Worms?

I've always heard that the worms resembling a grain of rice are tapeworms...

Yep! Make an appt to take her to the vet while you're up, too! She'll need to be dewormed.

Tapeworms will be easier to deal with than round - it's usually just one treatment with Drontal or Droncit.
You must clean wherever your cat has been, especially sleeping spots, and dump the litter box(es) out completely.

All pets in the home will need to be dewormed.


O/T but funny. Several months ago Sherman came and jumped up on my lap on the couch. I was horrified to see little light colored seed/grains on his butt and that even worse, two had fallen off of me. Upon closer inspection they turned out to be sesame seeds... I remembered that we had a couple burgers for lunch that had sesame seed buns and must not have wiped them all off the table.
I worried for nothing - just like all the dirt speck/catnip fleas.

It's possible that she could pick them up off the floor, couch, or bed if you haven't been putting her down on a blanket. But I suspect that you always use a blanket - she's likely fine. I'm sure you keep the kitties out of her crib, too.

As I said in another thread, those of us who grew up with pets had plenty of opportunity to be exposed to this stuff. We're all still here and fine.

Actually tapeworm only spreads through fleas (there is also a less common kind that can spread through eating the stomach of a rabbit). The immature tapeworm lives inside the flea and when the cat or dog ingests the flea by accident (usually through grooming) the immature worm starts growing into an adult in the cat. I'm not sure if human can even get this kind of tapeworm but I would assume that if they could they would have to eat a flea too, not poop. So unless your baby will ingest a flea she should be okay.

Also keep in mind that the small white thing that looks like a grain of rice that you are seeing is not a worm but a segment of a worm. A tapeworm is a long creature made up of links that are these rice looking things. Sometimes the worm will shed part of its "tail" and that's when you see the little white things come out. Allthough they can move they are not complete worms with heads and don't live long outside the body. I'm not 100% sure of this but I don't believe that there is any harm in accidentally ingesting the tapeworm segments. I would not worry about the baby being harmed by this in any way.

Because tapeworm spreads via fleas it does not spread from cat to cat so unlike when you have other worm infestations, like roundworm and hookworm, there is not necessarily a need to deworm all the cats. You should however treat all cats as well as your home for fleas. If a cat has tapeworm there are fleas somewhere. If you want to treat all the cats for tapeworm there is no harm in doing that. Since there are fleas around there is a risk that some of the other cats have tapeworm too. I'd recommend using Drontal since it also treats roundworm and hookworm in addition to the tapeworm. All cats should be dewormed, to get rid of roundworm and hookworm, at least once a year. More often if they go outside.

Although it's uncommon it is possible for roundworm and hookworm to spread from pets to humans. It's spread through humans accidentally ingesting flea eggs that is found in soil and other places where animals may defecate. Children are more likely to get worms as they put their fingers in their mouths after touching things that are contaminated. Treating the pets regularly and practicing good hygiene keeps the risk down.
Don't panick about the baby catching anything. It's really not common.

Have all the cats been to the vets in the last few months for check ups? Are their weights still around the same? If so, you may be able to just talk to your vet, explain the situation. It's not very common for tapeworms to show up in a fecal taken at the vet since they take so little, and often not even in a full stool sample taken from home (it's hit and miss - not every poo will have them). So you'd literally just be taking the cats in for a check up.

If your vet is understanding, they may be willing to prescribe a dewormer and tell you to use a flea treatment/preventative. (check online, Bayer has a coupon for a free tube of Advantage if you buy like 6 or 8. I don't know if there are any Revolution or Frontline offers).

Call the vet and deal with the other hurdle if or when it happens.

Hi...new here. I have questions about my cats and tapeworms, and concerns about my vet.
I took one cat to the vet, with a hurt leg, and the vet mentioned that he also had a tapeworm, gave him a shot for it, and that was that. He was Not sickly, Not underweight, so I had no way of knowing if he had it or not!
The next week, I took another of my cats to the vet, because he had lost a lot of weight recently. The vet performed blood tests, costing me $200, and found Nothing! She then wanted a stool sample (more $$), which I have not been able to get, since I have 5 cats sharing the boxes. I will have to lock the poor guy in a bathroom, alone with a box, to get one, I guess!
Now...my problem with all of this is--shouldn't the vet have immediately checked for the worm, especially since the other cat had it!? Doesn't that seem Very Logical?! Instead of doing blood tests and taking my $200+ of my Social Security?!!!!
AAARRRGGHHH! Not happy.
Thanks for letting me rant!

Bruce

Actually, a kitty losing weight, especially if it's an older kitty, is more concerning of bigger problems than worms. Worms could be a possibility, but it's highly unlikely that she's losing all the weight suddenly from tapeworms. The first thought that comes to my mind when thinking of a cat losing weight is FeLv/FIV or hyperthyroid, it also depends on what other symptoms she has, whether it's something you see at home, or the doctor saw in the physical exam. Also, tapeworm isn't contagious from feces. It must digest in a flea first for a few days to mature, then kitty has to eat the flea. I hope this info may help you understand why your vet may have performed these tests first.

I hope your kitty feels better!

Okie

Unless you know for certain exactly what type of tapeworm your cat(s) have you cannot assume this. It's true of dipylidium caninum but not echinococcus which can infect cats, too. If dealing with the latter, you want to be cleaning up and taking precautions as they can spread to humans.