Tapeworms

[brielle]

I just adopted my beautiful kitty from the pound last week and already have had her at the vet three times! This last was for tapeworms - my boyfriend noticed a small white worm crawling out of you-know-where! gross! so we kept little Maggie in a room all by herself for the night. Here is my question - the vet gave her a shot today and says it will be about 3 weeks for the tapeworm to be completely gone...and that should anything else come out of her, that it will be dead. Does this mean that it is ok to have her sleep on our bed again? I already miss having her around at night - only a week with us and I love her to death! Please let me know what your experiences have been with this and if you kept you cat isolated at all.

Thanks!

[sasvermont]

Hi,

I am not an authority on this topic. I have never heard of a Vet giving a shot for tapeworms. They usually give a pill and then another pill within a couple more weeks. I housesat for a cat that always had tapeworms (eating those moosie mices outside) and I never excluded it from any activity. I just knew that every few months I had to call the Vet for another round of pills. I wouldn't worry about it - but call the Vet to see what they think. A phone call should do it. You might want to see why they gave the kitten a shot rather than the pill. Like I said, I have never heard of a shot being given, but then I have always dealt with adult cats with this problem.

SAS

[brielle]

Hi!

Thanks for your response! Well the vet gave her a shot and then said i was to give her a pill in a week, then take her back for ashot the week after, and finish off with a nother pill a week after that. I dont want to keep her out of the bedroom at night, but she likes to sleep by our heads (on them most of the time!) and i dont like the thought of any worms crawling out on me...which is why i was wondering when they woud finally die off. We plan on making Maggie an indoor only cat so hopefully she wont catch this again.

[michelene]

I took Tiger to the vet a couple of years ago when I noticed he was a little smaller than usual. Turned out he had tapeworms.

Since he is an indoor cat, I asked the vet how this could happen. She said they are airborne. Yes, the windows had been open.

He didn't get a shot; he got pills. That little stinker ran in zigzag patterns spitting trying to get rid of the pill. I was more persistent than he, so he got the complete dosage and didn't have tapeworm problems again.

We didn't restrict him at all and had no problems.

[brielle]

Airborne? My vet said it was caused by fleas - the swallowing of fleas actually. Hmmm...I'll have to go do some research on that and find out for sure.

And since everyone else let their kitties run wild, and nobody had any ill effects, I will too - she'll be so happy to sleep on the bed tonight

Thanks for your info!

[brielle]

maybe her vet meant that the fleas came in through the window? airborne fleas?! just a guess.......

[K & L]

Here's a pretty informative site on parasites:

http://web.vet.cornell.edu/Public/FHC/parasite.html

[sasvermont]

Thanks for all the helpful websites. It certainly answered a lot of questions for me, although I don't have cats with tapeworms...but you never know when might run in to this problem!

[wayne0214]

Every once in a while a couple of my furkids will begin to pass worms, but they are not tape worms. I beleive they are called "round worms", not because they are round but so named by the way of their locomotion. My furkids usually get them after eating gophers. So, when I see any of them feasting on these rodents, then I will watch for the round worms. Often they appear at sunset and sunrise, for some strange reason. There is available at most any pet shops a de-wormer specifically made for common round worms for cats and dogs.

..............wayne

[AvaJoy]

My experience: Roundworms are not always noticed in the stool sample exam! If a cat is indoor/outdoor, it is best to give them a Drontal pill every three months, just in case, which destroys both roundworm and tapeworm. Integrate it along with your flea/tick prevention schedule.

Debra was trapped and vetted; stool negative. Kept strictly indoors, a few weeks later she was vomiting what resembled angel hair pasta (roundworms!) and when I questioned the vet about it I was told that the roundworms do not always show in the fecal matter. I never noticed anything unusual in her litter box. And here I thought I was bringing home a spayed, healthy, parasite-free cat from the vet! At least Lily could not catch it unless she ate the infected stool, which was a relief.

[AvaJoy]

Hi Tutone, Debra was at the Vet for several days, during which time a stool exam for infestation was negative. That is why I questioned them when she came home and was found to have Roundworms . . . their explanation was that Roundworms do not always show up in a microscopic stool exam.