my kittens have worms?

Question

Have just adopted two 8/9 week old kittens from a rescue centre. We administered a spot on worm and flea treatment (the type you put on the back of the neck) 3 days ago. One of them had all the classic symptoms of worm infestation, lack of appetite, diahorrea, vomitting, dry fur and lethargy. The other one wasn't too bad. My problem is that the badly affected one doesn't seem to have improved very much, except thankfully his appetite is picking up, He vomitted today for the 1st time since the treatment and there were still live roundworms in it. I am worried because I can't give him a repeat dose for about 2 weeks. My question is: (at last)! How long does it take for these treatments to kill off the horrible parasites?

Thanks Jen. You sound very knowledgeable. I'm worried now about this spot on treatment but I did get it from my vet. My kittys had their vaccs last Saturday. I am planning on taking him tomorrow if he hasn't improved but I'll be prepared now and bring a little sample with me.

Answer 1

I have to disagree with Jen, there is a very effective spot on wormer called profender that treats roundworms and tapeworms we use in Ireland, not sure about availability elsewhere.
Stronghold which does ectoparasites, hookworms and roundworms is also effective, but only treats them in the adult form, so the larvae were probably present so an oral treatment would still be advisable. Panacur would be a good oral wormer for them.

However, I do agree bring a faecal sample to the vets and get a diagnosis and they can supply an oral worm treatment accordingly.

Oh and to answer the question, the treatment will work within a few hours.

Answer 2

Jen does sound very informative, but where she has got her knowledge from I don't know......as it isn't exactly true!.....

to start with you treated your kittens with spot on which is not a worming treatment you need to use something like drontol, which will take effect almost immediately.

the worms are still alive and infesting your kittens , also if your cat is vomiting the worms up it has a very bad case, your other kitten will have worms as well, but not showing signs as yet...they can die they could also lose use of there back ends....have you noticed them walking funny at the back end?.....you need to take them straight into the vet today and get some drontol.

To prevent intestinal worms you should worm your pet every 3 months with Drontol allwormer OR monthly with Sentinel 3 in 1 Heartworm, Intestinal wormer and flea control

Answer 3

Spot On treatments do not effectively (or at all) treat or prevent fleas or internal parasites. ALL kittens (and puppies) are born with roundworms. Pyrantel pamoate (available OTC as 'Nemix', or a better prescription version from your vet) is the dewormer to treat roundworms, and should be administered every 2 weeks until no evidence remains.

ANY kitten with diarrhea should have a fecal sample examined by your veterinarian to screen for coccidia, giardia, and other parasites that are not routinely treated for (they require different dewormers to treat).

Your kitties should be getting their vaccinations now anyway, please see your vet for vaccines, a full physical exam, routine deworming, and a fecal examination.

Edit- I'm surprised to hear your vet actually recommends 'Spot On'. Frontline Plus for felines is about the safest, most completely effective flea preventative on the market (Advantage is second best, some cats are sensitive to it).

Definitely follow up with your vet as you plan, giardia and coccidia are not uncommon in kittens and they are also zoonotic (meaning YOU can become infected). Good luck getting them cleared up, I'm sure they'll do just fine. :)

Answer 4

I presume you mean Revolution. This doesn't treat tapeworms, so if your cats are infested by these it will not have helped. Also if there's a severe infestation, you need to get a complete wormer like Drontal or Milbemax - you can't rely on Revolution, or Profender, to cope with a severe worm infestation.

It sounds to me like these kittens have more issues than 'just' worms. Worms generally cause voracious appetite, diarrhoea, and a pot belly. Vomiting is in extreme infestations. Dry fur and lethargy are not generally signs of worms. You need to get these kittens checked by a vet if you haven't already, and find out what's going on with them.

Chalice

Answer 5

I took on a 14 week old kitten just over 2 years ago and he had worms really badly. I had him treated at the vets and it took 10 months for the infestation to clear. I know the vet can be expensive but it really is best to take them both there - the RSPCA vets will treat your cats cheaply if you're on a low income.

Answer 6

the only reason a new child kitten could have worms is that if mom has worms. you may desire to get mom and babies taken care of by making use of a vet ASAP. Worms for sparkling kittens may be very risky, even deadly.

Answer 7

To my knowledge, we find 2 veterinary spot-on formulations in the UK: Droncit and Stronghold.

- Droncit is a tapewormer (therefore not effective against roundworms)
- Stronghold is a flea product which is also active against roundworms and should therefore do the trick for your kitten

In case of a persistant infection, I recommend to use another product. Oral preparations such as Pananur, drontal, milbemax should do very well.

Good luck

Julien

Answer 8

Why don't you phone up a vet for some advise,I think its about 3 weeks,But I'm not a vet.. I worm my cat but she's 14 years old,so i cant remember about kittens... seek professional advice!!!

Answer 9

Phone the vet 1st thing.Trouble is with cats, they wash themselves with their tongues, so ingest the worms as they do so.It's usually the next day that my dog passes worms after worming.It may be different with cats.If you remember what tablet you gave the cat, look it up on Google for further advice.Best of luck.

Answer 10

Hi...I am so sorry to hear this. I am a farm owner so I understand where your at.....What kind of wormer did you use??? I use a wormer that gets all the different kinds of worms. If you would like email me and I will tell you what to do.......Remember.......the worms will kill the kitties... [e-mail]