has anyone else had a bun with a tapeworm?

[victoria nicole]

hi. i was just wondering if any of you had a rabbit that had a tapeworm? my 3 month old lionhead fufsy had one. apparently she got it before we even got her. prolly from the place she came from or the petstore /: but we took her to the rabbit vet back in august, around the 12th and he gave her a shot. i cant remember what its called, but it started with a “p”?

but anyway, he said the shot would take care of it unless she was exposed to the tapeworm again. i don’t think the chances of her getting exposed again are high, since she lives indoors and we cleaned EVERYTHING after we found out she was diagnosed. but i’m still worried of the chance that it could come back or if i caught it somehow? 

please tell me about your experinces with your rabbits and tapeworms. id like to know how everything turned out :3

thank you!

[jerseygirl]

If you monitor her weight gain closely you should get and idea if the medicine has worked on not. I just read Praziquantel
is used for tape worm infection. Is that what she was given?

[victoria nicole]

Yes that is what she was given. And she has gotten alot bigger since the shot and her fur looks healthier. Are tapeworms in rabbits zoonotic disease? Ive read some places it is, others its not and can only be transferred to a human if you actually eat your rabbit D: which id never do. But some say you can get it from contaminated feces?

[tobyluv]

One of the bunnies that I have now was found on the side of the road and she had tapeworms, probably from eating contaminated grass. She got an injection of Droncit (the same thing your bunny got) and that cleared up the tapeworm. Neither my husband, my other bunny, nor I got tapeworm.

[victoria nicole]

Posted By tobyluv on 09/23/2011 07:19 AM
One of the bunnies that I have now was found on the side of the road and she had tapeworms, probably from eating contaminated grass. She got an injection of Droncit (the same thing your bunny got) and that cleared up the tapeworm. Neither my husband, my other bunny, nor I got tapeworm.

aw, well good thing its all clearned up now! so it hasnt came back at all? :o ive been wanting to bring fufsy back in to the vet for a checkup, but my mom thinks im overreacting bc the vet said that 1 shot would kill the parasite completely. good thing your other bunn or you guys didnt get it either. that would be terrible D: after she got rid of her worm, did you notice changes in her weight/fur?

 

[tobyluv]

My bunny was very malnourished and had coccidia as well as tapeworm. Her first fecal samples didn’t show the tapeworm, just the coccidia, for which she was treated (liquid medicine in her water). It was a day or two later that I saw droppings with tapeworms and took those in to the vet to be examined. That’s when he confirmed the tapeworm and she got the injection of Droncit. She started getting better almost immediately, and putting on weight and looking healthier overall. And her tail filled in. When we found her, her tail had no fur on it. It looked like a tiny mouse tail.

[victoria nicole]

oh wow! you basically rescued the little thing. im glad she is better now and i hope she will stay healthy and happy :3 is droncit the same thing as Praziquantel? thats what the vet said he gave fufsy a shot of i believe. comparing your experience to mine, it seems like fufsy is rid of it now also bc she gained weight and looks better overall. my mom is wanting to go to the doctor to make sure we dont have it, though. is this even necessary? 

[tobyluv]

Yes, Droncit and Praziquantel are the same thing. Droncit is a brand name. I really don’t think that it’s necessary for you and your mother to go to the doctor. My bunny probably got tapeworm by eating grass where other animals (that had worms) had gone to the bathroom. Even if you handled your bunny’s droppings with your bare hands, I don’t think that tapeworm could be transmitted to you. I’m certainly no expert on tapeworms, but you would probably only get it through more direct contact, as in ingesting droppings.

I just checked to see how a doctor would diagnose tapeworm in people. They would collect stool samples over a period of a few days, and might also take blood tests or other tests. Here is a link to the page that I read:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tapeworm/DS00659/DSECTION=tests-and-diagnosis

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