What type of worm does my cat have? (Pic)

rohkey

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Hey all,

About a month ago my cat stopped defecating in her litter box. At first I thought noting of it, but it has continued since. Then the other day I was cleaning up and noticed a worm on the floor - about an inch or so long, dark brown, and moving toward the litter box. I cleaned out the area and found about 10 in total, mostly near the litterbox and corner of the room where she had been pooping. Most were dead but 2 or three of them were alive. Today when she pooped on the floor I took a look through her stool and found 4 of them in there. I am going back to my home state of Michigan for the holidays and will be taking her into the vet, but I was curious if anyone knew what these were and had any other information. I couldn't find much on the web, googling "small brown worms" or "small brown worm in cat feces" yielded very little, and they don't appear to be the common suspects (hookworms, bloodworms, tapeworms, roundworms). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

More info -

Cat is about to turn 3 years old, never had issues with parasites or not going in the litterbox until now.

I don't notice any behavioral or physical symptoms, although when she poops she often passes gas (quite loudly) and makes an odd sound from her bum.

She is an indoor cat, but I leave the windows open whenever possible and my condo is not well insulated. She hunts bugs (flies, spiders, crickets, roaches) when they get in. There are are several outdoor cats living around the place, and a couple times they managed to wander in when I had the door open.

I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

 
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rohkey

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This is odd, I'm not sure these are worms. I just found two more, one alive, and they have two antenna and seem to have legs like a millipede.

 
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rohkey

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It does not look like any animal parasite I can find either.  It looks like this:


On an indenification site of house pest it says this is a millipede.
Yeah I reckon that's what they are. Not sure how they ended up in kii's feces. I literally inspected it right after she went...
 

kittymomma1122

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I would have her vet checked just in case. It is weird that she stopped using the box. You will be surprised with our weather when you get here.
 

larsan

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Have you taken kitty to the vet? Has an answer for this been figured out?
 

di and bob

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I have seen a LOT of those worms, and yes, they are millipedes, NOT cat parasites. You usually find them in dark, damp places like basements, my mother in law has them in certain times of the year. They are most likely in the box feeding on the cat feces. Your cat doesn't like the invaders, and that is probably why she quit using the box. My cats freak out when a cricket gets in theirs!
 
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rohkey

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Sorry for not replying sooner, but yes apparently they are millipedes and my cat is parasite free (took her to the vet a couple days ago). Hopefully with a thorough cleansing of her litter box and the surrounding area, when we get back home to Atlanta she will begin going in the box again. She's having no problems doing so up here in Michigan, at my parent's house.
 

misterwhiskers

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Where do you keep the litterbox? Might be worth the trouble to find out the millipedes route into your house!
 
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