26 



Circular 338, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



restlessness, and sometimes crami^s. In heaA'y infestations they may 

 cause an inflanmiation of the digestive tract and occasionally cause 

 occlusion, or stoppage, of the intestine by filling and blocking the 



intestinal lumen. In addition, tape- 

 worms in heavy or even light in- 

 festation may cause more or less 

 well-marked nervous disturbances, 

 in some cases simulating rabies. 

 The passage of a segment or a string 

 of segments through the anus often 

 causes itching or irritation, mani- 

 fested by the dog's sitting down and 

 dragging itself forward on its 

 haunches. This sympto.m is some- 

 times said to be due to pinworms in 

 the dog, but dogs do not have pin- 

 worms. The common double-pored 

 tapeworm is especially likely to 

 cause this symptom, and segments of 

 this worm are sometimes referred to 

 as pinworms or rectal worms. 



Treatment. — ^A treatment which 

 has been much used of late for tape- 

 worms in dogs consists in the ad- 

 ministration of arecoline hydro- 

 bromide in doses of one-eighth grain 

 to small dogs, one-fourth grain to 

 dogs of medium size, and one-half 

 grain to large dogs. The treatment 

 is given in the morning after food 

 has been withheld overnight, and 

 no food is given for three hours 

 after dosing. Xo purgative is given 

 with this drug, as the drug is 

 itself a very fast and effective purga- 

 tive. It is quite safe in the great 

 majority of cases, but in many cases the animal will appear very 

 much depressed and subdued for some time after treatment. Very 

 weak or sick animals must be given diminished doses or given some 

 other and safer treatment if treated at all. In any 

 case, and especially in the case of such sick and weak 

 animals, it is advisable to call in a veterinarian. 

 Other drugs which may be used are those such 

 as oleoresin of male fern, kamala, and freshly 

 ground areca nut. Purgation must be assured in 

 any case for the protection of the animal. 



I 



Fig. 27. — The gid tapeworm, Multiceps 

 multiceps. Entire worm. Actual size. 

 From Han, 1910 



TONGUEWORM INFESTATION 



Fig. 28. — Ejrg of the 

 serrate dog tape- 

 worm. Taenia pisi- 



Cause. — The tongueworm, Linguatiila serrata FroS'iiniiire^islIs 

 (synonym : L. rJiinaria) , is not a true worm, but is 

 a degenerate relative of the spiders, ticks, etc. It lives as an adult in 

 the nostrils of the dog and some other animals, and in this stage it 

 is a wormlike animal with external ringlike segmentation (fig. 30). 



