Worms! :(

Man on man... I'm sooooo stressing.

Jarama seems to have a tape worm. We've found 2 segments now, the first about 2 weeks ago, and one tonight. The first one, someone said was just a peice of paper... so we dismissed it. Tonight, the paper was moving...

Symptoms we're reading online ( thepetcenter.com ) include dry fur, which he's had for like a year now (thought it was just .. his style), and vomiting, which he did about ... a year ago. Nothing like that since. Lack of symptoms doesn't mean he doesn't have a worm though, and it doesnt help my stress...

Diahrea is listed as another symptom but I'm having issues identifying that in the litter box (covered so I can't watch). I find what looks like really "loose" urine clumps. Urine clumps up stiff and stays in shape.. this stuff breaks apart easier and is darker... even if it's about 2 days old (sometimes I've slacked on cleaning the litter).

Now...

What could have caused this ?
What is the treatment I need to get ?
What is the long term damage to my baby boy ?
What is in store for the future of this ?
What should I look for or expect ?
What should I look for and really worry about ?
What am I looking at for cost ?

Urraco, his little brother...

Is he infected ?
Should he be treated anyway ?

Neither of them have been outside... for more than 2 minutes at a time. They've NEVER been in contact with other animals, other than a dog about ... 4 months ago, that spent time outside but never had fleas.

I'm *really* stressed over letting this happen to my boy. PLEASE help me sort this out and fix the situation... I let life take more time out of my day than it used to and I feel I've neglected Jarama (Urraco consitently hogs my lap when I'm home). I play with him... but I seem to have let something get past me health wise, and this is REALLY bothering me

First of all it is not the end of the world, so stop stressing. Tapeworms are common if the cat has fleas, or if it has found a mouse or other rodent and decided to snack on it.

The cat needs to be weighed, then you need to either take the cat to the vet, or call your vet and get some drontal tabs. The dosage is according to the weight of the cat that is why it is always good to take the cat in to have an accurate weight.

What you are seeing are actually the eggs of the adult worm. The adult is still in your cat's system attached somewhere. The pills will kill the adult. Please don't use over the counter meds, and if you aren't using flea treatment on your cat such as advantage or frontline, starting that will help this situation as well. Wash your hands every time you pet your cat, and make sure you wash out your litter pans well with hot soapy water and a tiny bit of bleach. Chances are both cats have tapes as well-

Yep, dont stress. Zoey had worms and I was kinda freaked out and bugged by it but all it took was Drontal (which I got at the vet) and it usually clears it right up. Zoey and Saki are indoor cats so I was very very surprised to find that Zoey had worms. A flea must have somehow gotten in the house and she ingested it. I'd de-worm all the cats in your house as well.

Whew... Okay.

I seriously broke down last night and really just lost it. Nearly got sick from nausea thinking about something very bad happening to Jarama potentially. My Girlfriend had to do the research on the web and I couldn't even stand to hear about it... I just went to our room and broke down, thinking I had let something happen to my boy, that he might not get better from...

Apparently, as a novice in the worm area, I overreacted... alot. The vet this morning, told us it's as common as you can imagine for cats, not a big deal. All of the users here have been helpful in calming me, and another friend of ours that has outdoor cats explained that it's really nothing big at all... her cat had one for quite some time before they found out, and it just ... lost weight... so... My fears of loosing Jarama in some nasty type of scene from Alien, are rested and dismissed.

Worms happen.

We got from the vet, 2 pills. 1 for each kitten (urraco is getting it too just incase), and I think it's Droncit, or Proncit. I can't read her handwriting. Either of those sound right ? We also got a 4 month supply of Advantage for each kitten. They're not outdoor cats, but we've learned that even walking through grass, a flea could get on us, and we bring it in side... since there are other kittens (feral) in the apartment complex, that could be the cause.

Either way... we're going to tighten security against bugs. We're also going to vacum the HELL out of this place for fear of other eggs around.

2 weeks from now they both get another full checkup and we'll see how it goes from there... hopefully I still have fingers by then... Urraco did NOT like swallowing that pill. And he's the small kitten. I still have to deal with the J-man !!

