Round worms - behavioral implications?

Purdy just vomited on the back stoop and I noticed something wiggling in the vomit. Yuck! I did a search on the web and it sounds to me like it is probably round worms. Anyway, it is a long stringy thing. My cats are both indoor-outdoor cats, so worms are not a big surprise. Red Cat (not Purdy) has had tapeworms a couple of times before, so I was familiar with that, but didn't really know what to look for about round worms. Funny, just last week when I took Red Cat to the vet for other reasons, I asked the vet about a routine treatment for worms, since the cats do hunt. But we decided to wait until we got Red Cat over his other problems.

Now I am beginning to wonder if Red Cat has round worms, too, and if that could be the cause of his other problems! The symptom I've been wrestling with the longest is that Red Cat has been licking his belly until it is bare and almost raw. He's been tested for umpteen things, and it was first treated as a anxiety problem. Then I remembered that we changed brand of food about the time this all started almost a year ago, so we started testing it as a food allergy. But about the time we switched foods again, he started having severe watery bloody diarrhea, so recently we've just been trying to get the diarrhea stopped, and thinking the diarrhea was caused by the switch of foods. (I did get the diarrhea stopped yesterday with Tylan powder.)

Red Cat goes back to the vet for a re-check tomorrow, but I'm wondering if anyone knows if all this belly-licking could have been caused by having worms the whole time.

Deworm as a precaution...should not hurt the cat at all. But also ask the vet.

Spotz

Usually when one cat has round worms they all get them. They can be transferred during mutual grooming, or litterbox usage. Symptoms are weight loss vomiting and dehydration. Tapeworms will sometimes cause a cat to pay attention to their belly.The host is inside the cat stuck to the soft tissue wall and can cause pain. Run fecals to the vet to be sure they are infected, because worm pills are poison and there is no reason to worm a cat if it does not have worms.

Symptoms are weight loss vomiting and dehydration.

LOL! You'd never know it from my two fat cats! Purdy, whom I now know has round worms, has gained 2½ pounds in the past year and is just a hair under 14 pounds. And that is in spite of being on a weight management food much of the past year. Red Cat has managed to lose about half a pound in the past year (but nothing in the past two months), even though I've recently tried to restrict his portions and have given him the weight management food as the major portion of his diet. Problem is, I think when I cut those two down on food, they just say to themselves, "Well, if that's the way you're going to be, mom, we'll just go catch more of our own!"

Dehydration - What symptoms would I look for to recognize that?

Dehydration usually sets in after consistent vomiting. To check it you do the pinch test. Scruff your kitty's neck lightly and then release. It should go down in a few seconds, if it stays tented up, the cat needs subcutaneous fluids and a vet.

Okay, I don't think there is likely a problem with dehydration, then. It was a nice day, so they both spent much of their day outside today, and they could have vomited out there and I wouldn't know it. But I just saw the one time with Purdy. Neither have vomited inside in a couple of weeks. I'd be more concerned with Red Cat, because he had diarrhea for two weeks before I got that stopped. But it is stopped now and he sees the vet tomorrow anyway. I appreciate knowing how to check for dehydration, though. That is something which could be useful a lot of times.