Nursing bitch and puppies

Question
Hi,i have a 2 yr old staffy nursing her 6,3wk old puppies..mum & pups are all doing fine..i have just wormed all pups with puppy worming syrup,which i also gave to mum..we also have another bitch,the sybling of mum dog,from the same litter..which has recently had worms..upon looking it looked like little bits of rice..what kind of worms are they and what is the correct way to treat?can the nursing bitch have the same worms[none detected in faeces}?and how would i treat this? gratefully yours..Tara..Kent u.k x


Answer
Hi Tara

Without seeing photo (or doing testing) I would guess Tapeworm.  They can look like rice.

The most common tapeworm of dogs (and cats) is called Dipylidium caninum. This parasite attaches to the small intestinal wall by hook-like mouthparts. Eventually, adult tapeworms may reach several inches in length. As the adult matures, individual segments (proglottids) break off from the main body of the tapeworm and pass into the stool.

Occasionally, the mobile segments can be seen crawling near the anus or on the surface of a fresh bowel movement. These segments look like grains of rice and contain tapeworm eggs; the eggs are released into the environment when the segment dries. The dried segments are small (about 1/16", or 2 mm), hard and golden in color. These dried segments can sometimes be seen stuck to the hair around the dog's or cat's rear.

Infection is common!!

A less commonly found tapeworm, called Echinococcus, also occurs in dogs.

It's extremely common for a pregnant female or female that just whelped to have worms.  Some worms lay dormant in the muscle (for years even) and once the female because pregnant she secrets hormones that cause the eggs to "wake up".  

Tapeworm is hard to get rid of and you have to be very diligent with immediate disposal of waste.  A stronger dose of medication would be required to get rid of tapeworm.

Good luck