However, the eggs of the dog tapeworm are passed in the feces and eaten by the larvea of fleas or biting lice. Cats become accidentally infected by eating infected fleas or lice. The dog tapeworm requires two to three weeks to develop into a segment-shedding tapeworm in the cat. The fully grown tapeworm may reach 30 cm in length. Life cycle of the broad tapeworm Figure 3.
Many segments release their eggs until the end segments become empty.
These empty segments detach in long chains instead of individually as do the segments of the dog and cat tapeworms. Eggs of the broad tapeworm must then develop in water for several weeks before becoming infective. The larva released from the egg develops into a solid worm-like larva in the copepod. The larva matures into an adult tapeworm when the cat eats the infected fish. These parasites may be 3 - 10 m long.