Important Notes On Worming For Cats
The precise frequency of a worm treatment for cats depends on likely exposure to tapeworms in particular .
Worm products sold at supermarkets have many ingredients that are ineffective and can sometimes have fatal consequences for our pets. Care is paramount when following the recommended dose. If a cat is given a higher dosage than diagnosed, it can kill her.
As cats can get tapeworms by swallowing an infected flea, flea control is vital around the house.
to download a printable version of the Feline Worming Factsheet, or visit the Feline Worming Factsheet page for more information.
See our page about Wormers for dogs to see all Vet worming tips.
When To Treat Your Cat
Kittens are commonly born with worms or become infected early in life, especially with roundworms, which can be transmitted through their mothers milk. Kittens should be wormed at two, four, six, eight and twelve weeks of age. After this, they can be treated with an all wormer for cats every three months.
Pregnant and nursing cats should also be treated with worm medication during mating, and before giving birth to a litter, as they can pass on intestinal worms to their kittens.
If your cat has a heavy worm infestation you may need to repeat your cat dewormer ten days after the initial dose is administered.
How To Treat Your Cat
The most common worms contracted by cats in Australia are tapeworms, roundworms and hookworms. These parasites are often treated with a specially formulated all wormer for cats with effective active ingredients that kill and control the worms.
Most cats will develop a worm infestation at some point in their lives. However, you can prevent worms in your cat by administering worm medication on a regular three month schedule. It is important to maintain this routine, as re-infection, or infection from other cats, can be a common problem.
When selecting an all wormer for cats, there are many different options to choose from, including tablets, spot-ons, and pastes. Palatable all worm tablets are usually small in size, and coated in tasty flavours to make them easier for your cat to consume. However, cat worming pastes can also be an easy and effective option for cats that have difficulty with tablets. If youre not sure which option to pick, or how to treat your cat, ask your vet.
When administering tapeworm treatment for cats, its also important to consider flea control. Cats often contract tapeworms by swallowing fleas, and a cat with fleas can easily be reinfected. Consider pairing your cat worming tablets with an effective flea prevention treatment.
Heres some helpful tips to prevent reinfection of worms in your cat:
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How Do Cats Get Worms
Cats most commonly contract worms after coming into contact with parasite eggs or infected feces.
A cat may walk through an area with eggs or infected feces, and since cats are often such fastidious groomers, they will then ingest the eggs or fecal particles as they clean their fur and feet.
This can occur in indoor cats as easily as it can in outdoor cats, particularly if multiple cats share a litter box that is contaminated with infected feces.
Cats that live outdoors and regularly hunt small rodents are also at a higher risk of contracting worms because the worms can live in the muscle tissues of their prey.
After eating a rodent thats infected with worm larvae, a cat can develop a worm infestation as those larvae develop to maturity in the cats intestines.
How Is My Cat Dewormed
After your veterinarian has identified and diagnosed your cat with worms, they will have a proper treatment plan according to the type of worms your cat has been diagnosed with. Your cat will be prescribed a dewormer medication that might be a small pill, liquid, injection, or topical medicine to be administered.
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Causes Of Roundworms In Cats
Cats ingest roundworm larvae in several ways: through mother’s milk, by eating the eggs, or by eating another organism such as a beetle or rodent which carries roundworm larvae. The roundworm larvae migrate through the body tissues, with most eventually reaching the lungs, where they make their way up the windpipe and are coughed up and then swallowed.
Once swallowed this time, the larvae then become adult roundworms in the intestines. These produce numerous eggs, which are passed in the feces. Eggs only become infective after two-four weeks in the environment. The eggs are hardy and can remain infective for months or years.
Sometimes the larvae stop their migration in the liver, where they enter a dormant state. In a pregnant female, these larvae become active again, and the larvae can be secreted in the milk after birth. They can also produce an active adult roundworm infection in the mom’s intestines, so she then sheds numerous eggs that can also infect the kittens. T. cati roundworms, in particular, have a life cycle that makes them very effective at infecting kittens.
Bayer Tapeworm Cat Dewormer
Who Should Use: For Cats with tapeworm
If small white pellets become visible in your cats excreta or he is often seen licking or biting the area under the tail, then he could be having tapeworms.
Tapeworms are often transmitted to cats when they swallow adult fleas that are infected, though they can also be contracted through wild animals. Segments of the tapeworm break off as they grow, pass through the intestines and often appear in your cats stool.
