Chronic Tapeworm! In need of advice

One of my cats has tapeworm, and has had tapeworms almost consistently for the past 8 or 9 months. So, here is some background on the situation:

Reni, my 2 year old indoor cat, went AWOL this past spring. She was gone about a day and half before finding her way home completely flea infested to boot. I admit, my fault for not having her on an active flea treatment, but needless to say fleas=tapeworms. So of course after much work, I was rid of the fleas and was able to start effectively treating her for the worms, or at least I thought. Problem is, I can't seem to get rid of them! I will give her a treatment, she will be squeaky clean for a month or so, and then once again will have those disgusting little worms!! There are absolutely NO fleas in the house. I am completely certain. I also have a 12 year old indoor cat, and a 2 year old blue heeler and all three of them are on flea preventative and have been to the vet within the past 2 months. No live fleas, no flea dirt, no abnormal itching or scratching and believe me I am thorough about looking and so is my vet. I also treat the house monthly for fleas just to be safe since I take the dog on daily walks and don't want to risk it.

I have been giving Reni 23 mg praziquantel tabs about once a month as previously stated. Now, given the absence of fleas and the face that Reni no longer escapes to the great outdoors, I am a bit stumped as to why she keeps getting infested. So my question is this: is it possible for a cat to re-infest themselves with tapeworm? Like after her wormer, whilst the worm is being expelled, could she ingest it during normal grooming? Also, though I do clean the litter box daily there is no possible way for me to scoop it every time she has a bowel movement. I, like most people, have your standard 9 hour work day. Could she be stepping in excrement and then ingesting worm larvae? I have no idea, I am completely desperate here! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry the post is so long, I was just hoping to get any obvious questions answered.

Try to get samples of the segments, the larger and fresher the better, to your vet and see if they can identify them for you.

There is taenia taeniaformia that doesn't need fleas in the life cycle like dipylidium caninum does. But your other cat would definitely have this as well. A dying worm would be dying and not viable for reinfestion. Like wise the freshly excreted segments, which are actually a type of egg sac/womb called proglottids, are not viable to immediately reinfest the cat. The main way a cat picks up taenia though is from eating mice.

Do remember that a cat doesn't need to be infested with live healthy fleas to get tapeworms. Simply ingesting a flea that was brought in and is dying (from biting the cats or dog and ingesting the preventative) is enough.

Hi!! Tape worm are so easy to get rid of. It shouldn't be a problem but you need to getnrid of the fleas too. Here is what I suggest. Go to the vet and get either Drontal or Profender (a spot on treatment). Also pick up some Frontline. Profender is a one time treatment and will kill the worm immediately plus all other worms. It is a new product and we use it at the shelter and it is very effective. Give the frontline monthly. Your cat must still have some fleas and ingesting them. Maybe all of your pets need to be treated with frontline so you can get a handle on this.

Can someone give me a quick description of tapeworm symptoms? I posted last week about my female kitten and her ravenous appetite, and I suspected thyroid problems (until educating myself). This little 5 lb, 7 month old female, always wants to eat - even 30 minutes after a BIG meal! And she doesn't seem to be growing, like her sibling brother who is about 30% bigger than she. I visually check her stool, but never see anything unusual. These kittens were rescued strays from the inner city. They did have fleas, but were completely cleaned up before I adopted them.

Does this sound at all like a tapeworm??

Tapeworms really don't have symptoms in most cats. Owners only know because they see fresh proglottids around their cats butts or the dried ones were the cat has been sleeping. Roundworms can be even less obvious. Precautionary deworming for both with dewormers from your vet would be best as fecals can miss worms and eggs entirely. But also remember that kittens eat a lot, even if your female is smaller (which is normal for female kittens and cats) she's still going to run around and burn just as many calories in play as her brother does.

You will see small, yellowish rice looking segments in the cat's bed. YUK I know . They won't hurt you or your cat, they are just dead segments of the tapeworm. You can bag up a few segments and bring them to the vet, and they will dispense the medication for you.

ewww. my cat was recently diagnosed with tapeworm. i saw little tiny white flecks on her anus one day, then, when cleaning her cat box, saw a moving one in her stool! i was so grossed out! immediately, i put the stool in a bag, went to the vet, and they said tapeworm. i was given two oral pills with instruction to give one that day, and the second one, in 6 weeks. here are some interesting facts about tapeworm in cats that i learned...expecially because my dog ate some of the poop in the cat box the same day i found them! tapeworm ONLY comes from eating fleas! the tapeworm is one long worm, that adheres to the small intestine in the cat. the worm has little segments that break off...they are intended to stick to the cats anus...there, fleas eat them! now, these fleas are infected with the worm! when the cat grooms itself, it eats the flea, that has the worm in it. the flea goes into the cats stomach, and when it exits the stomach, and lands in the intestine, that where the new worm is hatched! so, my dog could NOT get worms, by eating the worm in the poop. he can only get tapeworm, if he eats a flea, that has eaten the tapeworm segment on the anus! so, back to the cat...i gave her the pill...so, why a second pill in 6 weeks....this is because, she might still have an infected flea on her! the day that you give cat medicine for tapeworm, its probably pretty obvious that another flea on her, has eaten a tapeworm segment some time ago..so, to prevent recurrence...apply frontline asap....give the cat the pill....reapply frontline a month later, then, by this time, all the infected fleas should be dead....then, you give the second pill to be certain. pretty cool huh?