Is There More Than One Type Of Tapeworm
There are two types of tapeworm. The most common, and the one discussed throughout this article, is known scientifically as dipylidium caninum, explains the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
The other type which is far more dangerous and far more rare is called Echinococcus. According to the , cystic echinococcosis is caused by infection with the larval stage of a tapeworm called hydatid worm, or Echinococcus granulosus, which is found in dogs, sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs.
“Although most infections in humans are asymptomatic, CE causes harmful, slowly enlarging cysts in the liver, lungs, and other organs that often grow unnoticed and neglected for years,” the CDC reports.
Another type of tapeworm is called Echinococcus multilocularis, and can cause a disease called Alveolar echinococcosis . This tapeworm is found in foxes, coyotes, dogs, cats, and small rodents. Human cases are rare but very seriouscausing parasitic tumors that can form in the liver, lungs, brain, and other organs. AE can be fatal if it isn’t treated, according to the CDC. But that, thankfully, is rare. In fact, a study published by the PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases found only forty-one echinococcosis-related deaths in the United States between 1990 and 2007.
Diagnosing Your Cat’s Worms
Effective Home Remedies For Worms In Cats
Worried about worms in your cat?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ve compiled a list of the six most effective home remedies for getting rid of those pesky worms. From parsley to pumpkin, we’ve got all the bases covered.
You’ll be able to get your cat back to its healthy and playful self in no time at all. And best of all, these remedies are all natural so you know they won’t harm your beloved pet.Keep reading to learn more about on home remedies to get rid of worms in cats!
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How Do You Get Rid Of Intestinal Worms In A Cat
Being proactive and preventing your cat from contracting worms is always better than having to treat them after the fact.
However if your cat has already contracted worms or you suspect that they have, the best thing to do is to bring them and a sample of their stool in to your local Greencross Vets where they can perform a professional examination and diagnose which worm your pet has.
Once the worm has been identified, your Greencross vet will be able to provide your pet with the right medication to treat their worm infestation.
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Worm Treatment For Cats
Worm treatment for cats targets different worms than a wormer for dogs. While dogs need to be treated for tapeworms and nematodes, worming for cats aims at tape and roundworms.
Roundworms
Roundworms are short and have rounded bodies. They produce microscopic eggs which are shed in the faeces of infected cats, which presents a danger to other cats as they can be eaten by them. Eggs can also be eaten by mice or rats which can infect cats who prey on those rodents.
Roundworms are very common, particularly in young cats and kittens. The most common species are Toxocara catiand Toxascaris leonina. Toxocara cati can be transmitted to kittens through the milk of their mother even if the mother herself is over the infection. This means that practically all kittens are infected with roundworms from a very young age and they all require a worm treatment for cats.
Tapeworms
Tapeworm worming for cats most commonly treats Dipylidium caninum and Taenia taeniaformis. Eggs of Dipylidium caninum are eaten by flea larvae. This means that flea and tapeworm infections almost always go hand-in-hand. So if your cat requires a flea treatment, she will also need a worm treatment. As Taenia taeniaformis tapeworm eggs are eaten by rodents, cats only become infected with them during hunting. Therefore, infection with this worm is less common but should be expected in any cat that actively hunts.
Can Humans be Infected by Worms?
Worming for Cats: What Should I Use and How Frequently?
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What Else We Considered
Bayer Tapeworm Dewormer Tablets for Cats: This product contains the same active ingredient as our top choice for tapeworms, Droncit Tablets for Cats, but it’s sold in a slightly more expensive three-pack .
Profender Topical Solution for Cats Like Centragard Topical Solution, Profender kills tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms, but Centragard also prevents deadly heartworm when given monthly. Kittens must be at least 8 weeks old to use Profender while kittens 7 weeks and older can use Centragard.
Heartgard: The only other chewable parasite preventive available for cats, Heartgard has been on the market a long time and is a safe and trusted heartworm preventive. However, unlike Interceptor, which treats and controls three other intestinal parasites in addition to heartworm, Heartgard only treats and controls one other parasite, hookworms. Heartgard requires a prescription from your veterinarian, as well as a current negative heartworm test.
How To Prevent Worms
In many cases, cats have this worm infestation in them without showing any symptoms. You cannot tell whats the actual matter without visiting the vet. But, you dont want to face the worm issue in your cat whatsoever. So, here are some useful suggestions to prevent worms from getting in your cat in the first place
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Natural Dewormers Aren’t Necessarily A Better Option
Talk to your veterinarian before using natural dewormers for your cat. “When pet owners are looking for a product for their pet, I think they want research behind it,” Jeffer said. “Most of the time you really can’t guarantee that from a product that’s labeled ‘all natural.'”