Bayer Tapeworm Dewormer tablets are the best cat dewormer treatment available to rid your kitty of tapeworms. They kill tapeworms in a single, simple-to-administer dose. These pills are the top choice for both cat owners and vets to counter tapeworm infection quickly and without any associated risk.
These tablets come in a pack of 3 with each containing 23 mg of the active ingredient, praziquantel. This ingredient fights the most common species of tapeworm and kills them in just one dose.
Administering the dose is simple and it can be fed directly or the tablet can be crushed and mixed with your kittys food.
Some cats who have been administered the treatment are known to have contracted diarrhea.
Side Effects: Some cats may suffer diarrhea after administering.
Pros
- This cat dewormer tablet rids your pet of tapeworms within 24 hours.
- The tablet is very convenient to administer.
- It has a powerful active ingredient and is still available over the counter.
Cons
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How To Treat Tapeworms In Cats
Treatment for adult tapeworms is given on an outpatient basis in the form of an injection or oral medication. Deworming medications are effective at removing tapeworms and very safe for your cat.
After treatment, the tapeworms will normally dissolve in the cats intestines. You dont usually see an expulsion of the tapeworms into the feces unless it is an unusually high worm load.
You need to administer the full course of the prescribed medication to ensure that the tapeworms are removed from your cat’s body.
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 Do Wormers Take Effect
Most medications are able to kill adult worms within 24 hours of intake. In some special cases, it takes a second dose between 3 and 4 weeks later to kill the rest, which was larvae at the time of treatment.
How do wormers take effect?
On the whole, a cat is likely to re-contract worms shortly after receiving a deworming dosage. It takes about three months for the worms within its body to grow and reproduce to a level that endangers the cats health. For cats as prolific hunters, the period that the worms are gone after deworming is shortened to two months. As for kittens, deworming should be given every two weeks from 6 weeks to 3 months of age, then monthly until they reach 6 months old. As for cats between 6 and 12 months, they should receive deworming treatment every three months. For those older, intervals of three to sixth months are adequate.
Hartz Ultraguard Rid Worm Liquid For Cats
Who should use: For both cats and kittens infested with roundworms only
This dewormer contains the active ingredient piperazine that can effectively tackle roundworms in your cats intestine. It is very easy to administer because of its delicious flavor.
The product is recommended only for cats and kittens more than 8 weeks in age. Because it is available as syrup, it can be given directly or can be mixed with the food. For more effect, the treatment needs to be repeated after 14 days.
Side-effects: May cause salivation or tremors in the pet.
Pros
- The flavor makes medication more palatable
- Easy to administer syrup form
- A very effective remedy for roundworms
Cons
- May cause salivation or tremors in a few animals
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How Do Cats Get Roundworms
Trans-mammary or milk-borne infection is the major route of roundworm transmission in kittens. The immature roundworms called larvae are present in the mother’s mammary glands. The larvae pass to her kittens in her milk during nursing.
Both kittens and adult cats may become infected by swallowing eggs that contain infective roundworm larvae. These eggs may come from the feces of infected cats or from the tissues of paratenic hosts . In a paratenic host, the roundworm eggs do not mature into adults, but are just transported. If a cat eats the paratenic host, the roundworm is able to complete its life cycle. Common paratenic hosts for roundworms include earthworms, cockroaches, rodents, and birds.
The life cycle of the roundworm is complicated. Once ingested, the larvae hatch out in the cat’s gastrointestinal tract and migrate through the muscle, liver, and lungs. After several weeks, the larvae return to the intestine to mature into adults. When the adult worms begin to reproduce, eggs will pass into the cat’s stool, thus completing the life cycle of the parasite.
During migration, some roundworm larvae may encyst in a dormant state in the host’s body. In female cats, the larvae can come out of the cyst during pregnancy. These larvae can then be passed to the kittens across the placenta during pregnancy, or through the milk after birth.
Summary Of Worms In Cats
There are many different types of worms that can infest cats, so be aware of the signs and symptoms. Immediate treatment will not only help prevent the infestation in your cat from becoming worse, but it will also help protect the other pets in your household. Discovering that your cat has worms may be disturbing, but with effective treatment from your vet, your cat will be worm-free before you know it!
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Everything You Need To Know About Worms In Cats
Written bySmall Door’s medical experts
Discovering your cat has worms can be shocking and upsetting. Whether theyre external or internal, these parasites can wreak havoc on your cats health. But with proper diagnosis and treatment, worms in cats can be effectively treated and eliminated.
