Roundworm HELP

I have a new kitty that was a stray, however, he is THE MOST tame cat in the world. In the midst of trying to find his owner I have taken him to the vet and found out he has roundworms (they gave him some external worm treatment on Wednesday morning). I have been petting him every night (he loves to just sit on my lap) and while petting him last night he rammed his nose on my lips so I got freaked out! He had just got done cleaning himself...is there a high chance he had roundworm eggs on his nose and it went on my lips?

I did spit and then went and washed my lips with antibacterial soap but I don't know...sometimes I worry.

Other than that, I wash my hands and change my clothes when I'm around him and he's out in the garage as of yet.

Thanks!!!

LOL. V.very very unlikely. Almost I'd say impossible! 40 years of kitties, and some run ins with kitty kissing and no worms here.

I think you are fine. Honestly!! But if you do worry?

Get some advantage for fleas, from a vet, and some de-wormer. Strongid I think, or a pill Drontal if they will prescribe an dyou can get it down the kitties throat without having hands/fingers bitten off, LOL.

And of course, if you think YOU have worms there's meds for that too.
I won't go into into here, but if you visited a doctor or vet, I think
they could put you at ease re: accquiring worms that way.

More likely to catch from touching food and eating without washing
hands first...

If you have or can improvise a mortar and pestle the Drontal tablets can be crushed and mixed in with wet food if your cat fights being pilled. Usually half of a tablet is the dosage; give your cat two doses and watch from there. If his stool solidifies in the next few days you should be OK--Drontal's pretty effective stuff....

The KITTY is going to have help of the vet, external. I suppose Revolution/Stronghold, as they take roundworms too, not only external parasites.


Brownie is afraid SHE herself can catch the worms.

Ie. IS there any danger of humans getting worms from cats? That is the question.

Ie: Pretty low - or none at all??

It would be almost impossible for a human to contract round worm from a kitty - unless you touch the feces and don't clean yourself.

However, to completely rid kitty of the round worm, the Strongid or Panacur (all the round worm out here has become resistant to drontal) must be readministered in two or three weeks. Our vet always uses three weeks. The reasons is the poison (that's what these meds are, poisons) that kills the round worm only kills the adults - so you have to give the eggs time to gestate, and then kill the adults again.

During this time, it helps to scoop the litterbox twice a day, and then completely empty the litter box(es), bleach them, and refill them with new litter once a week. This will help prevent re-infestation. Then, three to four weeks after the second administration of the poison, get a stool stample to the vet to make sure there's no more sign of round worm. It can be difficult to get rid of sometimes, and may take several rounds of meds to get rid of it.

Laurie

So, for the sake of my other kitty that is in the house...how long do I keep them separated so that the inside cat does not get it? Is it OK to keep them separated by a door (between rooms) or should I continue to keep one outside in the garage and the other inside? It's getting tougher and tougher to keep the one in the garage because he's soooo lovable.

The vet put something on the stray last week, it was maybe revolution. Also, are the worms visible in the stool? I have looked every time I scoop and I haven't seen anything yet...

Thanks for your help!!

Sometimes they pass adult worms - depends upon how bad the infestation is. They usually throw them up before you'd see them in the stool, but even that is if it's a bad infestation. What would be in the stool is eggs, which can only be seen through a microscope.

It would be fine to confine the kitty to a separate room. What we would do is keep a pair of sandals just inside the door of the separation room, and we'd take off our shoes and socks before going in, and slip on the sandals while in the room with kitty, and just leave them in the room when we go. And wash your hands when you leave the room before you do anything else. We actually had kitties sharing litter boxes and it didn't spread to other cats, but it's really not a good idea.

And to ensure your existing kitty doesn't get the round worm, rescued kitty would need to be separated until the vet confirms the stool is clean.

Our vet won't use revolution for treating worms - his experience is that it works only sporadically. They only use Strongid or Panacur. I would take a stool sample of rescued kitty into the vet three weeks after the revolution was applied, and see if the stool checks out clean.

Also, if he's going to mix with your existing kitties, I'd make sure he was neutered.

And BTW - thank you for rescuing this kitty!

Laurie

Ahhh...thank you for all of this advice! I actually have him scheduled to get neutered this Friday! I also have him scheduled to be declawed but I don't know if I'll go through with that... :-( The trouble is that he has huge feet so when he purrs and does the paw thing, his nails catch on stuff and totally rip whatever it is. I wear a certain pair of jeans with him and he's already pulled about 3 tears in them just by purring and doing the paw thing! He's just so sweet, I don't want to see him in any pain with that

Not good about Revolution!! I hope it works in this little guy's case!

Please, please, please do not get your kitty declawed. When he's at the vet for the neuter, just ask them to also clip all his claws. Then get a sweatshirt you tie around your waist to wear around the house - and when he wants to sit on your lap and knead and drool, put the sweatshirt down on your lap. And keep his claws clipped.

Declawing is illegal in 23 countries around the world. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world where it is still legal. It's illegal in Brazil and Slovenia. It is not correctly named - it should be called De-Toeing. To remove the claw, because of the construction of cats' feet, they actually need to remove the toe from the last joint. It's not like removing your fingernails - it's like removing the ends of your fingers. Now pretend you walk on your toes, and you've just had each toe removed from that last joint - and you still have to walk on your toes. Cats walk on their toes, and declawing them causes them to change their posture, which usually causes arthritis and back problems later in life.

Some cats that have been declawed develop behavioral problems such as biting and litter box avoidance. 85% of the cats that are given up to shelters for behavioral problems are cats that have been declawed.

It is cruel to the cat, and one county in southern CA has banned it. There is a national campaign to put into a law that vets must educate people about declawing before they do it, and part of the campaign is that people watch a video where a declaw is performed. PLEASE click on this link, read the article - and check into a least a couple of the article links provided before you go through with that decision.

http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/html/declaw_detoe.html

Laurie

First off, thank you so much for taking in this stray kitty and caring for him. He sounds like a real sweetie.

You're doing a wonderful thing by getting him the vet care he needs and having him neutered, but please reconsider having him declawed. It's a cruel and unncessary practice and very traumatic for the cat.

As Laurie suggested, just ask the vet to show you how to clip his claws while you're there. It's easy to do and most cats are fine with it. I clip my cats' front claws every couple of weeks, which takes about 5 minutes max. In 3 years, they've never damaged any furniture, clothing and carpet.

Another option you might consider is Soft Paws, which are vinyl caps that glue to your cats claws protecting against scratching. They're available at most pet stores and online. I've never used them, but many TCS members have and found them to be very effective.

Again, many thanks for taking this kitty in and caring for him, but please don't delaw!