Jeffer, who said he has serious doubts as to whether natural deworming products are at all effective, points out that conventional, veterinarian-recommended dewormers are not only very effective, but extremely safe to use. “They’ve all been used over decades and there are very few to no side effects associated with them,” he said.
Are Worms Painful For Cats
Worms in cats can potentially cause pain. The migration of larvae through the liver, stomach, eye, or lungs would cause discomfort as the affected tissues become inflamed from the disruption.
This could present as:
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Belly pain, including gastritis due to inflammation of the stomach lining
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Eye irritation
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A change in your cats breathing rate/pattern
The accumulation of fluid from protein loss can cause a distended abdomen in some animals, which can be uncomfortable due to the swelling of the abdominal muscles and skin.
It can also cause breathing issues if too much abdominal fluid is pressing on the diaphragm and restricting the normal lung capacity for proper breathing.
Yes, humans can contract worm infections from cats by coming into direct contact with contaminated feces or soil.
Common modes of transmission include:
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Children playing in sandboxes where cats have defecated
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Walking barefoot through contaminated soil
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Gardening in soil without wearing gloves
Accidental ingestion of contaminated soil or feces can happen in humans as well, so good hygiene practices are vital for preventing transmission from cat to owner.
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Preventing An Infestation Of Worms In Cats
Once your cat has been treated for worms, its important to continue to be proactive about keeping her safe. Adhering to a strict year-round flea prevention regimen can help reduce the risk of tapeworm infection, since fleas carry worms.
Equally, if your cats are avid hunters and especially if they spend time both indoors and outdoors, preventative deworming every 3 months can help eliminate any intestinal worms before they can become a large burden for your pet. Finally, pay attention to your cats litter box, keeping it fresh and clean on a daily basis.
There are some worms that can be harmful to humans. In order to protect yourself, along with your cat and any other pets, clean up cat feces immediately, wash your hands, and if possible, wear gloves whenever cleaning the litter box.
How To Keep Your Cat Worm
People who cohabitate with one or more cats have long feared worming their feline masters friends because giving a tablet to a cat is at best, difficult, and at worst, associated with physical and mental scarring .
Why is it so difficult to tablet cats?
Firstly, although cats have less tastebuds than humans and dogs, however, they are highly sensitive to the flavours they can detect. They also have a scent/taste organ in the roof of their mouths which contributes to the heightened sense of taste, and their rough tongue coating traps particles for longer, extending the amount of time they can taste the tablet or medication.
- Cats have a strong tongue which they can push forward to eject unwanted objects easily.
- They also have sharp teeth and claws and a strong hatred of being forced to do anything that they did not themselves choose to do.
- Cats are both strong and slippery.
- Attempts at bribery are usually met with disdain.
- These are all valid reasons to be hesitant to worm your cat. They do, however, require worming every 3 months to protect themselves and also their humans from potentially damaging worm infestations.
Reasons to worm your cat
How, pray tell, do I worm my cat then?
If you can no longer handle the thought of a tablet, there are pastes which can be easier to administer .
OR you can not put anything in their mouth at all and still worm them!
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How To Identify Worms In A Cat
This article was co-authored by Brian Bourquin, DVM. Brian Bourquin, better known as Dr. B to his clients, is a Veterinarian and the Owner of Boston Veterinary Clinic, a pet health care and veterinary clinic with three locations, South End/Bay Village, the Seaport, and Brookline, Massachusetts. Boston Veterinary Clinic specializes in primary veterinary care, including wellness and preventative care, sick and emergency care, soft-tissue surgery, dentistry. The clinic also provides specialty services in behavior, nutrition, and alternative pain management therapies using acupuncture, and therapeutic laser treatments. Boston Veterinary Clinic is an AAHA accredited hospital and Bostons first Fear Free Certified Clinic. Brian has over 19 years of veterinary experience and earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University.There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 21 testimonials and 92% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 698,120 times.
How To Worm A Difficult Cat
Q: Can you tell me any simple way to worm my cat Maude, whether using a tablet or another method? Shes a cantankerous old thing and I find it almost impossible to get a tablet down her without being badly scratched.