In This Article
Best Prescription Dewormer: Revolution Topical Solution For Cats
- Parasites Targeted: Fleas, Heartworm, Hookworms, Roundworms, Ear Mites
- Typical Price per Dose: $23.14
- Doses per Container: 6
- Ideal For: People who want to prevent and treat a wide range of parasites
In most cases, a cheap over-the-counter dewormer works just as well as a prescription product. Cats who are frequently exposed to internal parasites are the exception to that rule.
While OTC medications kill the parasites infesting your cat now, it takes a prescription product to keep them from infecting your cat again.
If your cat eats wild animals, spends a lot of time outside, or lives with dogs, a prescription dewormer can help to kill existing parasites and prevent them from taking up residence.
Revolution is a topical medication that protects your cat against the most common parasites. It protects your cat from heartworm and fleas while treating hookworms, roundworms, and ear mites. It doesnt treat tapeworms. By administering once a month, this medication provides round-the-clock parasite prevention, something that no cheap OTC medication can do.
Revolution is made from selamectin, an insecticide that appears to be safe for cats aged six weeks and older. If your cat accidentally consumes this small amount of selamectin, he might experience salivation and vomiting, but there arent any reports of more serious reactions.
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The 10 Best Cat Dewormer Treatments Of 2022
Do you think treating your cat for worms is easy? With best cat dewormers, it is. You can buy over-the-counter dewormer treatment for cats after reading reviews.
Parasitic worms are one of the commonest health issues in pets that can affect their digestive system.
If untreated, worm infestations may result in minor conditions such as unhealthy skin and coat or major ones such as gastrointestinal disturbances and anaemia.
Parasitic worms can infect all cats and they can be passed on to other animals or humans too!
Immediate steps to treat parasitic worms are necessary and thankfully the condition is easy to cure using the right deworming medicine. A lot of factors must be considered carefully before choosing the right cat dewormer treatment.
There are a lot of remedies out there and it can be confusing to figure out which one could be the best, how frequently should it be used and how does it function.
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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Alternative Animal Worm Free Natural Cat Wormer For All Worms
Who should use: For cats with hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, and tapeworms
This product is a homeopathic remedy with natural ingredients and claims to tackle multiple kinds of infestations. Cat owners skeptical about administering medicines may try this natural therapy.
The formula contains kelp, vitamins, and probiotics, to not only get rid of the worms from your pets system but also to ensure the pets overall well-being. Its style of dealing with parasites is a little novel as compared to other products on the list. Alternative Animal Worm Free Natural Cat wormer deals mechanically with parasites and damages their coating in ways that can make it lethal for them.
Because of the way it works, parasites will not be able to become immune to this cat dewormer treatment as they would to other medication.
This homeopathic concoction is available as a powder to be mixed with your cats food. It can be used for small as well as big cats. Big cats can have one teaspoonful of the powder added with food while smaller cats and kitten can eat half a teaspoon with their food.
The company recommends the correct dose for cats once a day for three months and then one dose three times in a week to prevent reinfestation.
Side-effects: This product is a homeopathic remedy and does not have side-effects.
Pros
Cons
- A long treatment period of three months to rid your kitty of intestinal parasites.
- This product is not recommended for nursing kittens.
Naturpet D Wormer 100% Natural Safe Effective Dewormer
Who should use: Broad spectrum dewormer for cats infested with any type of worms
Many cat owners hate the idea of giving their pets medication. However, if the cat is infested with worms, it has to be treated. NaturPet D Wormer is an alternative option to over-the-counter cat dewormer medications and is made from natural ingredients such as black walnut, fennel seed, sage leaf, papaya leaf, etc.
The NaturPet Dewormer is great to fight tapeworm as well as roundworms, so if you are unsure about the type of worm infecting your kitty this is also a broad spectrum de-wormer. The treatment has herbal ingredients that have proven anti-fungal and anti-parasitic properties besides the ability to help the digestive tract recover post infestation.
Administering is made easy because the purchase includes a dropper to measure the dose precisely.
Because of the herbal nature of ingredients, this treatment does not have any side-effects.
Side-effects: Being a herbal treatment, this product has no side-effects.
Pros
- The dropper makes it easy to precisely administer the dose.
- This is also a broad spectrum dewormer, so effective against both roundworms as well as tapeworms.
- Besides deworming qualities, also has the ability to restore the digestive tract to its original condition post infestation.
Cons
- This may not be as effective as other chemical formulations.
- Only tackles roundworm and tapeworms, does not work against hookworms.
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