Worms?

Ok, so I'm pretty sure my new kittens have worms. I haven't seen any, but I have seen what I believe to be eggs in the feces.

One of the kittens meows when pooping, and also scoots alot. This is the kitten who is not gaining much weight. He's gained 1oz, whereas the other one has gained 5oz.

I do have a vet appt. scheduled for Thursday. (soonest I could get when I called last week, due to the appt. being a non-emerg appt.)

My questions are about transmission. How are worms transmitted? (I know it depends on the type of worm, I'm just looking for generalizations)

I'm concerned of a couple things....say the other kitten doesn't have worms.. can he get them from the infected kitten? What about Kizzy? Kizzy doesn't have worms, and has minor interaction with the kittens. ( supervised visitation persay.... as well as he's always at the outside of the door where the kittens are, sticking his paw under the door to play with them) as well as of course, I play with the kittens, they climb all over me... I do wash my hands, but Kizzy will climb on my lap after the kittens have been there.

Are Kizzy and the other kitten (assuming he doesn't have worms) at risk? Anything I can do to minimise the risk? Or is the transmission only with moms to babies, or fleas, or eating of contaminated feces?

thanks.

Depends on the worm. Do these eggs look like small pieces of rice? Tapeworms are transmitted by fleas who eat the eggs and then the cat eats the flea. Hookworms are transmitted through feces to skin contact, I'm not sure about roundworms.

If you're seeing what you think are eggs, it's very likely tapeworm segments. With tapeworms you mainly have to worry about Kizzy sharing a litter box or ingesting dropped segments. And getting fleas from them of course. Segments will mostly be found (if outside the box) in their sleeping areas.

And stuck to their butts! don't forget that. I hated that about tapes, they stuck to everything! And tapeworm isn't cat to cat, it's usually cat to flea to cat. Tapeworms have an intermittent life stage that most often occurs in the flea, sometimes in rodents. The intermittent life stage can cause deadly cysts to form in the muscles and even the brain. This is why it's so deadly in third world countries where water and meat aren't processed or held to the same standards as in more developed countries.


http://www.myhealthycat.com/tapeworm.html

Nope, I do not think it is tapeworm segments I'm seeing in the feces.

Ummm, it looks like tiny eggs, circular in fashion. Whereas everything I've read says tapeworm segments which are excreted in feces, look more like small grains of rice. What I'm "seeing" and thinking is worm eggs, are small, very small specks of a whitish colour.

I have not seen any worms on the kittens, and I have looked (nothing like trying to check out a kitten anus/area LOL)

Thanks for the tips guys... I will keep up with my daily vaccuming, and Kizzy doesn't use their litter box.

Fleas I know Kizzy doesn't have....hard to see on black kittens tho

I work at a vets office (grooming mostly, and Im new so I dont know much about worms and such yet) but the receptionist did tell someone that puppies are born with worms because they get them from their mother. Not sure if the same is for kittens. Poor little fellows!

Yes, the vet will be deworming them because it is the same as with dogs, they get it from mom's milk. But not all kittens get it. Kizzy didn't have worms when I got him.

The prob with the fecal. I can bring one in, but will have no idea which kitten it came from LOL. The vet regularly deworms young kittens (Kizzy was 4mos, whereas these guys are going on 7wks).

I did ask how long I could keep a fecal in the fridge, unfortunately she told me only a few hours If I could keep it for 24hrs, I could probally get one from both kittens.

Hmmm, if its not eggs I'm seeing, then I don't know what it is. Hmmm, my camera has a good macro, maybe I'll try to get a pic.

Thx for all the replies everyone

I had a mother cat who was a stray...she gave her kittens worms....I also have a male indoor outdoor and he gets tapes cause he eats mice....I dont think my cats have fleas..cause they get treated with advantage and or revolution but one of my indoor cats got tapeworm and I can only think he got it from the outdoor/indoor cat....

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

Hmmm, if its not eggs I'm seeing, then I don't know what it is. Hmmm, my camera has a good macro, maybe I'll try to get a pic.

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Those are tapeworm segments. When they drop those segments those will have eggs in them. No one can see any type of parasitic worm egg itself with the bare eye, they're microscopic. This is why a vet has to check a fecal sample under a microscope.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Those are tapeworm segments. When they drop those segments those will have eggs in them. No one can see any type of parasitic worm egg itself with the bare eye, they're microscopic. This is why a vet has to check a fecal sample under a microscope.

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don't think so based on the descriptions I've read...such as

It has a long, segmented body that can grow to be several inches long. Segments carrying eggs are passed out of your cat in her feces and sometimes can be found around your cat's anus. The eggs are small white moving segments.

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from:
http://www.myhealthycat.com/tapeworm.html

or

These proglottid segments look like grains of cooked white rice. Less commonly, they are seen crawling around the catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s anus. Each of these proglottid capsules contains up to 20 tapeworm eggs.

When these proglottids are released into the environment, they dehydrate and harden; they become quite small and take on a golden hue. Eventually, they break open and release their contents (eggs).

