Tapeworms?

[Edgar]

I'm wondering what tapeworms look like.

Today my pup Blitz pooped what I thought was maybe some sort of string or piece of cloth he managed to eat (he eats everything). It was white (about as thick as a shoelace), about 5 inches long, and had a lil chuck of poop attached to it. I should have inspected it much closer because now I'm thinking maybe it was a tape worm??

I guess I'll have to take a stool sample to the vet. I hope its not tapeworms cause I'm always snuggling with the little guy which could mean I'll get them too!! eek

[kendalyn]

How has his weight been? (and yours for that matter) If he has tape worms I'm pretty sure he will start losing weight. I'd still take a sample in if you have doubts though.

[Edgar]

His weight is actually pretty good, I'll post some shots of him in the pictures section. I got pretty paranoid so I went through the garbage and found the poop in question. Definately not a worm, it actually was a piece of string *sigh* I have to keep him away from every little thing! Especially socks...

I'll still have him checked for any sort of critters though.

[imported_Cassie]

Good thing is was only a shoe lace! :lol:
With tapeworms the look like small peices of dried rice which appear at around the bum and can stick to the hair. They appear to look like dried peices of rice, or when they are fresh they can look like plump peices of rice and can move...each of the segments on a tapeworm has its own reproductive system...
Now roundworms are different, their eggs are hatched and go out with the dogs feces..the eggs are microscopic....I have seen dogs vomit up roundworms with heavy infestations and some times you will see an actual worm come out in the feces....they can be long and look like a peice of string. Humans can get roundworms and can be very dangerous especially to children...the microscopic eggs can stick to the dogs rear end and by petting the dog a child or adult can get them on their hands...if you don't wash before eating or putting your fingers in your mouth....well, you can be infected....the eggs can also lay dorment in the soil for years....when your dog has a bowel movement and is infected with roundworms the eggs can stay in the environment and can be picked up by local children, or dogs etc.
What I do is, I have my dogs checked every 3 months for worms..I take a lovely little package to my Vets containing a fecal sample from my dogs....they check for a few different types of worms...then I only treat if necessary.