Question about worming

I for one do not advocate worming on a regular basis unless the cat has worms or is in a situation where worms occur- outside cat that hunts actively mice and kills them, or is unable to be able to caught and flea treated safely.

For the feral colonies that I feed, I give them organic catnip in their food and this is the fiber that pushes most parasites out of their systems. It is also a lot easier to give than worming pills. But doing the same to an inside cat can lead to a picky eater, or a cat that refuses food unless there is catnip on the food.

It truly depends of the circumstances that surround the cat about how to proceed

The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta does recommend quarterly dewormers for all companion animals. However, I can tell you from my experience working at a vet's office that very few people actually do this; even the vets were just trying to get people to test a fecal sample & give a dewormer once a year. Over the counter dewormers are not recommended; they are ineffectual & some are even dangerous. If your 3 kitties have been to a vet within the past year, you should be able to call the vet's office & request a full-spectrum dewormer without having to bring the kitties in. A stool sample is not necessary to obtain dewormer; the vets recommend it to make sure that the dewormer they are administering is the correct one (ie not giving a tapeworm dewormer when the kitty has roundworms). With a stray & a feral, however, you may want to get a fecal sample tested just to make sure they don't have any zoonotic parasites (ie parasites that are transmissible across species, including to humans).

Amanda

Both of my kittens have an appointment to be spayed the week after Christmas so I'll talk to the vet then. My kitten Boogs (the rescue) was tested and wormed when I first got her in September.

They do hunt, kill and eat mice and birds on a regular basis. My feral cat, even though she detests the kittens, she brings them mice every morning.

I'll see what my vets policy is about prescribing wormer.

I was told by my new vet just what Hissy said..

Originally Posted by hissy

I for one do not advocate worming on a regular basis unless the cat has worms or is in a situation where worms occur

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I ditto that, and practice what I preach. I can't see any point in giving a cat a medication unless it's needed. My indoor-only cats were all dewormed once after I got them, the subsequent fecal exams were negative, and a year later they're still negative. There's no reason to give a dewormer, and my vet concurs.

As my cats all go outside and hunt I give them dewormer every three months. Because he sees them all regularly (more than I would like!) the vet lets me have a supply of tablets and I only consult him about it if I think there is a problem.