Help! Sky Has Worms!

**krazyaboutkatz** · 09-01-2003, 12:58 AM

Hi everyone. A few minutes ago I saw a very small white worm on my coffee table. This is where Sky loves to sit. I killed it and then thought that I'd better check out Sky. He's been having some sneezing attacks the last few days but I think it's only allergies. Any way I looked at his nose and didn't see anything so I turned him around and looked at his butt. Well I saw a tiny worm crawling out of his butt.

I got the worm in a napkin and I'm saving it in a plastic baggie. The bad thing is that tomorrow is a holiday so I'm sure my vet is closed.

I think it might be a tapeworm. Does any one know if these are contagious. I sure hope that my other 3 cats don't get these. All of my cats share litter boxes.
When I had Sky checked out in June, his feces was tested for parasites and it was negative. Now he has some kind of worm.

If it is a tapeworm,I know that cats can get these from swallowing fleas but I use advantage each month so they don't have fleas. I guess I'll have to wait to see my vet on Tues. Why do these things always happen around holidays. Should I do anything special until I see my vet?

**TheAntiPam** · 09-01-2003, 01:10 AM

Ack! Poor Sky - and poor KAK! What an unpleasant find!

I hope your vet has something helpful to say about the issue of getting worms even when you use flea treatment. I have had the same thing happen twice over the years!

I'd love to know what the vet tells you!

The last time it happened at my house, I noticed that I did have a flea or two, in spite of the Advantage treatment applied about two weeks before the discovery. Good luck solving this unpleasant mystery!

**Randi** · 09-01-2003, 02:29 AM

I hope Sky gets rid of his worms soon - poor little one! Fister had worms once, can't remember which ones, but he got rid of the them quickly.

The medicine he had was Fenbendazol, very effective.

Tracey, here's some info on Tapeworms. On the same site, you can find info about other types of worms too.

Tapeworms

Good luck!!

**jenluckenbach** · 09-01-2003, 05:07 AM

Sounds more like a round worm. Tape worns would be small and flat because they are segmented and come out in peices. If one cat has worms you will probably have to treat them all, but don't panic that today is a holiday. One day will not matter all that much. (I know......waiting is HARD) Try not to go out and buy an over the counter wormer, it is so much safer to just get the "good" stuff at the vet.
Sorry about poor Sky, but don't worry so much, it is a very common occurance. Biddy had worms when I got him. We treated him before he met the other cats but they were so resistant that they survived and I ended up treating EVERYONE!!

**smokey the elder** · 09-01-2003, 09:23 AM

If it's a roundworm, you'll need to give the cats Strongid, two doses 2 weeks apart. If it's a tapeworm, the vet will probably give you Drontal or Droncid; that stuff will also kill rounds. It usually only takes one dose.

Worms are a pain but not too tough to deal with. Good luck with your boys!

**jazzcat** · 09-01-2003, 10:57 AM

KAK - you are reliving my Labor Day weekend of last year. I brought Jazz home on Aug. 24th and she was very sick. At her vet check they said she had ringworm, a URI and earmites. I put her in quarantine and started treatment. A week or two later on the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend I found something in the carpet of her room that looked like a small white piece of overcooked spaghetti. I had no clue what it was until I started looking around and found something that looked like a piece of dry white rice. I immediately got on the internet and started researching and discovered it was tapeworms. I, like you, had to wait until the Tuesday after Labor Day to see the vet for treatment. I took in a few pieces in a baggie and he confirmed tapeworm. I can't remember what he gave her but it was a one dose oral medication. It did the trick.

If what you found looks like what I described than it is more than likely tapeworms.

As far as being contagious I'm sorry but I can't remember what all the info I read said. Since I had her confined in a room all ready I wasn't too concerned. I do think that it has to be ingested to infect your cat so that shouldn't be a concern unless they have fleas or have eaten a rodent (most common ways to infest).

Good luck - hopefully your other three guys won't have or get it.

09-01-2003, 11:21 AM

How awful...
As long as you haven't spoken to your vet, I advize you to seperate Sky from the other cats IMMEDIATELY!!

Success with him! Please let us know what your vet says, okay

**Russian Blue** · 09-01-2003, 12:09 PM

Here's some great info on Feline Roundworms:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/roundworms.html

Some info on Tapeworm to show you the difference between Tapeworm and Roundworm:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/tapeworms.html

If you see things that look like 'grains of rice' then it most likely will be Tapeworm. If you see actual worms, then it might be Feline Roundworm.

