my cat has worms....?

Question

I found my cat eating a mouse several weeks ago.Today I saw what looked like grains of rice on his stool.One was still wiggling.I beleive it is a tapeworm.It is New Years Eve & no vets are open in my area.Some pet stores are.Can anyone recommend a good otc treatment.I also have 2 other cats in my home.Is it likely all 3 are infected?

Answer 1

take him to the vet. They have a shot. No fuss.. no muss...no live worms crawling

Answer 2

First of all there is a good chance that all three of your cats have worms... They should have a good DE-wormer at Wal-mart, Pet section; Upside, Wal-mart is never closed. If your still seeing the worms in the feces after you try the otc treatments, take them to the vet, but give the meds a few days to work. By then the vet will be open.

Secondly, they need a new litter box until the worms are gone. The best answer to that is to cut down a cardboard box and fill it with a non-scented litter. When the worms are gone you can replace their old cat box after a good cleaning.

Good Luck with your kitties and Happy Holidays!

Answer 3

There are no otc treatments that I know of for tapeworm. It won't hurt them to sit it out for a few days until the vet opens back up. When my cat had them, I was absolutely disgusted because they would fall out when he was lying around the house, but the vet informed me that most of the time the animals don't know they have them and aren't hurt by them. It is possible all are infected because the eggs for the worm are inside fleas which have to be ingested in order to get the worm stuck inside. Since cats lick themselves, it's likely they all swallowed an infected flea. You can have them all checked out. I paid about $15 for a one time treatment that the vet gave to my cat. Also watch out for yourself. Even though it's not very likely, if you ingest a flea, you can get tapeworm too. Until you treat your home/cats for the fleas, keep your mouth away from them.

Answer 4

Cats do not get pin worms. These sound like tape worms and they are transmitted by fleas. Yes it is possibly that all three can be. my advice is to skip the OTC"s as they are hard on a cats system and take stool samples to your vet. Try to get one from the litter box from each cat if possible. In order to completly get the porblem under contol the fleas must be treated if your pets have them on their bodies. It is hard to keep a cat from eating vermin as that sounds like the source of your 1st kittys infection. the stool samples will confirm or deny the presence of other types of worms (round for example and tapes can be transmitted to people and are especially harmful to children--if left untreated in kids can cause blindness!!!!!). Your vet has tabs that are parasite specific as pet shops meds often do not contain the specific meds for tapes. Good luck with you mouser kitty!!

Answer 5

There are NO good or safe OTC dewormers. Your cat will be fine until the vet is open. Your cat will NOT die and it is ok to feed as usual, it will do no harm at all.
Tapeworms aren't transferable to people or other pets. So if one cat has tapeworms it doesn't necassarily mean they all do.They can only be transfered by way of fleas or from eating mice, rabbits and other rodents.(YES PEOPLE tapeworms can also come from eating mice & other rodents, they aren't just transfered by fleas!!!!)

NOTE!!!! If the other cats hunt or have recently had fleas then yes they should be dewormed for tapeworms too.

You also don't need to do any special cleaning or disinfecting of the litterbox, just clean as usual.

***** tapeworms also are NOT surgically removed!!!*********

Answer 6

This isn't an emergency; it can wait until the vet opens. Since you can see the segments, the cat has had the tapeworm for a while now. Tapeworms come from eating infected fleas, not mice; there is no telling whether the other cats have them or not. A vet can tell.
Cats can get roundworms from eating mice; you could get your cat checked.
Or, I found this site that says garlic powder on the cats' food will get rid of most tapeworms, among other things.

Answer 7

It sounds like worms. A de-wormer pill or liquid should do the trick. I have had success with a de-wormer pill (please be sure to read the package instructions, as not much medication is needed, and the cat's age/size can be a factor) with some strays I feed. Petsmart and Petco will have de-wormer medication, as well as some grocery stores.

Answer 8

I have 2 cats and about once a month I'll give them some de-wormer. Go to the pet store and explain your situation and ask him/her about some de-wormer. I'm more than sure you'll leave with a solution. But hurry up, it's almost closing time!!

Answer 9

Yes its me again catwoman! Petsmart has a very good wormer that they do not seem to mind the taste it is called D-Worm liquid wormer.Its great for cats or kittens. Not too expensive either! You can even use it on dogs. It works quickly just follow directions.

Answer 10

before 2 weeks find a vet that can operate Hurry or your cat can die try not feeding your cat today so if theres a tape worm it wont get to big and kill your cat.