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from: http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/tapeworms.html

That is NOT what I'm seeing at all, as I've been trying to say. I've inspected poop as soon as it was dropped into the litter box.

Tapeworm eggs do NOT show up well in routine fecal analyses!

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from: http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html

I'm pretty confident that what I am seeing is not tapeworm segments, or eggs, considering the eggs do not show up well under a microscope so I doubt I'd be able to see them by eye.

That aside, I'm not wondering what type of worms they may have.... I'm wondering how to stop transmission to other animals in my house.

So far I've found: (so others can learn too)

- tapeworms are transmitted by fleas. (which I do not know if the kittens have or not....black fur is not easy to spot fleas) Usually seen looking like small grains of rice. Hard to prevent transmission.

- roundworms: transmitted through mom to kitten, or from consumming infected feces.

- hookworms: transmitted via contact with infected feces, mother to baby, or ingestion of infected matter.

So I guess, aside from removing the fecal matter from the litter box promptly, and vaccuming daily.... there's not much else I can do, as Kizzy has already been around them

Cmon Thursday LOL. Sooner I get them in, the better. After all the pics and reading I've done, I feel creepy crawly now LOL.

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

That aside, I'm not wondering what type of worms they may have.... I'm wondering how to stop transmission to other animals in my house.

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You should be wondering, actually. Tapes take a dewormer to get rid of, many other types can be dealt with by simply giving Kizzy a treatment of Revolution.

My point was none of the worms have visible eggs, you can at least see tapeworm segments. You can't see hook, round, pin, whip, or even heart worm eggs. If they're small, visible, and you're 100% it's not tapeworm pieces then it's just undigested food you're seeing.

Fleas will show up in black fur, by the way. You just need good lighting. Also use your fingers and feel under around the neck, belly, and under the front legs (armpits) if you still can't find anything you may be able to get flea dirt out of the fur with a flea comb.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

You should be wondering, actually. Tapes take a dewormer to get rid of, many other types can be dealt with by simply giving Kizzy a treatment of Revolution.

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Actually I "should" not be wondering. It is up to my vet to figure out what kind and help decide what course of dewormer they need, not I by guessing what kind of worms they have.

I just want to minimise transmission of any sort that they may have.

and I have looked for flea and flea poop, thanks tho.

What I would do, in this case, is to just deworm everybody with Drontal, which will take care of everything... That is, of course, if this is the recommendation of the vet. If they don't have fleas, You don't need to worry about it too much. If it is tapeworms, you should be able to see the little "sesame seeds" around their butts, or little white segments coming out...
When Bugsy came in with tapeworms, I did deworm Lucky as well, just in case. This time around with Hope I didn't, since she was still isolated when I found she had tapeworms.
I think keeping them from sharing litter boxes with Kizzy until they are wormed would be the easiest way to prevent spreading.
I don't know, maybe I am wrong, but since they are going to the vet on Thursday, and will get dewormed anyways, I wouldn't worry about it too much .

For future reference, tapeworm segments ARE their eggs. Here's another handy link on tapes with lots of info http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tapeworm.html

Also I googled for white spots in poop... no luck. So try taking a fecal to the vet. Some vets will allow you to drop off a sample without bringing in the animal in question.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

What I would do, in this case, is to just deworm everybody with Drontal, which will take care of everything... That is, of course, if this is the recommendation of the vet. If they don't have fleas, You don't need to worry about it too much. If it is tapeworms, you should be able to see the little "sesame seeds" around their butts, or little white segments coming out...

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Nope, nothing like that.

I think keeping them from sharing litter boxes with Kizzy until they are wormed would be the easiest way to prevent spreading.
I don't know, maybe I am wrong, but since they are going to the vet on Thursday, and will get dewormed anyways, I wouldn't worry about it too much

.

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k, yah, they don't share litter boxes.

Originally Posted by Breellablue

For future reference, tapeworm segments ARE their eggs. Here's another handy link on tapes with lots of info http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tapeworm.html

Also I googled for white spots in poop... no luck. So try taking a fecal to the vet. Some vets will allow you to drop off a sample without bringing in the animal in question.

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Thanks They are all going into the vet on Thurs I just wanted info to prevent Kizzy from getting the worms too.

I think someone posted about the things I'm seeing might be undigested food, I'm thinking that could be a possibility....if the eggs of other worms are not visible, then it must just be food stuffs.

I caught a kitty poo right while he was doing it.... no segments at all... nothing like a seasame seed or rice. And no white specks this time either... weird. I dunno.

I'll take precautions, then they will be dewormed on Thurs. and I'll bring in a sample from Kizzy and see if he needs it. (he was not dewormed when I got him, and his fecal was clear.... no loss of weight or anything... he's quite healthy). I also have to look into flea meds at this visit too, since the mosquitos are out and about now.

Thanks for the clarification and advice.

cats who eat, mice, bugs, flys, and other things that come in your home. CAN get worms.....I have dewormed all cats 3 times, we never tested positive. But some don't shed worms all the time. With the weight not comming up I would say worms. My vet uesd a shot, not paste though. And we went back after 2 weeks and got another shot.