Tapeworms??

I brought one of my cats to the vet today. This is the same cat who had the mouth infection about a month or so ago.

Recently, a lot of her fur was coming out. I figured it was stress or anxiety and took her to the vet to see what was happening. It turns out she's allergic to fleas. One of the other cats goes in and out and she brought back fleas.

Anyway, the vet gave me some medicine for her and suggested Frontline for all the cats. Then she said that, if a cat has fleas, the cat would also have tapeworm so I would have to bring all the cats in for an exam and to get dewormed. Of course, this is going to cost me a small fortune (even though this is a low-cost clinic).

I've never heard that if a cat has fleas, it would also have tapeworm. Is this a definitle thing or just an assumption on the part of the doc?

They eat the fleas and that is where they get the tapeworms. If I use Frontline, Chester will get the worms... if I use Advantage, he does fine. See if your vet will just give you the meds to treat them at home, those little pills are expensive but I usually just run down to my vet and they will let me have them, I think they are about $8 a pill....

Hello, I'm new here.

I've been working as a vet assistant for over 5 years plus I have 5 cats of my own. I use Frontline Plus on all the kitties and have never had a flea problem. Our hosp. used to carry Advantage but have switched over to Frontline Plus. It's a personal choice depending on your individual situation and your vets preferences. You need to treat all the pets in your house otherwise fleas will just hop over on the one that isn't treated.

As for tapeworms... A cat can only get tapeworms 2 ways, eating rodents or eating fleas. It takes about 3 months for signs of tapeworms to show up. At our hosp. we only treat the animals that show signs of tapeworm (small rice sized, white segments in stool or around rear end). We don't treat animals that don't show signs. At our hosp. if a person is a client that we've seen before, we will allow them to just pick up the meds. But that's just at our hosp.

None of the cats are showing any signs of worms at all.

I'm wondering if I could just get over the counter de-worm medicine from the pet store? (that is, even if I should de-worm them at all since they don't show signs) The pills from thej vet are $11 each and I have 4 cats (and my big guy will need to take 2 because he weighs about 25 Lbs). That alone is $55 and they will have to take them and then take them again in 3 weeks. Much as I love my kitties, I just don't have $110 for something that I'm not sure is really necessary.

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Originally Posted by DianeSnizzy

None of the cats are showing any signs of worms at all.

I'm wondering if I could just get over the counter de-worm medicine from the pet store? (that is, even if I should de-worm them at all since they don't show signs) The pills from thej vet are $11 each and I have 4 cats (and my big guy will need to take 2 because he weighs about 25 Lbs). That alone is $55 and they will have to take them and then take them again in 3 weeks. Much as I love my kitties, I just don't have $110 for something that I'm not sure is really necessary.

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WOW your vet charges $11 EACH for the tapeworm pills??? I think our hosp only charges a couple dollars each and a buck or two for the bottle. We combine the pills for multiple cats in one bottle then write out individual instructions for each cat (we don't combine dog and cat pills though). And our pills don't require any addictional doses 3 weeks later, we only repeat the dose if the pet shows signs again (which doesn't happen often and usually it's because the cat is still catching mice or still has fleas).

There are a variety of intestinal parasites (worms) an animal can have (tapeworms, hookworms, whipworms, roundworms etc). OTC de-wormers normally only take care of roundworms and are sometimes very harsh on the tummy. We've also had clients call in a panic later because those de-wormers caused their animal to be very sick and recently we had someone loose a puppy b/c the owner over dosed it.

If you were our client we'd recommend you only treat the ones with signs of tapeworms. If none are showing signs just keep close watch, as I said it takes about 3 months for signs to show, and it's not for sure that any or all of your cats have tapeworms.

I don't know what kinda area you live in, but it might be worth calling around just to get pricing at other vets as they all vary in pricing. It's possible that you just live in a higher priced area and that's the norm for your state/area, but around here that's considered expensive!

DrsFosterSmith.com has Tradewinds Wormer with praziquantel for tapeworms. A bottle of 3 tablets costs $11.99. Use 1 tablet for each 7 lbs of cat. 2 bottles and shipping is $31.97. One more bottle will bring the total to $44.88. Then all you have to do is get the pills in the cats :rolleyes:

I gave them to my cat and never had to repeat it. Now he gets Revolution every month.

