, such as body cavities, liver, even connective tissue.
That’s life in the wilderness for you.
Cookie is being treated and I’ll be looking into ways of prevention. And well be keeping an even closer eye on the poop. Until now, when it was good and solid, we didn’t examine it further. Now we’re gonna have to.
I’ll be also kind of curious to see whether getting rid of this might get the ALT back to where it belongs.