A: Tableting is one of the most common difficulties experienced by cat owners. Best undertaken by two people, a cat can be carefully wrapped in a towel to protect all involved from their sharp claws.
Using a plastic tableting instrument bought cheaply from your local vet clinic, tip your cats head back so that their nose points to the ceiling, gently opening the mouth before popping the tablet behind the tongue and quickly stroking the throat to encourage swallowing. If this process is impossible with Maude, some treatments in liquid form will kill all forms of intestinal worm commonly found in cats that live in the UK.
Available from your vet, these treatments are applied to the back of the neck like many flea treatments , and get absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream, before killing the worms present in the digestive tract. Used routinely every three months, this spot-on treatment may be the answer to your felines internal parasite problems.
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Signs Of Worms In Pets
It may be difficult to see any symptoms of your pet having worms, but its important to have a regular worm treatment in place, as advised by your vet.
If your pet does have the parasite, you may see worms in faeces or vomit, or around your pets bottom. Wrap any worms you find on or near your pet in damp cotton wool and take them to your vet, so they can advise the best worm treatment.
Other signs your pet could have worms include:
- Your pet starts losing weight
- Their fur is becoming dry and coarse
- Increased appetite, weakness and diarrhoea
- In severe cases, infected puppies and kittens can have a distended abdomen or pot belly.
There Are Many Types Of Gi Parasites
Some kittens will have parasites that aren’t covered by your standard dewormer. If the kitten is dewormed, but her poop still doesn’t seem quite right, ask a vet for a fecal exam to test for other parasites, such as:
Coccidia – a nasty little single-celled organism that causes mucousy diarrhea in kittens, and can be treated with the prescription drug Ponazuril or Albon
Giardia – another protozoan infection, resulting in soft, frothy, greasy diarrhea, which can be treated with Panacur
Tapeworms – a parasitic worm found in kittens who have had fleas. Tapeworm segments may be visible in the feces –you’ll need Praziquantel to get rid of them
and so much more!
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Can Humans Catch Worms
Its very rare for humans to catch worms from a cat, but it does occasionally happen. Its most common in young children who have been playing in areas where cats have toileted. Cats worms can cause illness in humans by lodging in organs such as the eyes, liver, heart and brain. If you have concerns for you or someone else, it is best to contact your doctor, or the for advice. If you have small children, it is very important to deworm your cat regularly.
Can You Deworm A Cat At Home
All kittens should be treated for common parasites such as roundworms and hookworms at 2, 4, and 6 weeks of age. This can be done at a veterinarian, or at home. To deworm a kitten at home, you’ll need a digital scale, a 1cc syringe, and a bottle of oral dewormer which can be purchased online or at a pet supply store.
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The Best Products Prevent Many Different Parasites
In general, Sawyer prioritizes products that provide both flea and heartworm prevention. “Heartworm disease, although rare, is not treatable in cats and has a high fatality rate,” she said. “Coverage for ticks, immature life stages of fleas, and intestinal parasites are also important, and fortunately now there are products available that protect against all the above.”
Does Your Cat Have Worms
There are many symptoms that your cat may display that would indicate she has worms, including vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and weight loss. If worms are left untreated for a long time, the effects can potentially be fatal particularly for kittens so you should always take veterinary advice before addressing the issue. The long-term effect of worms in cats include anaemia from a loss of blood, or a blockage in the intestines caused by too many tapeworms both of which can have devastating consequences, so regular treatment is a requirement for all felines.
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Types Of Worms In Cats
There are a number of worms that can infect cats, and to some extent, there are significant geographical variations in the prevalence of these different parasites.
The most common worms live in the cats digestive tract, usually in the intestines.
Common intestinal parasites are listed below:
- The most common roundworms are Toxocara cati and Toxascaris leonina
- Other common intestinal worms are Gnathostoma species, Physaloptera species, Strongyloides species, whipworms, and hookworms .
- The most common tapeworms are Dipylidium caninum and Taenia taeniaeformis.
- Other less common tapeworms include Diphylobothrium latum, Spirometra species, Diplopylidium species, Joyeuxiella species, and Echinococcus multilocularis
- There is also a stomach worm, called Ollulanus tricuspis
In some parts of the world, there are worms that can infect other parts of the cats body.
- Heartworms
- Lungworms
- Eyeworms
This may look like a frighteningly long list of cats worms, and its important to remember that simple control measures are usually enough to prevent these creepy crawlies from harming your cat or yourself.