Worms?

Hey everyone. Its again been ages since I have been here, but I have a question for everyone.

The past day Lilly has been throwing up (mainly hairballs). Today Brendan and I arrived at home to find she had thrown up again (on our bed no less) and in the ball of hair there was a inch long rubber band looking thing that was moving!!

Is this a worm of some kind?! I am slightly grossed out. Brendan and I are taking both cats in to the vet tomorrow morning. We have to collect the throw up with worm to bring to them tomorrow.

Should I do anything to keep Eb and Lilly separated at this point? Or would that be silly since they are already always together.

Any information you can give to try and shed light on what this might be would be helpful. Thanks!

Ick!! Sounds like you're right. And doing the all the right things. No point separating them now. Just ask the vet if it's a good precaution to deworm them both. Sounds like what you saw was a roundworm, but not doubt the vet will give you on on-the-spot ID!!

Tim,

Yup, after some internet research I think I have decided it was definitely a roundworm. The vet will prolly just treat them both.

I am not looking forward to getting these ladies in their carriers tomorrow morning! UGH!

Any idea how indoor cats cat catch roundworms?

Not sure how they came to you but they are easy to get rid of

Serenity had roundworm when she adopted me. She had such an infestations, it took three rounds of treetment to get rid of them, poor little girl. From a Nursing prospective, I was quite interested that when she finally expelled them, it looked exactly like three huge fork fulls of spaghetti! (I haven't had pasta since!) I couldn't believe all those worms could have been in such a tiny baby!
Sure hope Lilly and Eb cooperate with you in the morning! It's always so busy on a Sat! Lilly will be over this and back to her usual self in no time at all! Good for you for your diligence and catching this so soon, Beryl!

Roundworms are usually contracted by:

Consuming infective worm eggs from soil in the environment (generally through normal grooming)

Nursing from an infected mother cat (most kittens are infected this way).

Consuming a prey animal (usually rodent) that is carrying developing worms

Originally Posted by sharky

Not sure how they came to you but they are easy to get rid of

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I would disagree- roundworms need usually at least three rounds of meds from your vets. Your cat can become reinfested with them as well, so it is important to keep your litterpans scrubbed out daily.

Roundworms are generally found in kittens and puppies. They do not get roundworms from eating rodents- that would be tapeworms (because of the fleas)

Originally Posted by hissy

I would disagree- roundworms need usually at least three rounds of meds from your vets. Your cat can become reinfested with them as well, so it is important to keep your litterpans scrubbed out daily.

Roundworms are generally found in kittens and puppies. They do not get roundworms from eating rodents- that would be tapeworms (because of the fleas)

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Your right... I forgot since my vet gave doratol??

drontal-

Originally Posted by berylayn

Any idea how indoor cats cat catch roundworms?

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Ingestion of eggs is the transmission vector. Eggs can be in prey animals, insects, and earthworms. Since your cat is an indoor cat, that's unlikely. So I think this infection is probably due to larvae that remained in your cat since before her last deworming. Larvae can remain in an encysted state for a long time. And deworming doesn't kill larvae, only adult worms.

http://www.purinaone.com/catcare_con...ticleNumber=45

thanks for all the replies!

It was a lot easier getting them to the vet this time around. Eb isn't too hard to catch, and we have Lilly's hiding patterns down to a science, so we got em quick and easy. It still breaks my heart to take them out in their carrier. They were crying and crying all the way there.

Roundworms is what we have. They were both given doses of Strongid. We take em back in 2 weeks for a second dose. How long until we'll start seeing them (or Lilly at least) expel the worms. I did read it can be pretty gross. But as of now (24 hours later) we haven't seen a sign of any worms.

The girls we pretty wiped yesterday and slept for most of the day. Here's to hoping they are much better later this week!

Thanks for all the support.

Strongid is excellent against roundworms. And with another dose in two weeks, I really think you'll be in the clear.