Steps to be rid of worms

mickee

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HELP!!!

My kitties have worms again!!! I cannot get this worm thing under control. We have been tested and treated by the vet at least 5 times now and cannot get rid of them.

What is necessary to be worm-free? We did the gooie yellow stuff in the syringe, the pills, shot, and each time they come back to us.

I know they say something about fleas causing them and we are using Advantage, but apparently still have some or would not have the worms. Is that correct????

HELP, I am beside myself, not knowing what to do now.

Mickee
 

kittenkiya

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I have to admit, until I got Tammy-Timmy I had NEVER had a cat with worms.

She had them

I did not want to use poisons on my cats. What I did do is go to a holistic website and pick up some food grade diatomaceous earth. I use it in their food, mix it with the dry and I have watched their systems start to clean out.

I know most people will not agree with this, but in about one more month or so, I will have no worms and my babies will not have had poisons introduced to their systems.
 

stephenq

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That yellow liquid, Strongid T, is not a poison to cats. Poisons cause injury or death, noteably in small doses. Strongid causes neither injury nor death to cats, only to worms. One could say that anything in sufficient quantity could be a poison but that is both semantics and implies the misuse of the "substance". Diatomaceous earth could also be considered a poison in that regard. Yes, medicines can have toxic effects, but strongid is one of the more harmless substances you can give a cat (from the catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s perspective). It may not fix the worms in every case, nor does it kill all types of worms.

Good articles are here http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Con...C=15&A=498&S=2 and here http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1862
 
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mickee

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I am switching to Revolution instead of Advantage which I have been using. So If I understand correctly they will be wormed monthly with Revolution and I should be worm free??? They have the ones that look like rice.

Mickee
 

tru

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Originally Posted by Mickee

I am switching to Revolution instead of Advantage which I have been using. So If I understand correctly they will be wormed monthly with Revolution and I should be worm free??? They have the ones that look like rice.

Mickee
Revolution will take care of Roundworms and Hookworms, but not Tapeworms. For that you will need a specific wormer. The vet will probably give you Droncit for the Tapeworms.

My vet prefers the cats to use Revolution also.
 
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mickee

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Yes the vet has given Droncit at least 4-5 times now, but we stil have the problem. Any suggestions????

Mickee
 

tru

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Originally Posted by Mickee

Yes the vet has given Droncit at least 4-5 times now, but we stil have the problem. Any suggestions????

Mickee
I understand that vets also have a wormer injection, but I've had no experience with it so someone else would have to tell you about that.

One thing you could do is buy some Diatomaceous Earth, (Food Grade), and give 1/4 tsp. a day to your cat by mixing in her food. The DE will rid her system of all worms after a period of about 3 weeks I believe the time is. DE is also good for rubbing into the cats coat to kill and prevent fleas.

It is not toxic to warm blooded animals, but will dehydrate and shred insects because it is:
"An abrasive powder made from the shells of diatoms, sometimes used as an insecticide. The sharp particles damage soft-bodied larvae, snails, and slugs, causing them to lose moisture and die."
DE can also be used in the environment to get rid of pests, (fleas, ants, spiders, etc.).

One thing to be careful of is if you use the DE in carpeting, (many do to kill fleas), than do not vacuum with a bagless vacuum or the powder could clog the filter and burn out the vacuums motor.

If you use DE in conjunction with the Revolution you should never have a flea or worm problem again.

Good luck with this. I know how irritating such problems can be.
 
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mickee

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I have used DE in the past, but did not know there was a food grade of this. I used it in the yard, but didn't feel like it worked. Maybe I did not give it a fair chance.

Thanks,

Mickee
 

tiffanyjbt

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Originally Posted by tru

It is not toxic to warm blooded animals, but will dehydrate and shred insects because it is:
"An abrasive powder made from the shells of diatoms, sometimes used as an insecticide. The sharp particles damage soft-bodied larvae, snails, and slugs, causing them to lose moisture and die."
DE can also be used in the environment to get rid of pests, (fleas, ants, spiders, etc.).
I've never heard of using this to get rid of worms, but aren't the cats insides just as soft/moist/shredable as a worms body? The shell doesn't scratch up the insides of the cat? Why not?

Duke had worms even though he was on revolution. He had just been to the vets and had a stool sample not even 24 hours before I noticed the worms. They gave him a shot and the worms were gone in a few days. No problems since (knock on wood). When we got him, he had fleas. We vacuumed and sprayed the whole house and Duke stayed indoors. Two months later, he had these worms. The vet said we could have carried a flea in on our clothes from outside. Are you sure you've gotten rid of the flea problem?
 

ldg

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Are your kitties outdoor cats or indoor cats?

Either way - to help prevent reinfestation, do the following:

1) Immediately after the next worming treatment, empty all the litter boxes, bleach them, and fill them with new litter.

