I adopted a dog from the animal shelter. The first day I had him, he would not leave my side, I was his best friend. The next day he became very sick. He started coughing, vomiting and he had bad diarrhea. While he was pooping out came four inches of tapeworm. I brought him back to the Humane Society and the Vet gave me dewormer. The next day, he stopped eating and was pooping green liquid. I took him to my regular Vet because the Humane Society had enough of me calling.

Since I’ve had him (5 days). I have dragged him to the vet twice, had his blood drawn, fecal, a bath and pills. I now give him medicine by drops twice a day, which is less stressful for both of us. He has pneumonia and flea dermatitis and he is ten years old.

This morning he tried to nip me and this afternoon he growled when I went near him. He is now hiding under the coffee table and he is been there for hours. How can I get the dog to realize I am not trying to hurt him, I am trying to help him feel better
I’m already in love with the little guy, so I’m just trying to find different ways of letting him know this. I just hope he starts feeling better soon. He coughs so bad, he sounds like a cat choking on a hair ball.

I will not bring him back to the Humane Society (unless it’s to see the Vet), I have tons of patience and lots of love to give.

If you think your cat or dog has tapeworms, yeah the gross little white rice looking things that turn into sesame seeds when dry (proglottids). Yuck!

Not really a question, but for some it might be. Recently you could only get tapeworm pills for cats and dogs through your vet. Many say the over the counter stuff doesn’t work. Well that’s not true anymore, maybe in the past, but not anymore! Now you can get the pills at your local pet store, usually 2 doses worth for about , and cheaper online. It must contain "PRAZIQUANTEL" though. That is the main ingredient that does the trick and is now available over the counter. Tradewinds / AgriLabs is the manufacturer and the pills currently are in blue packaging called "Tape Worm Tabs"

Doses are administered by weight of your pet. Bottle came with 3 tabs, we used 1 1/2. Our cat was showing no signs of worms the very next day! Administering is tricky. We got him to just swallow small bits, they don’t like it mixed with food. Good luck!
Didn’t have enough characters to type. When you get the pills from your vet you get Droncit. Which is the same 23mg of Praziquantel you get in Tape Worm Tabs. It’s mainly convenient for those who might not have the time or patience to deal with their vet. And the vet often charges 0+ for the same pills you can now get for or less.

We did extensive research on this pills before administering and we are happy to say they are the exact same thing and work great! It was only recently that the FDA lifted the prescription only requirements on Praziquantel. That’s why you can now get this stuff over the counter. All the others without that ingredient usually don’t work.

Also, if you can’t get your pet to eat it mixed with food. It must taste terrible! We don’t recommend mixing the pills with water and using a syringe. You could get it into their lungs if not careful. For our kitty, we just made 3 small bits and made him swallow them. If you’re good there’s no risk of choking.
And as mentioned below. You do need to treat for fleas to reduce chances of your pet recontracting the worms. You also should be sure that they are tapeworms and not some other crazy vermin.

If in doubt… go to your vet.