An Echinococcus infection is harder to diagnose than Dipylidium because the segments are small and invisible to the naked eye. Small children are more at risk as they are less concerned with hygiene than adults.Īnother less common group of tapeworms called Echinococcus poses a more significant threat to human health because it can cause a rare but potentially fatal disease.
It's rare, but people can also become infected with Dipylidium caninum tapeworms by eating a contaminated flea. Tapeworms are more common in environments that are heavily infested with fleas, increasing the risk of infection in dogs and cats of all breeds, ages, and sex. It hatches and then attaches itself to the intestinal lining, completing its lifecycle. Once the cat ingests the flea, the tapeworm egg is released unharmed inside the cat's intestine. If the infected flea lands on a cat and the cat consumes it (for instance, during grooming), the cat will also become infected. Flea larvae eat the tapeworm eggs, which then develop as the larvae mature into adult fleas. The worms must first pass through an intermediate host before they can infect the cat.Ĭats get tapeworms by eating infected small animals like mice or infected fleas. Unlike other intestinal parasites (such as hookworms and roundworms), cats cannot get tapeworm infection by eating the eggs. Once tapeworms start growing, the segments (called proglottids) fill with eggs and separate from the body, looking like grains of rice that pass through stool. These worms have a segmented body and a head with hooks and suckers. They're flat, long worms with varying lengths (adult tapeworm can measure anywhere from six to 23 inches). Tapeworms are among the few types of worms that you can see with the naked eye.
Several types of tapeworm are known to infect animals, but the most common tapeworm in cats is Dipylidium caninum. Tapeworms are common parasites that live in a cat's intestines. By enrolling your cat at a young, healthy age, the insurance policy can cover treatment costs for conditions like tapeworm infection. Pro Tip: All pet insurance policies generally cover kittens as young as eight weeks old.
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