The evidence of tape worms is very clear, or at least I've always found that it is. You will see small white pieces of the worm, which are it's back segments, moving as they come out of the anus or you may see them on the cat's fur. You will also find grains of what looked like dried rice in areas where your cats lie. I wouldn't medicate a cat for something that it shows no evidence of having. Also, tape worms don't pass from cat to cat so you only have to medicate the cat that has them (if any of them ever do).

I use Revolution because it works on ear-mites also.

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I agree, Lizzie, I wouldn't want to medicate the cat for something she may not have. It could cause even more problems for her.

What I think I'm going to do is, give her the meds the doc gave her for the allergy. She also gave her meds because, although the mouth infection cleared, her mouth is still a bit swollen. Once she finishes these meds, I'll see how she fares.

I'll keep looking for evidence of worms in all the cats. If anything shows up, I'll take them to the vet for the pills.

Thanks again, everyone!

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Originally Posted by mruffruff

DrsFosterSmith.com has Tradewinds Wormer with praziquantel for tapeworms. A bottle of 3 tablets costs $11.99. Use 1 tablet for each 7 lbs of cat. 2 bottles and shipping is $31.97. One more bottle will bring the total to $44.88. Then all you have to do is get the pills in the cats :rolleyes:

I gave them to my cat and never had to repeat it. Now he gets Revolution every month.

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Revolution is also a great product, I didn't mention it b/c at our hosp. it's more expensive than the Frontline Plus and doesn't seem to control the flea population as well either, however it does have medicine in it for roundworms so owners don't have to worry about those or earmites, (especially in outdoor cats) but doesn't take care of tapeworms.

As for mail order meds (I'll try to refrain myself). *rant* Our hosp. makes great efforts to keep prices reasonable and affordable for all our clients. We periodically even check with mail order places like PETscamMEDS, and coughDR. Foster, and EVERY time we've either TIED with them in price or BEAT their prices, plus WE don't charge shipping AND our products are not expired or manufactured in strange countries that don't require the same safety requirements as the US does PLUS they come with the manufacturers guarantee which requires buying from a licensed vet! *end of rant*

If someone has a vet that has prices that seem too high, it sometimes pays to call around, not all vets charge the same prices for the exact same services. In our area something as routine as a cat neuter (same services at each hosp.) ranges from $350 to $45 (guess which one we are, always the lowest in our area!). :)

I posted the prices so everyone could see that the prices at the vet's office weren't out of line. Since I have 12 cats and rescue ocassionally, it was worth it to have some on hand for emergencies.

Revolution doesn't take care of tapeworms but helps prevent the fleas that cause tapeworms.

Here's a good question... how in the world do you get the cat to take the pills?!??!?

Right now, my cat has to take steroid pills for her allergies (she lost A LOT of hair from the flea allergy) and I have no clue how to give it to her. I asked the vet if I could cut it up or crush it up and put it in soft cat food and she said no. The only other thing I can think of is to hold the cats mouth wide open and just toss it down. The only prob with that is, what if she chokes on it or spits it back out???

HELP! :eek:

mruffruff - I see your point. However for my area, and the hospital I work at, both price comparisons were high.

DianeSnizzy - Getting a cat to take a pill can be easy or difficult depending on the cat. I can't be sure what I do with mine will work for all cats, or all people for that matter but here's what I do. Ya gotta get a visual picture of how dingy I look doing this ROFL :p

Have the pill in your fingers before you even start. I get on the floor on my knees with my ankles crossed and my rear touching my heels. This odd position allows me to keep the cat between my knees so it can't back up, go right or go left, and limits the cat's ability to escape, since my cat's don't often give me a second chance. lol

Once I have the cat cornered there (not necessarily squeezing if it's not fighting me), then I place my hand over the cats head with my thumb and middle fingers at the corners of the cats mouth, this also effectively keeps the head from thrashing. Push in until the cat opens it's mouth.

Once open slightly I use my middle finger of the other hand to gently lower the jaw enough I can slip in the pill that is held between my thumb and index finger of the same hand I opened the jaw with. Gently poke the pill back quite far into the cats mouth but quickly. (my cats usually try to gag and spit rather than close the mouth on me).

Once the pill is in, slide the hand that was holding the head around and underneath to then hold the mouth closed, and head in an upright position. Using your other hand gently rub the cats throat to encourage swallowing. Once you either see the cat swallow or it's been long enough to think it may have swallowed, then release head. DON'T LET THE CAT GO YET! You don't want to have to go catch her again, or have her spit the pill out where you can't see her.

