|
Most urban dogs and cats eat prepared foods and have restricted access to natural prey. Such animals may acquire
Dipylidium
caninum
(the double-pored dog tapeworm) from fleas. Cats with access to infected house (or outdoor) mice and rats also can acquire
Taenia
taeniaeformis
. Suburban, rural, and hunting dogs have more access to various small mammals, in addition to raw meat and offal from domestic and wild ungulates. A number of cestodes can be expected in such dogs (see
Table:
Cestodes of Dogs and Cats in North America). On sheep ranges and wherever wild ungulates and wild canids are common, dogs may acquire
Echinococcus
granulosus
(the hydatid tapeworm). Sylvatic
E
multilocularis
(the alveolar hydatid tapeworm), previously known only from arctic North America, has been found in midwestern and western USA and Canada but, thus far, infections in cats or dogs are rare.
Spirometra
mansonoides
is an uncommon (but not rare) parasite of cats and occasionally of dogs along the eastern and Gulf Coast areas of North America. |
| Association with infected dogs may result in human infection with metacestodes of
E
granulosus
,
E
multilocularis
,
Taenia
multiceps
,
T
serialis
, or
T
crassiceps
in various tissues (by ingestion of eggs passed in dog feces), or adult
D
caninum
in the intestine (by ingestion of infected fleas). The presence of metacestodes in livestock may limit commercial use of such carcasses or offal meats. Thus, cestodes of dogs and cats may be of both economic and public health importance (see
Table:
Cestodes of Public Health Importance). |
| Adult cestodes in the intestine of dogs and cats rarely cause serious disease, and clinical signs, if present, may depend on the degree of infection, age, condition, and breed of host. Clinical signs vary from unthriftiness, malaise, irritability, capricious appetite, and shaggy coat to colic and mild diarrhea; rarely, intussusception of the intestine, emaciation, and seizures are seen. |
|
Diagnosis is based on finding proglottids or eggs in the feces. The eggs of
Taenia
spp
and
Echinococcus
spp
cannot be differentiated by microscopic examination. Direct microscopic examination of fecal samples or fecal flotation may reveal the eggs of
Spirometra
mansonoides
, which are sometimes mistaken for trematode eggs, although they are larger and possess an operculum that is often difficult to see. |
| Control of tapeworms of dogs and cats requires therapy and prevention. Animals that roam freely usually become reinfected by ingestion of metacestodes in carrion or prey animals.
Dipylidium
caninum
is different because it can cycle through fleas that may be associated with confined infected animals. An accurate diagnosis is necessary for effective advice on preventing reinfection. |
| Effective treatment should remove the attached scolices from the small intestine of infected animals. (See
Table:
Cestodes of Dogs and Cats in North America for specific approved treatments.) For dogs, it should be noted that dichlorophene, fenbendazole, mebendazole, and nitroscanate are approved for treatment of
Taenia
spp
, and that mebendazole is approved for treatment of
Echinococcus
spp
. Likewise, for cats, dichlorophene, fenbendazole, and mebendazole are approved for treatment of
Taenia
spp
, and mebendazole and praziquantel are approved for treatment of
Echinococcus
spp
. |
| Praziquantel at 7.5 mg/kg, PO, for 2 consecutive days is effective against
Diphyllobothrium
sp
in dogs. Furthermore, a single dose of 35 mg/kg, PO, eliminates
D
latum
from infected cats. |
| Infections with
S
mansonoides
in dogs can be treated with praziquantel at 7.5 mg/kg, PO, for 2 consecutive days.
Spirometra
sp
infections in cats can be treated with a single dose of praziquantel at 30 mg/kg, SC, IM, or PO. |
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