Your pet could have either of these worms without the adult parasites ever being shed into the stool. The adult tapeworm is several feet long, but usually you see only tapeworm segments that look like either sesame seeds or rice. Tapeworms are ivory colored and flat in shape. Roundworms are ivory colored, round (not flat) in shape, and about 4 to 6 inches long. The only parasites that can be seen in the stool with the naked eye are roundworms and tapeworms. Diagnosis of these parasites requires your veterinarian or their laboratory finding either the microscopic parasite or its egg in the stool. Giardia and coccidia are protozoa that can be transmitted directly from animals to your pet, or your pet can be exposed from contaminated water. Other parasites can live in the intestine that are not worms such as one-celled organisms called protozoa, which are also prevalent parasites among pets. The intermediate host is required, if a pet eats an adult tapeworm or tapeworm segment, it will not cause tapeworms to grow in its intestine. The dog or cat eats the intermediate host containing the tapeworm egg, and the tapeworm completes its life cycle to develop into an adult in the intestine of the dog or cat. Other intermediate hosts can be mice, rats, or rabbits. This parasite is different though, in that it requires transmission through an intermediate host, most commonly a flea. Tapeworms are another very common intestinal parasite of dogs and cats. The eggs are ingested by the pet and the life cycle is completed when the worm grow into an adult in the intestine of a new host. These parasites shed their infective eggs in the pet’s stool and contaminate the environment some eggs can live on yards or fields for years. Worms such as roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms are very common in almost all parts of the world. There are many types of parasites that are found in the GI tract of cats and dogs.
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