As someone already mentioned, please wait till you can get to your vet for medication. Over the counter medications seems to do more harm than good.

**krazyaboutkatz** · 09-01-2003, 03:06 PM

Thanks for the advice everyone. I double checked all cats for fleas again and didn't find any. I also double checked all of my cats bottoms and found nothing. Sky has been sleeping under my bed so I don't want to disturb him. I'll call my vet tomorrow morning and will hopefully be able to bring Sky in some time tomorrow. If I have to treat all of my cats, I'm going to have trouble with Cirrus because I haven't been able to pill him in the past. He's also very difficult to get into a carrier. I sure hope that the vet says that this isn't contagious. I've also noticed that Sky's tummy is big and round and bloated looking so maybe it is roundworms.

**Cataholic** · 09-02-2003, 03:35 PM

Oh, please let the vet help you right away! I imagine the whole house will need to be treated...and if wormies are like they are in doggies, not all samples will produce worms, even if the pet has them in him...Good luck, and know that worms are TREATABLE!

**Christiansmommy** · 09-02-2003, 04:10 PM

You may have gotten to the vet by now, but it does sound like round worm. Both of my cats were rescues and were strays, so they both had it when i adopted them (at different times). And if the cats share the same box, they will both need to be treated...although you dont need to bring in samples of both...they will just opt to treat all the cats in the hosue...and the litter will need to be changed constantly to avoid reinfestation...and yes, i believe a swollen belly is a sign.

The fierst time i brought my cats to the vet, it didnt show up (just a different intestinal parasite)...but when i brought back a fecal sample to make sure that the parasite went away, it ended up showing the round worm...you cant see it in the feces in its egg stage...only when it is mature...so they may have missed it in a previous sample...

**krazyaboutkatz** · 09-02-2003, 10:59 PM

I took Sky to the vet at 9:30am. He was a very good boy and barely even cried in the car. It turns out that my first guess was correct. He has tapeworms. The vet said that he probably had it before I adopted him. He was a stray and came from the Humane Society and in his records it shows that he's never been dewormed. They had also treated him with advantage so he must of had fleas when he was found.

My vet gave him 2 drontal pills and I have to give him 2 more in 3 weeks. These pills will kill all types of worms including hook and round worms. Luckily tapeworms aren't contagious because the cat has to swallow a flea that carries this in order to get it.

Sky's been overeating since I've owned him and his belly is somewhat swollen or bloated looking too. My vet said it can be because of the tapeworms but may also be a behavioral problem too. He's already gained 1.11lbs. since he was last weighed on June 9th which isn't good at all.

My vet recommends that I put him on a diet and only allow him to have 300 calories a day which will maintain his curent weight of 13.13lbs. He said his current weight isn't too bad but he shouldn't gain any more weight.

Since I've always free fed, I have to now measure out all 4 cats food and separate them when they eat. I'll do this 2 times a day. Storm and Sunny are fine with free feeding but I've also noticed that Cirrus is gaining some weight too.

I sure hope that they learn to eat like this quickly and that it helps them maintain their weight. Altough Sky and Cirrus could lose a little. I know the danger of having cats lose weight too fast and I want to avoid that too but I sure don't want to have overweight cats either.

BTW Sky was so relaxed at the vets office that he didn't even want to go back into his carrier to go home. I had to force him in there. I've never had a cat that didn't want to run into his carrier at the vet's office. Sky is such a sweetheart.

**jazzcat** · 09-02-2003, 11:17 PM

I'm so glad it wasn't anything more serious. I had a feeling it was tapeworms. Sounded a lot like my Labor Day weekend of last year - I can feel for you.

Looks like several of us are now getting off the free feeding system.

Can you tell me more about the dangers of a cat losing weight too fast? Since I'm wanting to help Scout lose weight I don't want to cause any health problems.

**HayleyRosie** · 09-03-2003, 05:46 AM

I'm sorry to hear your baby has worms. It sounds really bad but thankfully they can be easily treated. Mandy had worms when we first got her. Thankfully we had no trouble giving her the meds and she was free of them in no time.

**krazyaboutkatz** · 09-03-2003, 08:55 AM

Originally posted by jazzcat

Looks like several of us are now getting off the free feeding system.

Can you tell me more about the dangers of a cat losing weight too fast? Since I'm wanting to help Scout lose weight I don't want to cause any health problems.

I don't know too much about it but I know it can cause some kind of fatty liver disease. They can also get liver disease if they stop eating for any length of time. You should probably discuss this with your vet for better info. I really didn't discuss this with my vet because I'm basically just trying to maintain my cats weight.