Tapeworm And Pyrantel

[sandgrubber]

I wormed my three dogs with pyrantel [the PLUS ingredient in Heartguard Plus] a few days back. We can buy pyrantel in bulk in the US . . . it's a good, safe, and easy to use wormer, and very cheap. The day after being wormed, the puppy crapped out a jointed string of tapeworm ycch, maybe 4 cm long. Very clearly tapeworm and not roundworm. There were also a few smaller white bits that looked like grains of rice, and they squirmed around in the fresh pooh, just as in the descriptions of tapeworm. I've hit roundworm before, many times, but never tapeworm. I routinely observe the dogs poohs to look for possible problems, like excessive ingestion of tennis balls, and have seen none in the other dogs.

Funny thing is, pyrantel is not supposed to be effective for tapeworm. I've gone ahead and ordered a broad spectrum wormer that handles both forms of tapeworm, and I figure it won't hurt to do all the dogs one time.

Am I going overboard? Is it likely that the pyrantel is actually killing the tapeworm, and further wormers are not required?

[aliwake]

My vet said it doesn't hurt to worm more frequently than recommended - it just gets expensive. Each dose will kill what worms are there at that particular time.

I have no ideal about pyrantel, but in theory it won't hurt to worm them all again just to be sure.

[LisaCC]

My boy had tape worm when he was little, even though I had been up to date with puppy Drontal. Vet said that often tapeworm needs a higher dose, so we had to double up and then continue with a wormer with Prazequantal from the vet every two weeks for about 3 treatments, then back to monthly until 6 months. Even though there was zero signs of fleas on him, I also had to treat for all stages of fleas incase he had eaten one from somewhere.

Edited January 22, 2014 by LisaCC

[Steve]

I wormed my three dogs with pyrantel [the PLUS ingredient in Heartguard Plus] a few days back. We can buy pyrantel in bulk in the US . . . it's a good, safe, and easy to use wormer, and very cheap. The day after being wormed, the puppy crapped out a jointed string of tapeworm ycch, maybe 4 cm long. Very clearly tapeworm and not roundworm. There were also a few smaller white bits that looked like grains of rice, and they squirmed around in the fresh pooh, just as in the descriptions of tapeworm. I've hit roundworm before, many times, but never tapeworm. I routinely observe the dogs poohs to look for possible problems, like excessive ingestion of tennis balls, and have seen none in the other dogs.

Funny thing is, pyrantel is not supposed to be effective for tapeworm. I've gone ahead and ordered a broad spectrum wormer that handles both forms of tapeworm, and I figure it won't hurt to do all the dogs one time.

Am I going overboard? Is it likely that the pyrantel is actually killing the tapeworm, and further wormers are not required?

If you have fleas you have tape worm.

http://www.2ndchance.info/tapeworm.htm

[Steve]

This one explains the whole Pyrantel hook worm thing

http://animalpetdoctor.homestead.com/intestinalparasites.html

[sandgrubber]

This one explains the whole Pyrantel hook worm thing

http://animalpetdoct...lparasites.html

Good one. Thanks.

Mine could have gotten either the rodent or the flea version of tapeworm, as they catch and eat rodents and get the occasional flea. I've ordered a broad spectrum with Prazinquantel ... sounds like it's advisible to do a repeat dose later on.