Tapeworms?

About a month ago we adopted a 5 yo Chihuahua mix from our local SPCA. He had been rescued from a hoarder in Kentucky who had 25+ animals in a hotel room. Along with the psychological issues, he's been pretty sickly.

He was on the tail end of Kennel Cough only to relapse 10 days later. Our vet gave him cough meds and antibiotics. After his follow up - during which he received a spotless bill of health - we noticed the dreaded "rice" segments in his poop. We also found moving segments in the last pieces of his poop.

Another trip to the vet confirmed that he had/has tapeworms. The vet prescribed Panacur but after reading about the potential side effects and considering everything he's been through we decided to take a more natural course of treatment.

So two weeks ago we started him on a diet of cooked ground beef and turkey mixed with a grain free kibble. We added canned pumpkin, carrots run through the food processor, coconut oil, and a weight based dose of ground organic raw pumpkin seed. I understand that the pumpkin seeds will actually paralyze the tapeworms, allowing them to pass in the dog's feces. The orange veggies along with the coconut oil are supposed to help kill both the parasites and the young worms.

After a week, none of the segments were moving and we weren't finding any in his bed. So we figured we were on the right track.

This morning, however, he suddenly started throwing up phlegm. Shortly thereafter he had liquid diarrhea which quickly turned bloody. Over the course of the next couple of hours we were finding small segments of tissue mixed with the bloody diarrhea. I was beginning to fear that he had HGE.

Every time he drank water he would throw it back up. Then he squatted and I was expecting more bloody liquid but what came out was a clump of what looks like raw chicken liver laced through with thin, flat strands at least two inches long.

I don't know if this pic is going to show up or not.



From the images I've seen on Google, these look like full tapeworms.

He's still not great, he's still throwing up water because he drinks so much even though we're trying to control his intake. And he's still very weak. Not interested in eating at all.

All the vets around us are closed today because of Labor Day but if he's not at least a little better in the morning, we're going to take him to the vet.

Just wanted a few more pairs of eyes to take a look at this photo (if it appears)

Thanks for your help

Poor little chap. It looks as if he has lost his bowel lining along with the tapeworm. I think you are definitely going to need your vet's help asap. Until you can get there, keep him warm, and try keep him hydrated with frequent but small quantities of water. I would be inclined to add a little glucose for energy.

Thank you, Carole. Moonshine (I neglected to mention his name) has had such a hard life. It breaks our hearts to think about all the animals both there with him and the millions of others in similar and worse situations.

I'm planning to get him to the vet first thing in the morning. Right now we're giving him a couple of tablespoons of diluted Pedialyte every 15-20 minutes and he seems to be keeping that down. Hopefully the electrolytes will help to keep him stable overnight.

We just lost Molly, our oldest dog and another rescue, on July 14. She was ~16 and we had her for 13 years. She passed at home so our younger dog, Haley, was able to say goodbye. Haley was still just devastated so we adopted Moonshine to give her a companion. They hit it off immediately and now Haley's so worried about him.

Haley was pregnant when she got to the shelter but she was so malnourished that both of her puppies were stillborn. She has such a strong maternal instinct that she never got to fulfill so she's like the resident nurse.

We're hoping and praying that he'll be OK. We just have to get him through the night.

Thanks again for the quick response.

With internal parasites you should always use pharmaceutical products such as Panacur or Drontal. Homeopathic methods just will not work I'm afraid. I do hope little Moonshine pulls through and you get seen quickly by a vet xx

I usually am not a fan of homeopathic remedies either... But I've ALWAYS had success wiping out tapeworm specifically in dogs with Cayenne Pepper tablets. After a week or two... The worms are almost always totally wiped out. In an area with bad cases of fleas, you'll see tapeworm if your dog gets a flea infestation. The tablets have not once failed. Not saying they will work on your dog, but that's my go to for tapeworm... Which can be sorta hard to eradicate, unlike roundworm.

Thanks everyone! The vet ruled out HGE, which is a, huge relief. He gave Moonshine a Panacur injection, some fluids, a shot of anti-nausea med, and a prescription for both anti-nausea and anti-diarrhea tablets.

He also told us that the red tissue in the picture was most likely mucous because it had shrunk away to almost nothing overnight.

We're still waiting for the blood test results but his stool samples came back negative for any other parasites besides the tapeworm infestation.

We're to feed Moonshine rice with a little bit of boiled chicken for the next several days and to continue the diluted Pedialyte for a few more days.

Moonshine is still very lethargic and completely disinterested in eating anything. I figure all the meds probably have him on the dopey side and that he'll be a bit better tomorrow and perhaps be more inclined to eat. He was not very happy with me after I gave him the anti-diarrhea med...

Haley's ecstatic that we brought him home even if he's not himself yet. She ran up to him and gave his face a thorough licking. Then she ran through the house like a black streak barking every step of the way.