Is worming necessary?

farleyv

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I took my 7 month old cat Fetty to be neutered. Since he was nervous with a dog in the vets kennel, they sent the wormer home with me to give him. But I am wondering if it is really necessary. He is an inside cat, never had a mouse and only goes outside in his cat house which is 3 feet above the ground and fenced in. His feet have never touched the outside ground. I don't think he had fleas as I used a flea comb on him and his sister and mother this summer, and did not find any dirt or fleas. Any info on this would help. The wormer is sitting here and I really don't know if I should give it to him. Sometimes I think the vet does these things to bump up the bill. Thanks
 

hissy

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Yes, worming is necessary. Fleas can jump much higher that what your enclosure is from the ground. They can also come into your home on your shoes and socks and clothing. If your enclosure is chicken wire, small birds and other critters can get inside and he can eat those and get tapeworms. Worming him is a wise thing to do, especially considering his age.
 
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farleyv

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Thanks Hissy, I will give him the wormer. The enclosure is made of hardware cloth, 1/2 inch and it is inspected daily. So no birds or mice there. But I know fleas do jump quite high. Thanks again
 

miss_kitty_

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Hey

Just thought I'd pop in and tell you what my vets recommend. I have three indoor cats and because they are indoor I was told to worm them once a month until the were 6 months, then every other month until a year old and from then on only twice a year. I thought this was quite a lot but I guess you have to think about what us humans might bring into the house from our shoes etc.

My cats have worming tablets which cost about £2.50-£4.00 (depending on the size of cat) and usually you only give them half each time so it doesn't cost that much and gives some peace of mind.

Hope this helps! Miss_Kitty x
 
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farleyv

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Thanks Miss Kitty. I have had cats for soooo many years but never wormed them because they never went out. I know we bring nasty things in on our feet, so it stands to reason to be diligent about it. Have to take good care of our fur buddies.
 

ut0pia

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Jake was never wormed even as a kitten but he had a fecal test 3 times and tested negative for worms.
 

darkmavis

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Sounds like you already made your decision, but I'll add my
here anyway. Not sure where you got your kitty from, we got our Genever from the SPCA in January. Since then, she had to be treated for giardia AND tapeworms. Tapeworms found 1 month AFTER starting Advantage, too. She is an indoor cat, I live on the 10th floor of an apt. building and sometimes take her out on a leash/harness in the hall to wander around. She shouldn't get fleas but there are dogs on our floor who do go out, or we could unknowingly bring them in, etc. which is why we started her on Advantage, just in case. (by the way i don't know where the tapeworms came from, i have never seen a flea on her or in our place EVER)

So depending on where your cat came from, he could be infected from there, or like others have said, your outside cat house isn't a bubble. IMO the expense of preventative treatment is way less than vet visits and antibiotics and whatnot.
 

chris10

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Deworm if you see worms. IMO if you don't see any then you really don't have to for inside kitties. For outside cats you may need to get on a wormer schedule.
 

dusty's mom

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Dusty my 7 yr old is an in/out cat who has never had a flea. She has also had her stools tested for worms and always been negative.

Squeak my 5 mo. old is an indoor only cat and she doesn't have fleas either. She has never been dewormed, and she is a healthy weight. She was spayed in September at our local clinic and she got kitten shots, but no one mentioned deworming.

Right now I'm not going to give her anything toxic. If she doesn't have an obvious problem, then why feed her poison?
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

Jake was never wormed even as a kitten but he had a fecal test 3 times and tested negative for worms.
The three ferals I recently took in were negative for worms, too, surprising the vet because roundworms would be expected as this is something kittens can get from their mothers.

That said tapes usually do not show up in fecals - most of us know this, and vets will admit it. So my kittens did get dewormed because they had a lot of fleas and have that "wormy kitten" belly.


I like to deworm any cat that comes in my house, outdoor cats, - in otherwords any cat that's had fleas. Once the indoor cats are established and flea free I see no reason to deworm them, but I do diligently check their stools for any signs of passed tape segments or round worms.
 

ut0pia

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tapeworms also show up in their poop ..it's really gross and you can see them moving still on the poop!!
But Jake never had fleas either which is surprising since his mom was an indoor/outdoor cat.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

tapeworms also show up in their poop ..it's really gross and you can see them moving still on the poop!!
But not in every single stool. You could have an infested cat and only see tape segments once a month or when the load got heavy.

In a way, I do wonder if it's really necessary, too. Nature evolved this way and worms have pretty much always been there to infest their hosts. Maybe completely ridding animals of parasites could be a contributing factor to GI issues? It was/is something researched in humans.
That said, I still don't want wormy pets in my house..

Some people here have mentioned that human grade DE is safe for getting ride of intestinal parasites, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to test that.
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

Jake was never wormed even as a kitten but he had a fecal test 3 times and tested negative for worms.
Originally Posted by chris10

Deworm if you see worms. IMO if you don't see any then you really don't have to for inside kitties. For outside cats you may need to get on a wormer schedule.


I recall asking about it a year or so ago and came to my own educated conclusion along with my vets, in that if worms are not seen in multiple fecals then no dewormer.

I'm a strong advocate of not medicating unless nessecary
 
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farleyv

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After reading all the posts, I tend to agree, less medication. My cat Fetty was born in the house here. His mom was semi feral. She tamed down immediately which I know is a sign of previous ownership. She was spayed and de wormed. I don't think I will be giving more wormer unless told to do so by the vet or I see the worms. Thanks for all the thoughts. Nothing is ever cut and dry is it?
 

goldenkitty45

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For me, I've always had indoor cats and no flea problems. Kittens and adults were checked a few times when I first got them for worms and luckily none ever had a problem (the barn kittens were wormed once when they got initial shots/spaying since they were outside cats).

I know what signs to look for and if I feel they have a problem, then I will worm them and have them checked first.

When I had my first purebred litter, the kittens were checked for worms at every vaccination - and none of them had worms. I felt that unless there seemed to be a problem, I would not worm just to worm them. Why give them "poison" to kill something they don't have?

If your kittens have signs of worms, then have them checked and treated.
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Some people here have mentioned that human grade DE is safe for getting ride of intestinal parasites, but I'm not sure I'd be willing to test that.
Some humans actually ingest DE on a regular basis to rid themselves of internal parasites and farmers add it to feed for their livestock, so I know this is true and considering that DE is made of ground diatoms and is not poisonous, there is no danger to us mammals.
 

nes

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But don't ask for Dio Earth at the local health store - they'll think you're crazy

(I'm kidding, that is a good place to ask, maybe yours will be more well stocked then mine!)

I got mine at a gardening centre, but it is all food-grade. I did deworm Tasha with it (our wild one, worming by syringe wouldn't go well) and found it worked VERY well, BUT it was hard to get her to eat the recommended tsp :S

Dio-Earth
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Nes

But don't ask for Dio Earth at the local health store - they'll think you're crazy

(I'm kidding, that is a good place to ask, maybe yours will be more well stocked then mine!)

I got mine at a gardening centre, but it is all food-grade. I did deworm Tasha with it (our wild one, worming by syringe wouldn't go well) and found it worked VERY well, BUT it was hard to get her to eat the recommended tsp :S

Dio-Earth
Excellent post and link. I also got my first container at a garden centre. I just recently got a 5 lb. container from a supplier to an organic food grower at the Farmer's Market.
 
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