Upon discovering the presence of tapeworms in a dog, quite often owners are concerned about the chances of them being transmitted to their other household pets or even to themselves and their family members. Only by understanding the lifecycle of tapeworms can owners relax and take better care of their pets.
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Identification
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Tapeworms, parasites belonging to the species Dipylidium caninum, tend to live and thrive in the dog's small intestine.Their presence is often confirmed by owners seeing ''rice shaped segments'' near the dog's rectum, on stools or on surfaces where the dog sleeps.
Misconceptions
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Owners often believe that the rice shaped segments are the actual worms. In reality, these are just segments of the worm containing sacs of eggs; the actual tapeworm is a long worm whose head is actually hooked onto the dog's intestinal wall.
Life Cycle
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Once outside a dog, the rice like segments dry up and release eggs that are often eaten by flea larvae. Once the infected flea larvae grow, they live on dogs, which may groom themselves and accidentally ingest an infected flea, giving the tapeworm a chance to start its lifecycle over again.
Transmission
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Other pets and humans can theoretically get tapeworms, but in order to do so they must ingest an infected flea. In humans, this is a rare occurrence.
Solution
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Tapeworms are killed by giving the dog a dewormer in the form of a pill or a shot. However, in order to prevent the dog or other pets from reacquiring tapeworms, all fleas and flea eggs in the environment must be killed as well.
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