I just noticed my cat has worms. Clearly we are going to the vet asap tomorrow. I was just wondering how pets get worms. She is a 2 year old cat. Obviously when I got her, I did the deworming (which is standard for kittens and puppies), as she definitely had worms as a kitten. That is normal. I am just confused as to where these worms came from. She is an indoor only cat and she is not around any other animals. I read online that tapeworms can come from fleas, but this doesn't look like a tapeworm. I read that tapeworms leave segments in the fur of an animal. I just saw these worms crawling around her anus. They look like the same white roundworms that kittens and puppies have when young. I clean her litterbox everyday; I have not noticed anything in her stools (which seems odd because usually worms are noticable---at least in my past experience with other animals, they have been). What is the deal? She is a 2 year old indoor single cat. She visited with my boyfriends family and their cats (they have indoor and indoor/outdoor cats) for Thanksgiving. She got fleas (a pretty bad case) from one of their cats, but I treated her with frontline and she has seemed fine ever since. She may have the occasional flea or flea flair up (but not an infestation), and she is always treated with frontline. Where are the worms from??? I am completely grossed out also, as I saw them crawling on the outside of her body around her anus. I know they can be transmitted to humans. Help help help what do I do!!! I want to like throw away everything she has been near. I can't take her to the vet until tomorrow. I know all she needs is a dewormer, but how did she get them in the first place? And what should I do tonight?


Edit: Also, we moved to Greensboro recently and she does not have a vet here. Does anyone know any good vets in gboro??

[Edited on January 9, 2008 at 9:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/9/2008 9:43:14 PM

It sounds like tapeworms to me. She probably got them from the fleas over Thanksgiving. My cats used to get tapeworms everytime they had a flea outbreak. Dewormer will get rid of them. Tapeworms can crawl for a small amount of time as they leave the GI tract through the anus, but then they shrivel up to become those sesame seed/rice segments that you probably read about online.

Until tomorrow I would just wash your hands if you think you have any segments on you. Also wash the cat bed and anything that she lounges on to get rid of the fleas - if you don't get rid of the fleas completely then the worms will most likely just come back.

Here is a good description I found online:
"They are long, segmented worms that anchor themselves to the wall of the small intestine. They form segments (egg cases) that move down the bowel with feces. These segments, approximately 1/8 inch long and flat, come out with the feces and crawl about on the pets hair around the anus. They dry out and end up looking like a grain of brown rice. Once in the environment these desiccated egg cases crack open dispersing minute tapeworm eggs. The eggs are ingested by intermediate hosts (fleas and small mammals) and the lifecycle repeats itself."

Hope that helps

1/9/2008 9:56:29 PM

also- don't freak out, cat tapeworms are not transmissible to humans

1/9/2008 10:00:25 PM

thanks yea. after i read a few more articles i figured they were tapeworms. i just never have even seen any of the "rice segments" and i'd never seen anything crawling around before on her anus or in her stools. i mean so she's had these for like a month and i didn't even know. this is so gross. and i feel SO bad. but i honestly haven't seen any rice segments. and there haven't been fleas in my condo for awhile as i treated when i figured out she was infested (her and the condo) and i treated again when i left for christmas. i guess i will treat one more time and maybe get her more frontline AND dewormer.

thanks for the help. i swear i don't just let my cat sit around infested with fleas. she had that one bad outbreak after thanksgiving, and now i feel superbad because she has had worms for over a month and i didn't even know

1/9/2008 10:04:31 PM

get drontal

it takes care of tapeworms, roundworms, and some others

should take care of your problem

buy it online - you will save $texas v. what you pay for it at the vet.

1/10/2008 7:48:12 AM

^ I'd still take the cat to the vet for a fecal float so they know exactly what internal parasites the cat has.

Fecal Float = looking at a fecal sample under a microscope and identifying the eggs of the parasites.

A word of caution - many internal parasites are zoonotic in that they can be transferred between animals and humans.

1/10/2008 9:02:16 AM

Quote :

"Dewormer will get rid of them."

not ALL dewormers take care of tapeworms.

Quote :

"also- don't freak out, cat tapeworms are not transmissible to humans"

tapeworm to human, no, not directly...but if you ingest the same fleas the cat does, you can get tapeworms too.

1/10/2008 9:28:34 AM

fenbendazole will usually kill most anything

1/10/2008 12:10:44 PM

thanks for the responses!!!! i took her to the vet today. it was tapeworms like i thought. ughhhh. and i also found out she has a heart murmur which i know pets can live with fine, but it just is annoying because it was a midgrade heart murmur and the vet rec. getting a test done (ultra sound send to a vet. cardiologist?!?!) and its sortof expensive. i have to think about getting it done. she said a murmur CAN be a symptom of heartworms but my cat has had a heartworm test before and been neg, but we did another one today just to make sure. however, the vet thinks that because she is so young, it is probably just genetic. we also got our rabies and distemper. and now we have pills for the tapeworms and a six month supply of advantage multi for cats which prevents heartworms, fleas, hookworms, roundworms, and ear mites. AND i went out and bought 30lbs of all new fresh litter. i have washed her litter box with hot water. and i have hardwood floors, but i bought one of those cheap vacuum things to vac my one tiny carpet and all of my upholsterd furiture, mattress, etc. so hopefully we are over this flea/worm thing. anyway thanks for all the feedback!!!

1/10/2008 5:46:12 PM