Tapeworms and hair loss

This is my first post, so bear with me lol I am the new mom of a cow cat, Elsie. She is 16 months old, I have had her two months. We adopted her from the local shelter. She was brought in at 8 weeks old and went between the shelter and a foster home. We adopted her in December, the week before Christmas. The owner gave us her for almost half of the adoption cost because she had been there a year.

So she's been adjusting to a home instead of a cage. Her and the hubby don't get along anymore. She just never seemed normal. Then a few weeks ago, she started showing symptoms of tape worms (white pieces on her fur around her butt, depression, eating like crazy, hair loss). I did research, we don't have any other pets (well a fish and hermit crabs) or fleas. So I went back to the shelter and told them. She said yeah she's had tapeworms off and on since she was born since the foster home was flea ridden. I'm thinking great, tell us that now. So they gave us one Cestex. She seems to be perking up, playing more. BUT those darned pieces are coming like crazy now!! She always has a ton of those tapeworm segments on her butt, even without a bowel movement. I'm just getting so disgusted they are everywhere. I can't even let her on my lap without a towel. There are dried pieces everywhere, and she's still shedding like mad. The living room, her main room, is just yucky. I know that with the pill, she's supposed to digest the worm. So my question, is the multiplication of segments normal? Is the massive shedding normal? I've been giving her spray cat vitamins as well to help her get better. Is there anything else I can do to help her? How long does this take to stop? I hope someone else out there with experience can give me some advice.

You will see more segments because the dewormer is killing them. They need time to all come out. I would confine her to a small room, something easy to clean like the bathroom or laundry room. Clean her litterbox daily and any bedding material she uses daily. See how soon you can treat her again, do one more and they should be gone. I never personally used Cestex. I might suggest another vet approved brand for her because that one might not be working.

Also remember that tape worms come from fleas, it only takes one that she ingested for her to become infested with worms. Be patient, they will go away. I seem to get the idea that she is overweight also? After the worms are gone, please work with her on getting the weight down if that is the case.

Cestex is what the shelter gave us because the ASPCA or Humane society (can't remember, just know it was high up) recommended it to them. She had taken another med before for the worms (while in the shelter), started with a D. They said to come back in a week if she still had symptoms and they would give another dose. That would be in three days.

There are no fleas here and she came flea free to us, so that's not an issue. She's not overweight, less than 8 pounds last I checked at 16 months old. Cow cat or moo cat is the name of her coloring. Hence her name Elsie, from the foster home. The son at that home wanted to name her cow lol

I guess that makes sense, her needing to get rid of the worm. I had just read online that she would digest it, so I didn't expect it to be coming out of her.

It might make her one very unhappy kitty, but the bathroom idea might be a good idea. We just live in an apartment, so there's no extra bedroom. But a tile floor is easier to clean.

My guess would be since she was in an flea infested foster home and keeps getting worms, that she's probably rather heavily infested. Does or did she look a little bloated?

Don't worry about the segments, I know they look nasty but just make sure to vacuum/mop and wash your hands. We've all dealt with wormy cats at one point or another and are fine.

Hopefully once the worms are completely gone she'll be getting more nutrients and her fur will look better. What are you feeding her, by the way?

Yeah I'm thinking she is probably heavily infested. She came to us sick (2 months ago), so I'm not sure if she is bloated since I haven't owned a cat for years. I know her tummy seems to be sensitive, doesn't like the lower part touched. Doesn't like to be picked up.

She eats Goodlife Recipe dry food, and a third of a can of Friskies Prime Filets (with added water since she loves the gravy) once a day. She seems to prefer dry food so I try to buy a good kind. I've been giving her spray vitamins in her wet food too since I found out she was sick.

Was the other Med Drontal. Coco had that and it worked great for her. I was going to get her the Shot for Worms and the Vet said why pay over 30 for the shot when a 12 Dollar pill will work just as good. This was last year. All it takes id 1 flea to cause Tapworms if they swallow it. i hope your Cat gets rid of them soon.

I actually do think it was Drontal. That is what the shelter was using, but they asked around at other places to see what they used, if anything worked better. Someone high up said Cestex was what they were using with great results, so they switched.

I think I am going to go back on Monday and talk to her, get her another dose of something for safe measures. I know she's had worms at LEAST two months, she's got to be pretty infested.

She is starting to show some old behaviors like when we got her. Like she'll grab my hand with her two paws, put her mouth on it (never bites) then cuddles with it lol It's nice to see her acting a bit more normal.

Anyone have any suggestions for a better food? Anyone had any experience with goodlife? If there's something better that can make her heal faster, more nutrients, I'd get it. She eats more dry food than wet though.

There are a lot of great threads already about dry and wet foods. Just search "food", "dry food", "wet food" in this section.
Personally, I would wait until she's done passing all the worms or even wait until you're sure she doesn't need a second dose of wormer to change her food - then you have to transition slowly. No need to add extra stress on her body yet. So you have 2-3 weeks to read up, compare, and actually see what foods you can get near you.