My mom let me know yesterday she found a larger piece of feces in the yard with worms in it, so undoubtedly, it was Koda's, not the chis.

Now I know it pretty much has to be tapeworm, as it's the only one easily seen and the description for it is spot-on. Koda is fine- eats fine, no scooting, weight is okay, I think he only got infectioned about a week ago. But I have never had anything really medical wrong with him (aside from the food issues, but that isn't really a medical deal), so this is a huge deal to me and I am worried as can be.

From what I understand, it comes from either eating a baby flea or eating/licking/sniffing? a dogs' feces that has eggs present in it. I work at a boarding facility and Ko comes for daycare 3x a week or so. I'm imagining a dog had bad poo or a dog had fleas. However, we have never seen any fleas in our facility and I know for a fact there is none in my neighborhood. Koda hasn't been out much the past 3 weeks so it has to be from work.

I get off work in 5 hours and am going to go to the vet to get him dewormed/medication, however the process for that works. But I am terrified of him having/getting fleas now. I do not see any fleas what so ever on him. But if there were some, how would I get rid of them considering he is allergic to the pesticides in the usual cures? I'm not taking him to work anymore, my last day is in 2 weeks and I just don't care to bring him in if a dog is infected here and we don't even know. He will be plenty happy with play dates with Red and hikes/runs. But I want to get this treated, make sure it doesn't happen again, and not be spooked about fleas. Fleas and ticks are not common here in my area so I'm just lost.

Thanks in advance.

I believe Val treats her boy and Chi girls with a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water and has had a lot of success. I know she Val has posted her 'recipe' for it on the forum somewhere in several threads.

Here's what I found from Val in another post:

'...try adding garlic to their food and making a 50/50 mix of ACV and water in a spray bottle and spraying that on their coats. She did and they were completely flea free in two days and they haven't been back since....'

If you cannot find a flea on him, it's unlikely he got the worm from his own fleas. Our outside cat had a tapeworm last month and has never had fleas. She's always treated with Frontline; however, she kills and eats every living, flea-infested creature she can find!
I think Koda contracting the parasite through contact with infected feces is the most likely scenario.
BTW, just the thought of it grossed me out, too!!!

Thanks Claudia, going to do that.

I figured if I don't see anything on him he doesn't have fleas, but it seems so odd he can get tapeworm just from sniffing. He does not eat feces or lick other dogs' butts (grosssss), but I know he is a sniffer. Thanks Lisa!

I wanted to go to the emergency vet to get him dewormed last night, LOL, I'm horrible, I know it's not very serious but I hate my bubs being sick!


By the way, CO friends, are ticks and fleas common at all there? I am wanting to know if I am going to have to plan to be more ontop of it.

Heatherlee wrote:

I wanted to go to the emergency vet to get him dewormed last night, LOL, I'm horrible, I know it's not very serious but I hate my bubs being sick!

By the way, CO friends, are ticks and fleas common at all there? I am wanting to know if I am going to have to plan to be more ontop of it.

I don't like my girl being sick in the slightest either, and I'm also one to head to the vet when I see the slightest symptom of her not being her usual self! I'm just over protective and part of that is being new to being a husky mom. I had a horse, and that seemed to be easier! LOL!

As far as ticks and fleas in Colorado, it is not common, especially in the winter - they cannot survive in the cold. However, if you plan to hike in the woods often, then maybe, but still not common because of the winter here. If anything, pet head lice would be more common than ticks and fleas here. BUT - lice does not like humans and they cannot survive for very long off the host, and is easily treated to get rid of them. Both Ginger and Nikolai picked up lice from the rescue yard where they came from, and I was able to get rid of it within a couple of days with First Shield. I know Koda is allergic to topicals, but ACV and water will get rid of them as well.

Neither Jenn or I have our furkiddes on any flea or tick prevention, so I don't think you'll have to worry about it too much.

Heather,
Claudia is right we do not have a flea issue in CO and i have used some flea/tick stuff in the past and did not like how it affected my 2, they both acted VERY odd right after putting the solution on them so i do not use it. i just go over them really well after hiking and camping for ticks. where we hike it ends up above treeline so we are not in the woods very much. i hope you can get your boy all fixed up!
are you driving or flying out to CO?

Heather, girl you are too funny! Tapeworms are no big deal at all. No reason to rush to the vet for treatment, it's certainly not a serious medical issue.

You could just as easily purchase something over the counter to get rid of the tapeworms. There are two different types of tapeworm and some medications (both prescription and OTC) treat both and some only treat one of them.

When my dogs get tapeworm I buy Worm X Plus worming tablets. You can find them at most Petsmarts and Petcos and also online. I find it a lot cheaper and more convenient than having to take a stool sample to the vet and buy a prescription there.

Even my dogs pick up tapeworm occasionally and none of them have fleas. Another way for them to get tapeworm is by eating or mouthing wild rodents which might be carrying infected fleas. Or possibly tapeworm segments on the ground could have been picked up and ingested ANYWHERE. He could just as easily have picked it up from a walk around the neighborhood as he could have at daycare.

It's definitely not something to be alarmed about or freak out over. Just worms, that's all. Easily treated with a simple worming pill.

This is what I use to get rid of Tapeworm:
Sentry Worm X Plus

One chewable pill and done. And there is no rush to get it either, the tapeworms won't harm him if he has them for several days.

Vals so smart
glad we have you here!

LOL Thanks Jenn.

Btw, I hate the wormer Panacur. Panacur is a wormer that a lot of vets use but it only kills 1 of the two species of tapeworm. Then you have to hope your dog has the species that Panacur kills, otherwise you're back to square one.

Worm X Plus uses praziquantel which kills both species of tapeworm.

I learned this lesson the hard way. When our Glory came to us with tapeworm she was wormed by the vet tech with Panacur. Didn't get rid of the tapeworm at all because she had a different species. After one Worm X Plus pill they were gone for good.

Val, my mom told me she is scared to know what I will be like when I have a baby. I can't even handle the thought. I'm going to act like they're dying when they get their first cold! My mom got some Worm X Plus tablets so hopefully it all works out! Thanks so much for saving me a visit to the vet, lol! I am not very familiar with worms at all. You are a life saver!

I am so glad to hear CO is pretty clear of everything too! I was so worried! And Jenn, we are driving since it's only 12 hours and I would like to tow my car as not to put miles on it. I'm excited!

Glad I could save you a trip to the vet. I always like to keep some Worm X Plus on hand just in case any of my dogs ever get tapeworm. I've only ever needed it twice and none of my dogs have ever gotten it from each other.

LOL I have to agree with your mom, I can't imagine how you'd be with a child if this is how you are with Koda! But that just means you're a good mommy who cares!