I frequently inspect the feces of my small dog for parasites. Below is a photo of a tape worm egg that I have recently spotted in a fecal flotation sample.
Tapeworm eggs are shed only intermittently in the feces, so coprological flotation has only low sensitivity for the diagnosis of cestodes.
In this case I was a bit curious because I was not able to match the photo with any of the typical tapeworms canidates that infect dogs. A bit surprisingly I finally identified the egg as Hymenolepis diminuta (eggs of H. diminuta are spherical and measures 60 to 80 µm × 70 µm. The embryo within the egg measures 24 to 30 µm × 16 to 25 µm, three pairs of hooks (hexacanth embryo).
The information below on H. diminuta I have compiled from below article:
https://sciendo.com/article/10.1515/helmin-2016-0032
Hymenolepis diminuta, also known as rat tapeworm, is a common parasite of rodents. Humans or dogs can be infected. Human infections are sporadic but occur worldwide and mainly occur in children. Humans get infected in case of ingestion of intermediate hosts (mainly grain beetles, flour beetles and fleas), possibly with contaminated flour, cereal products, or dried fruits.
Presense of H. diminuta in dogs are very rare, there is only very few data in the literature on the presence of H. diminuta in dogs. In many cases H. diminuta eggs in faces are considered as spurious infections, where just an infected rodent have been ingested.
It is not clear if in case of my dog it was a true infection…I will never know since I have instantly treated the infection with the appropriate deworming medicine.
I hope you find this article interesting. Does anybody in the forum also does coprological flotation for his pets?
Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
- ImperatorRex
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Re: Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
Well for the dog...
it pays to have a doctor in the family !
it pays to have a doctor in the family !
Re: Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
I also check fecal samples from time to time with the various animals that find themselves in my care. I use both passive floatation or a McMaster slide depending of what I'm trying to do (identify presence vs estimate load)ImperatorRex wrote: ↑Fri Jun 02, 2023 9:44 pmI hope you find this article interesting. Does anybody in the forum also does coprological flotation for his pets?
- ImperatorRex
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Re: Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
Hi Dennis
Hi dtsh,
Even better that I have a rason or excuse for my hobby, ...hey wife.. "I need more time and microscopes because I need to examine the feces of the dog"Well for the dog...it pays to have a doctor in the family !
Hi dtsh,
Very interesting! For what animals do you evaluate the load? Maybe cattle or sheeps that always seem to have kind of prasite load?I also check fecal samples from time to time with the various animals that find themselves in my care. I use both passive floatation or a McMaster slide depending of what I'm trying to do (identify presence vs estimate load)
Re: Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
ImperatorRex wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 2:18 pmHi DennisEven better that I have a rason or excuse for my hobby, ...hey wife.. "I need more time and microscopes because I need to examine the feces of the dog"Well for the dog...it pays to have a doctor in the family !
Hi dtsh,Very interesting! For what animals do you evaluate the load? Maybe cattle or sheeps that always seem to have kind of prasite load?I also check fecal samples from time to time with the various animals that find themselves in my care. I use both passive floatation or a McMaster slide depending of what I'm trying to do (identify presence vs estimate load)
For me it's an overlap of several hobbies and interests. I have some canines and equines I care for that I check occasionally, plus we have a variety of wildlife that leave deposits but there's always so much else to do. I probably would have gotten a microscope even if I didn't have animals, but it does have utility. I wouldn't consider myself particularly skilled at the process, but I realize that comes with repetition.
- ImperatorRex
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Re: Rat tapeworm egg in dog feces
Thank you dtsh for sharing the details!