Watch cat closely to see if it seems like she's chewing or trying to spit the pill out. Try again if she spits it out. This does take some practice and a little flexibility on your part to use this method, having longer legs also helps with this method. If after a couple times you still can't get it down her, let her go and give her a break, then lots of attention before you try again, otherwise your kitty might just become a tiger.

I've used this method on very fussy/aggressive cats in our hospital with good success. I've even gotten so I can pill cats better than the boss!! Dogs are another story though!!! LOL

Good Luck

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Originally Posted by DianeSnizzy

I asked the vet if I could cut it up or crush it up and put it in soft cat food and she said no.

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I ALWAYS crush or liquify pills and put them in food, unless they're timed release (which we've never used). In fact, I did it with Clavamox a little while ago, and it usually works great (everybody but Jojo will take them, anyway). I'd ask for a reason why they can't be given that way.

I think most of the time vets are concerned that the cat guardian won't make sure their cat eats every bit of the food the pill has been mixed into. It should be crushed into a fine powder (I use two teaspoons) and then mixed in with the food so that it's well distributed. Even using the most favorite food of each cat, I've only had about 25% success with putting medication in food. And, of course, some pills are very bitter and so harder to mask in food.

That was my thought --- to crush it up and mix it with a small pouch of wet cat food. If I feed the cat in a closed room (or her carrier), I can be assured that SHE ate all the food (as opposed to the others) and the pill that was mixed in it.

I'm going to call the vet today and find out a reason why it can't be crushed.

If the cat eats only part of the food and flatly refuses to eat it all, you won't know how much medication it took. That's the risk. I try it once and if the cat does not eat every last crumb, I give up on using that method.

Talk about an ANNNOOOOYED kitty!!!!!

I decided it would be best to just try and get the pills in her without crushing them or anything. She's already taking antibiotics (liquid) so I figured I'll give her the pill at the same time.

Okay, I pick her up. Hubby already has the towel ready to wrap her in. She spots the towel and starts twtiching around and squirming. I never knew a kitty could contort their body like that!! It was like she was in 7 different directions at once!! LOL!!

Anyway, I give her to him and he wraps her. I have the meds ready. I hold her mouth open and toss the pill into the back of her mouth & then shoot the liquid antibiotic in. I close her mouth and rub her throat and blow in her face. She swallowed the meds, no problem. However, the LOOK she gave me!!

Hubby let her out of the wrap and she jumped down, shot me a MEAN look, and walked away. Then looked BACK and walked away.

Think she's a tad bit annoyed at me?? :eek:

Yeah, I know that 'LOOK' so well!!! lol Actually at work I'd rather restrain a huge mean dog, than a mediocre angry cat anyday!! Cats are sooooo flexible!!! :D

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Originally Posted by Catlady711

Yeah, I know that 'LOOK' so well!!! lol Actually at work I'd rather restrain a huge mean dog, than a mediocre angry cat anyday!! Cats are sooooo flexible!!! :D

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Sooo true!!! I don't know how they do it, but cats can twist and turn in so many directions at once!!! Ever try getting one in a cat carrier if she doesn't want to go in?? LOL!!!!!

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Originally Posted by DianeSnizzy

Sooo true!!! I don't know how they do it, but cats can twist and turn in so many directions at once!!! Ever try getting one in a cat carrier if she doesn't want to go in?? LOL!!!!!

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Oh yes, BTDT! My mom's cat is a tortishell (Torti-tude and all), and HATES the carrier. It's kind of a wrestling match getting her in, with alot of hissing and spitting! Only way that works for us is mom gets the carrier out before I come over (cat glares at it). When I knock on the door, she grabs Torry (who always greets people at the door). As soon as I get in the door mom hands Torry to me and holds the carrier down, I get on the floor and just stuff her in (hopefully before she has time to get those darn back legs all splayed out!). ROFL :p

At work I have to help many clients get their pets back in the carriers. There are about as many methods of doing that, as there are types of carriers!!

The funniest thing is when the owners come in complaining how difficult the cat was to get in the carrier (they're covered in scratches to prove it, not that the scratches are funny), we have to dissasemble the carrier to get the cat OUT to examine the it. And when we are all done, and the carrier is assembled again, we open the door and.........the cat runs right inside!!! ROFL You should see the looks on the owners faces! lol