2) Keep the litterboxes really clean. Scoop at least daily.

3) Buy flea collars - do NOT put them on the cats - cut them up and put them in your vacuum cleaner bag. Vacuum your house every couple of days at a minimum (daily is best). This will kill any fleas or flea eggs that are around.

Bleach the boxes weekly and refill with new litter and keep using the cut-up flea collars in the vacuum cleaner bag until you haven't had a worm problem for a month. In fact - it wouldn't hurt to always put cut-up flea collars in the vacuum cleaner bag as a kind of "insurance" policy.

Laurie
 

tru

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Ok,

I did some searching to try and find answers as to why DE won't hurt mammals when it does kill insects and I will post some links for reference on what I found.

I found good reading on this site:
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH: A Non Toxic Pesticide

This addresses DE For Human Consumption

FOOD GRADE DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
FACTS & INFORMATION

Last of all, here is what I've read over and over.

"Diatomaceous Earth, which is also called DE or silicon dioxide, is as chemically inert as road dust, but when properly used, it is very effective against insect pests. Unlike ‘chemical insecticidesâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] of the last half of the 20th Century, DE is a ‘physicalâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] or ‘mechanicalâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] insecticide.

Knowledge of one fact about insects and two facts about DE is required in order to understand how DE can be safe to humans and yet very effective in killing insects.

Insects control their body moisture by means of a complex ‘waxyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] coating on the outside of their exoskeletons, i.e., their shells. This coating is naturally porous, which permit slow loss of water and evaporation. If the waxy coating is damaged, the insect suffers serious injury.

DE is made up of ancient skeletal remains of diatoms. These one-celled creatures have hard, sharp structures that are small enough to cut or pierce the insectâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s waxy coating. But the structures are so small that DE feels as soft as baby powder to humans.

DE is also an excellent absorbent that is used in cleaning oils spills or kitty litter. This strong absorbency literally sucks the life fluid from insects. Because this is a mechanical process, DE can be literally effective forever. However, this is also a slow process when used alone."

The small amount that a human or mammal would ingest would maybe be the equivalant of eating one potato chip, but that same amount to an insect would bring the sound of taps for scores of insects.


That's enough from me now. Hope I didn't break my brain with all that reading.
 
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mickee

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Thank you all for all this information. It is going to help tremendously, I can tell!!!

My kitties are indoor only and I use a liner in the litter box. I do scoop it daily and use the clumping litter, if that matters. In any event this helps me know I am getting it good and clean daily.

I want to say yes, I have the fleas under control, but who can ever be positive. As it was stated in this thread I could bring one in on me.

Thanks again,

Mickee
 

mermaid

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How often are you treating them with Advantage?
If you eliminate the fleas, you will eliminate the tapeworms. If you still have tapes, you still have fleas, even if you don't see any or any evidence of them.
You must use the Advantage religiously every four weeks, even if you don't see fleas. Cats are very good at grooming fleas off of themselves, so that even if they have a hundred fleas hop on for a ride, they can pick off every single one. And guess where they go? *gulp* The cat eats every one of them, and they contain tapeworm eggs.
Flea control is, however, more than just treating the animal. It's important to remember that more than 90% of the fleas at various life stages don't live on the cat, they're in the envoronment! The adult fleas will live and stay on the animal, but they lay eggs that fall off the animal, and on the floor/in the bedding are eggs, larvae and pupae. When you treat the cat, you kill the adults, and that's great. But when the eggs hatch, and the larvae become adults, they jump on the cat and reinfest. THAT is why it's important to keep your cat treated if you have a problem. You will eventually kill off the flea population in your house, but fleas are a LOT more than meets the eye. You will get 'em all in about 3 month's time if you treat the cat religiously.
Once the fleas are gone, the tapeworms will eventually die off, Droncit or not. You can give them some Droncit tabs once you are sure you have the fleas under control. (the yellow stuff will do nothing for tapeworms, by the way).
If you have been following this to the letter for at least three months and still have tapeworms, you will want to apply Advantage every three weeks. If you feel icky about that, talk to your vet. It's safe enough though.
 

lily'smeowmy

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Mickee,
I am also having an issue with worms with my kitty, she's been dewormed for Roundworms 3 times already and recently a trip to the vets found that she was positive AGAIN for roundworms AND lungworms.
Rather than give the other dewormers, I received an Rx for Panacur, which I give to her 2x's a day for 10 days. I am hoping that this will clear up all parasites for good.
I'm sure your vet can provide a better dewormer, obviously the current ones weren't working as well as they should have.
If you have worms associated with fleas, remember the flea lifecycle, most likely you'll have to treat your home for fleas about 3 times before you get rid of all the little buggers as it kills only the live fleas and not the larva.

Best of luck to you and your fur-child!
 
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