# Tapeworms



## hecallsmebama (Mar 31, 2016)

Amos (now 7 months old) has had tapeworms four or five times since coming home to us at two months. The first couple of times we just treated with an RX from the vet. Then when he was six months old, we switched his de wormer to one that covered tapeworms. He's had them twice since then...so we treated with the RX again each time. The vet keeps explaining that they get them from ingesting fleas that have tapeworm eggs. I've never seen a flea on Amos and he's not an itchy dog. I just feel like there's something else going on. He's on flea and tick meds and has been for a while. IF this truly the only scenario in which a dog can get tapeworms, then my only other suspicion is he could be eating bugs when he gnaws on sticks in the yard. He does pull a lot of half rotten logs and sticks out of the woods and chews them up leaving them shredded in little piles everywhere. Anyone have any ideas of how's hes getting the tapeworms? Ideas for prevention? Ideas for how to keep a dog away from sticks? ???


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

It sounds like he is not being reinfected, but possibly not getting rid of all the worms when treated. 
Are you just worming him once, or following up with a second dose. Most require a second dose when it comes to tapeworms. Also helps to add lots of high fiber during the treatment. You might want to consider adding diatomaceous earth to his food.
To make sure he is worm free have a vet check the stool sample once you've completed the treatment.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

and just to add..I'd recommend not letting your pup chew sticks, it can lead to all sorts of internal injuries.


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## hecallsmebama (Mar 31, 2016)

Thanks for thoughts and guidance. Harrigab, we have yet to figure out how to keep the sticks away from him. When there are none say at a friends house, he will pull branches off bushes to create them. Our property is not fenced (yet) and he has access to wooded wetlands (a bounty of tree bones!). When he was super small, he would actually eat them. It was super stressful to take him outside. We did discourage that and redirected. Now he just mutilates them. It's still a risk, I know, but it feels like progress to me. We do a lot of frisbee with him and don't allow a ton of open free play since that's how he tends to spend his time. But because of that, it limits his outdoor time.


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