Continued from last week
So, now back to the wretched tapeworm.
Signs of a tapeworm
infestation
You may recall that last week’s The Pet Corner ex-plained that the mature segments of the adult tapeworm are expelled with the animal’s stool. As a result, you can sometimes actually see the segments crawling on the surface of a freshly deposited lump of faeces. In fact, I would go so far as to say that if you see on the stool any moving organism that is flat and white and just under a centimetre in length with the width of an uncooked rice grain – that is a tapeworm!
In addition, the ripe segments can, on their own volition, spontaneously crawl out of the anus, and can be seen on the hair around the anal area. These look like flat rice grains, especially when they are dead or are on the point of dying. The itching sensation caused by tapeworms in and around the anus causes the animal to rub its behind on the ground (‘scooting’).
Moreover, there are some distinct patho-physiological symptoms that are associated with a tapeworm burden:
– The dog’s/cat’s coat loses its sheen and becomes rough and shaggy – with a tendency to become knotted. In fact, there are many like myself who believe that dogs/cats with heavy tapeworm infestations are prone to exhibiting acute or chronic, non-contagious, inflammatory conditions of the skin (like eczema). I have never seen such a connection described in the literature, but many of us have been able to make this empirical observation.
Of course, some of the skin bruising would emanate from the frenzied scratching of the skin to dislodge the fleas that are the intermediary hosts of the tapeworm. I should mention that the eradication of the fleas from the dog/cat does not mean that there will be no tapeworms in the dog/cat. The damage could already have been done when the first flea (with its ingested tapeworm egg) arrived on the dog and was eaten by the dog.
– There could be a soft stool – not to be confused with a true diarrhoea. You remember that I said that the head of the tapeworm has both suckers and hooks which ensure an attachment on the gut wall. Well, that alone would create an inflammatory process in the intestine that could result in a mild diarrhoea.
– Sometimes the ball of tapeworms in the gut is so big as to present a situation whereby the intestinal canal is virtually blocked up. The animal would then exhibit vomiting. The loss of appetite and loss of weight are often associated with a tapeworm burden. Actually, ‘loss of appetite’ may be an incorrect description of what happens. Often the appetite could be described as capricious. In other words, the dog eats well on one day then goes off food on the next. This brings us to an interesting point.
You know, when a child (or a pet for that matter) consumes a lot of food, the parents and friends often say ‘That child eating like it got worms’ – meaning that the worms are helping to consume the great amount of food eaten by the child. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. The child/pet with a heavy worm burden will in fact lose its appetite and eat less!
Beside the unthriftiness and a general lethargy, the pet infested with tapeworm may show signs of irritability and a change of character. In some rare cases, we have seen symptoms of severe colic and even epilepsy-like seizures. Skin problems are often associated with tapeworm burdens. Yet, in many reliable textbooks on the subject of tapeworms one can read the sentence, “Adult Tapeworms in the intestines of dogs and cats rarely cause serious disease.” Well, don’t you believe it! If your dog/cat has tapeworms, get rid of them.
In closing, I must mention that there is one way (not foolproof) to ascertain the presence of tapeworms in the animal’s gut. One could have a stool sample examined for the tapeworm’s eggs. How-ever, one negative result does not mean that the animal is not infested. The test would have to be repeated.
Next week we’ll deal with the treatment and control of tapeworms.
Please implement disease preventative measures (vaccinations, routine dewormings, monthly anti-heartworm medication, etc) and adopt-a-pet from the GSPCA’s Animal Clinic and Shelter at Robb Street and Orange Walk, if you have the wherewithal to care well for the animals. Do not stray your unwanted pets; take them to the GSPCA Clinic and Shelter instead. If you see anyone being cruel to an animal, get in touch with the Clinic and Shelter by calling 226-4237.