Anyway... you guys have been very helpful in, seriously, the biggest time of crisis I've had in awhile. Take my car, my house, my business, my computer... but... If I loose Jarama or Urraco... I don't know if I could function.

Other good news is that we're looking to get a new kitten, a girl, when both boys have a clean bill of health. The vet refered us to a lady to adopts out kittens for them, from unwanted litters... and we got to meet a litter today of 10 day olds (loud lil things). We might get a orange short hair tabby from that litter in about 2 months

Her name will be : Miura

Your babies will be fine.

Congrats on the future addition

On the subject of flea infestation:

Luckily Bella is flea-free (amazes me that in a shelter of 100+ cats they could do this) but i read above that just walking thru the grass you can bring them into the house. should I be using flea preventative, at least during the summer, even though she's indoors full-time?

And also, just a word of caution for those who are moving/recently moved (and yeah it may be old news to some) - if you move to/live in a pet-friendly building, you may have a bug problem and not know it. When my ex and I moved into our first apartment, we thought it was very clean and well-maintained. We didn't think to ask about previous pets, even though my ex was allergic to everything. We discovered after the first month that we had fleas in the carpet, LOTS of them. Thankfully we didn't have any pets at the time, but it sure wasn't pleasant finding those black specks all over your white socks, or the itchy bumps on your ankles!!! We had to fumigate TWICE to get rid of them. NOT fun for two adults, but I can only imagine what your beloved kitty would think of the situation.

Well... 'fortunately' I guess, this apartment was burned down by the previous tenants... so it was completely rebuilt for us before we moved in (which delayed the move in day and blah blah blah, dumb stuff).. so we did have a clean apartment..

The boys are doing much better now. We've got their ear medicine going, which they HATE... and it's making them scratch their ears less (another thing we thought would be fleas)... and the flea medicine doesn't seem to be too difficult to keep up with so we'll just keep that going anyway, as a preventitive.

Jarama's antibiotic they gave us to put down his throat (liquid), is helping his gums, and his breath immensely!

The worm is gone, I'm convinced of that even though we didn't find anything specific in the litter (I have been looking)... because Jarama has doubled in his daily energy... He's talking to us again, ALOT!!... and his fur is about 400% softer already and continues to soften out. So much with him is changing and improving, that I figured was ... just normal.

I can't beleive it affected that much!!

In a few months we'll have alot of things sorted out in our lives (bills and such gone), and the boys will officially be 100% again... so we're going to go on the hunt for Miura. We've thought of getting a girl from one of the litters that is routinely nursed at our vet's, until they are adopted out by an older lady who is a foster home for them after a certain point. The "patients" of our vet come in to have their litters, if the owners don't want them... the vet makes sure it all happens right, and then takes care of the litter until they are adoptable... so no one goes unloved. I think thats a good idea. So we're gonna support that most likely when we're ready.

When we took the boys in for the worms... Gena, my girlfriend, got to help feed a small litter of 1 week old kittens with a bottle. She picked one out she liked alot... and it pee'd on her I was hard to keep her from bringing that one home right then an there...

I just have to say don't feel bad for freaking out, I've been doing the same thing over my cats having diarreha. My Jordan had a tape worm when I got him because he had been found on the street completly flea infested. When I read about it I didn't worry, but I was gorssed out by it. I'm glad your feeling better.

All I can say to you is ADVANTAGE - ADVANTAGE - ADVANTAGE - Flea prevention on the animal quickly erases the fleas in the home - and without fleas there are no worms...unless of course they eat the neighbor cats poop...Kitty Rocha ANYONE..EWWW

Update on J's health... since we took care of the worm issue (yick!)... his coat is now fully puffed out and sooooooo much softer than ever before (at least since he was a 2 month kitten!)... He's got alot more energy, althought he prefers to nap on the computer monitor constantly... He's MUCH more sociable (with added volume!). In general I think he's just a happier, peppier, healthier kitten!

And ... I think I've *finally* calmed down about his health!