Worms!!

[critter crazy]

Accckkk....Mocha has what looks like tapeworm! I ahve to take a sample to the vet for verification, But I am pretty sure!

Last night I was cleaning out the Cat littler box, I emptied the litter, and was diposing of it, when Mocha comes in, and decides to do her business before I even replace the litter! After she is done, i go in to clean the box, and there are these tiny little moving worms all over her poo!! Poor Baby!! I feel so bad that i never noticed!

[smokey the elder]

They can give her a Droncit or Drontal pill or shot at the vet. (One is for tapes, the other is more broad spectrum.) They get tapes from flea bites, which are hard to avoid when it gets warm. It's not your fault!

[catmandu]

The good thing is that you actually saw the worms and you know that Mocha needs medicines.
Thats a lot better than finding worms and not knowing where they came from.
We are sending prayers for Sweet Mocha.

[kittycats_delight]

I am going through the same thing with our dog. It is from the ingestion of fleas. The egg for the tapeworm is carried inside fleas. I would think the vet will suggest treating all the furries with frontline or something related and then possibly treating all as a preventative for the tapeworms. So you may have to pill all animals for 3-5 days depending on what your vet suggests. If they are small white moving segments it is tapeworm. Artica is taking panacur. Good luck with this and keep us posted.

[Lizzie]

I hate those tape worm segments than squirm around on their own. I've seen them coming out of a cat's bottom before, and it's 'orrible. Fortuntely, it's easily dealt with. You may have to move to routine flea treatments, such as Revolution, to prevent this happening again.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Sky also had tapeworm and I actually saw a piece of it wiggling out of his bottom. He was shaved down when I adopted him so I could see this area better. He came from the Humane Society and he had fleas which they treated him for but they didn't bother to treat him for worms. I didn't have to treat any of my other cats and I've been using advantage on all of them every month for years so I've never had a flea problem since. Good luck.

[honeybeezercattalina]

None of my cats have had tapeworm, but its not your fault! I think they are caused by fleas biting into the skin. So you should also treat the fleas, which can easily be treated. :] Good luck!

[critter crazy]

Well the vet gave her, and Loki a pill for the worms, loki got one, just to be safe. He checked them all over, as I am very good at flea control, cause I am allergic to fleas. The vet couldnt find any evidence that there have been any fleas on them, and they just got their Frontline last week. So the vet thinks she could have had these since I rescued her, and we just never knew it. Poor baby! But he said teh kitties looked good, and the pill should take care of the Tape worm very quickly. The whole visit only cost me 7$, he just charged me for the pills since, I am what he calls a frequent flyer! I have way too many animals! Hey at least his kids are guaranteed to go to a good college thanks to me!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that they didn't have fleas. Hopefully Mocha's brother doesn't have tapeworm too. You might want to inform your MIL if you haven't done so already.

[critter crazy]

I'm glad to hear that they didn't have fleas. Hopefully Mocha's brother doesn't have tapeworm too. You might want to inform your MIL if you haven't done so already.

Already made the call! Gotta go and get Nemo his meds tomarrow. Wish I had thought anout it while I was at the evts, but didnt think about it till after I got home.

[Catlady711]

Tapeworms are gotten in one of two ways...

Directly injesting a flea (the flea is an intermediate host)

OR

Eating rodents (which carry fleas)

Tapeworms can take about a month to show up in the stool or on the rear, so if you're seeing them now, then it was from about a month ago.

Tapeworms are extremely difficult to diagnose in a fecal exam, it is usually diagnosed when actual tapeworm segments are seen on the pet.

Cornell University

Centers For Disease Control (CDC) Tapeworm

Veterinary Partner-tapeworms

[momcat]

Poor sweet Mocha! Getting Mocha to your vet right away may have prevented a more serious problem with those nasty things. Prayers are being prayed that Mocha and Loki don't have any lasting side effects from this.

[jennielynn1970]

Ick!!! My mom and dad's cat, Squeaks, get them too. Even when he is on Revolution and it's not due to run out for a week, I think the potency goes down. He was a stray that adopted them a few years back, and he refuses to stay inside, so they just treat him with revolution and hope for the best. He is forever bringing them "gifts" of chippies, squirrels, moles, rabbits and mice. Normally he eats the mice, but he deposits the others on step before the main house door. My dad pats him and lets him know that he "done good" in the rodent department, lol.

[Catlady711]

Ick!!! My mom and dad's cat, Squeaks, get them too. Even when he is on Revolution and it's not due to run out for a week, I think the potency goes down. He was a stray that adopted them a few years back, and he refuses to stay inside, so they just treat him with revolution and hope for the best. He is forever bringing them "gifts" of chippies, squirrels, moles, rabbits and mice. Normally he eats the mice, but he deposits the others on step before the main house door. My dad pats him and lets him know that he "done good" in the rodent department, lol.

Revolution will only kill the fleas on your parents cat, not on the rodents the cat eats, that's why the cat is still getting tapeworms.

[Nobas Mom]

So my FIL asked me a question about tapeworm. Apparently his stepdaughter's cat has tapeworms. Their dog has helped himself to the litterbox a few times... *gross* and was wondering if the dog could have caught tapeworms too??? The dog has shown no signs of them, but if it takes a month to show up?????