Roundworm?

Hi everyone,
My cat, Schweppie, had to stay overnight at the hospital because he hadn't eaten for 2 days. Of course, as soon as I get him to the hospital, he starts eating the stinky a/d they give him (I work at this animal hospital). Anyway, it turns out he had diarrhea and has toxacara roundworm. So the vet prescribed Milbemax - 1 pill every 2 weeks four times. I have to treat my other cat and my dog. Anyway, the doctor told me that what I'm feeding him is too rich and he was really gassy. I fed him Wellness grain-free canned and Orijen (turkey and chicken). The doctor wanted me to start feeding him i/d. I don't really want to but I'm finding it hard to find a grain-free food that's not too rich and doesn't have fish. So I bought some Eagle Pack Holistic Selects, Prairie Homestyle Beef and Liver Stew, By nature organics, Felidae. I think that is all of them. Are these foods good for sensitive tummies? I tried Natural Balance but he doesn't like it.

Do any of you know of any good canned foods out there that would be good for my Schweppie?

Also, have any of you had any experience with toxacara roundworms? He used to be an outdoor/indoor cat but when I 'rescued' him, I thought I got him dewormed. So I've cleaned the litterboxes but how long does it take to get rid of the worms? Do I have to clean the litterbox every day?

I appreciate your help!!!

If you mean scooping, yes, scoop at least once a day. Completely empty the litter and bleach the boxes every week. Even better if you can afford to put new litter in until the course of meds is done. I'm not familiar with that med. The pill our vet gave us didn't work - I don't know if it's the same thing, different name (the first one we tried was a pill called drontal). The life cycle of the round worm is such that you will have to give another course of meds. The poison (that's what parasite medicine is) kills only the adult round worms, not the eggs. The eggs mature in 2 - 3 weeks, so three weeks after you finish the first course of meds, they MUST be administered again.

We ended up having to use a stronger poison. We used Strongid-T and then Panacur. They're both liquids. It wasn't fun giving them to our cats, but they worked. And we bleached the boxes weekly until both courses of meds were done, and that did the trick.

You may want to ask your food question in the nutrition forum.

Good luck!

Laurie

Originally Posted by SweetPea24

Hi everyone,
My cat, Schweppie, had to stay overnight at the hospital because he hadn't eaten for 2 days. Of course, as soon as I get him to the hospital, he starts eating the stinky a/d they give him (I work at this animal hospital). Anyway, it turns out he had diarrhea and has toxacara roundworm. So the vet prescribed Milbemax - 1 pill every 2 weeks four times. I have to treat my other cat and my dog. Anyway, the doctor told me that what I'm feeding him is too rich and he was really gassy. I fed him Wellness grain-free canned and Orijen (turkey and chicken). The doctor wanted me to start feeding him i/d. I don't really want to but I'm finding it hard to find a grain-free food that's not too rich and doesn't have fish. So I bought some Eagle Pack Holistic Selects, Prairie Homestyle Beef and Liver Stew, By nature organics, Felidae. I think that is all of them. Are these foods good for sensitive tummies? I tried Natural Balance but he doesn't like it.

Do any of you know of any good canned foods out there that would be good for my Schweppie?

Also, have any of you had any experience with toxacara roundworms? He used to be an outdoor/indoor cat but when I 'rescued' him, I thought I got him dewormed. So I've cleaned the litterboxes but how long does it take to get rid of the worms? Do I have to clean the litterbox every day?

I appreciate your help!!!

Click to expand...

Vets crack me up. They'll use any opportunity to peddle Science Diet and Hill's Prescription cat food. Notice you'll almost never find a Vet who doesn't sell this crap in their clinic? I'm sure they get lots of kick-backs for selling it.

A side effect of roundworms IS diarrhea, and with diarrhea it's normal to have gas (even in humans!).......so for your Vet to claim that the good quality food you're feeding is too rich, what a crock. I wouldn't buy that for a minute; he's just trying to suck you into buying the Hill's i/d (good deal for him, hey?)

So the foods he claimed were "too rich".....are those dry or canned that you feed?

What age if your cat?

Thanks for your replies!

Schweppie is about 7 or 8 maybe? That's the vet's guess. I know the Wellness is higher in fat than most foods so I guess that could be it. My kitten is getting sick of it anyway. Orijen is quite high in fat too. I guess I'll pose this question in the food forum too. I just find it funny because the particular doctor is quite open-minded in that she's even considered feeding her dog raw because of his health issues yet she still believes Hill's makes good food. Everyone at the hospital always looks at me funny when I refuse to feed it. I don't tell the doctors, just the rest of the staff. but they suck it up like a Hoover sucks up dust. Mind you, I think that prescription food does have its place but the money that goes into their research and sponsorship of veterinary programs doesn't justify their lack of quality ingredients. Not to mention the price people pay for the food. Oh I could go on and on....

I'm also giving him Metronidazole for the diarrhea.

Drontal is a more expensive medicine than Milbemax. Hopefully, it's just as effective because I don't like thinking of having worms in my babies or in my house! My dog is getting Strongid in the liquid. I meant cleaning the litter boxes with disinfectant every day. I do scoop at least once a day but usually try to extend the cleaning to every 3 weeks or so (probably bad I know). But I will disinfect every week until I'm sure they're gone.

Thanks again for the advice!