Why didn't they check him for this?

I got Ricky Bobby from a shelter. I thought before they adopted out they check them for fleas, an other parasites. Don't most shelters do that?

I also took him to the vet for a checkup, vaccines, and to get him neutered. All in the same visit. The only health issue they came up with was earmites. And they gave him medicine. I wasn't able to stay for the exam(I know, bad mommy) but since he was getting fixed that day I had to drop him off early in the morning before work.

I just saw a roundworm on the fur by his butt.
I was really surprised because I just didn't expect that. I thought they would've checked for that at the shelter or the vets. Especially the shelter.

Now I've gotta take him to the vet just for deworming medicine.

I'm just really shocked. That's all.

Edit: At least I think it's the round worm. Isn't that the little one that looks like rice? Or is that pin worm? Ewwww!

As far as I know the ones that look like rice are segments of tapeworm. My dog had that once, and he was 5 years old! All I had to do was feed him huge pills and it went away. I had a puppy that had roundworm and you can definitely tell what that is. She puked up a bunch of whole worms and they were huge and live. She was supposed to have been treated for worms but I went back to the place I got her from and they gave me meds to get rid of it.

Yeah, I just did some research and found out it was tapeworm. I'm getting so grossed out! lol I'm going to try to limit my research on this subject. When I first got him he did have a case of the squirts, but I assumed it was because the change of food and environment stresses. It cleared up about 2 days later.
I just really thought since he came home flea free they checked him for all the basic parasites at the shelter?

One of my cats has/had tapeworm....one pill from the vet and its gone....

In my experience, if you treat an animal for worms the treatment has worked if they deficate them out later. Or vomit them up even. Go get him dosed again to kill off all the eggs & larvae, but don't be too upset, it sounds normal to me.

Thanks Pintameez. I'm trying not to get too upset. I'm just really surprised that's all. I've had him for a month and a half(is that it? It sure feels longer! ) and just noticed the tapeworm today. So I'm just shocked! lol

Call the vet in the morning and let them know what you found. They may have treated him for worms while at the vet's and you're seeing the "end result" of that treatment.

The ones that look like rice are tape worms.
All they have to do is swallow one flea to get tapeworms.

Originally Posted by stephanietx

Call the vet in the morning and let them know what you found. They may have treated him for worms while at the vet's and you're seeing the "end result" of that treatment.

Click to expand...

If he was due for vaccinations, it's possible that the vet dewormed him and he is just passing what the medication took care of. Also, my vet doesn't normally do a fecal on my cats (which is how they'd check for parasites) unless I request it.

Sometimes with our shelter cats, we have to give more than one round of treatment for worms to make sure they're gone.... roundworms especially. I don't know about tapeworms... although I did find what you found - a segment in the fur around a cat's butt. I reported it to our coordinator immediately. and the next time I went in, that kitty had been pulled.

Thanks everyone. I just went to my vets website, they have a pet portal set up where you can request appointments online. So I requested one and I let them know what I found. When they call me back to confirm the request and the appointment schedule I will ask them the questions that need to be answered. I'm going to ask if I can just take in a fecal sample since 1- I don't have much time available in my schedule at the time, 2- I'd really hate to pay that flat fee for a vet visit when I know what the problem is.

Oh- a question. How do I go about disinfecting my house? Do I have to do that for tapeworms? RB pretty much sleeps wherever he pleases, so there's not one spot I can clean. What can I do for that?

At the shelter here, we do no routinely do fecals on cats/dogs, but instead de-worm them. Standard de-wormer doesn't cover Tapeworms - so we have to simply watch the cats/dogs for signs of tapes.

Really? I just assumed since tapeworms generally come from fleas that they would've tested for it. I'm in no way getting mad at the shelter. I was just really shocked. I'm over the initial shock now. I just hate that my baby has worms.

I just like to clarify, from the standpoint of a shelter, as some people take things the wrong way. One fecal, per cat, at $12, multiplied out times 100 cats = $1,200. That would not include doing fecals on the dogs - it simply isn't cost effective

I completely understand that. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was jumping on the shelter's case, if it even came across that way. I definately wasn't. I was just surprised.

Yep no disenfecting, not even the litter box any more than usual. We unfortunately dealt with fleas and tapeworms over the summer. Boys had them bad--dang rental house.

Leslie

I'm so sorry to hear that! Don't worry too much, though, as other people have said. They're pretty easy to get rid of with the right medicine.

I just went through a similar thing. Harley was on Drontal for tapeworms recently. I was absolutely mortified when I saw the segments on her butt. I hate worms! But I'll say, after that first pill, I never did see anymore. My vet told me to give her another dose 3 weeks after the first one, in case we missed any eggs/larvae.

As far as cleaning the house, I just gave it a good vaccuuming.

Chances are that if the shelter didn't have the funds to do the neuter, that they wouldn't have the funds to deworm him either. When I adopted my dog Lola last year, she came with the spay, but they didn't treat her for parasites, nor did they even bathe her.

Tapeworms are easy to treat. Usually a single dose of Drontal will do it. You don't need to disinfect your home or do any cleaning at all. And if you live anywhere with fleas, tapeworms are very common. At my farm in Missouri where I fought a constant flea battle, I used to give all of mine Drontal at least once a year, regardless if I saw tapeworms on them or not.