Indoor cats and worms

Hi everyone,

I'm writing in for a bit of advice. Pardon my ignorance...I'm not a completely 'experienced' cat person, but I've been a cat lover all my life, and now have 2 cat babies of my own.

We got Bosco last year, and he's going on a year of age this month.

Zoe was born in September, and we've had her about 3 mos now.

Bosco has never had any health issues whatsoever...and has only required the routine vet checks.

Boxing Day past we took Zoe to the vet because she had been vomiting. At that time, I also noticed she wasn't eating very much and was starting to get lethargic. In the vomit and stool I noticed worms (roundworms, I believe as they had the appearance of 'spaghetti'). Dr. Kelly offered to see her and treated her for worms; it was just one, in-office treatment, and I asked at the time if Bosco should be treated also, and he said it wasn't necessary as it wasn't the 'time of year to worry' about the spread.

I think it was a week after the treatment that I noticed a few traces of worms in a bowel movement and called the vet that morning, but they said not to worry then, but to call back if I saw any more traces of them a few weeks later.

I didn't notice anything at all since that point until this morning.

I went to clean the litterbox today and noticed a puddle of the white frothy vomit and one long spaghetti-like worm. I'm not sure which cat it came from... Both cats share a litter box, and they're both indoor cats. I plan to call the vet office when it opens, but I'm a worried mom and wanted to post this in hopes of attaining a little advice from all corners. Thank you in advance...

Amber (and Bosco, & Zoe)

Hi, if it were me I think I would change vets and have both cats wormed. I want a vet who listens to my concerns and doesn't blow me off. You could always call another vet just to get an opinion. Good luck with everything, I'm sure that they will both be fine soon!

Thanks for your reply Tourmaline.

I called the vet and spoke with someone in Small Animal care and explained everything that happened. It was suggested that I just come and pick up a bottle of liquid dewormer, Strongid.

I actually really like the vet we are taking them to... He seems very confident and caring with the animals and actually saw us on Boxing Day on an emergency call. He stated that only certain seasons can the worms be spread. I'm not sure how they've resurfaced though.

Is it ok to just use the Strongid on both cats without getting them seen?

I'm no expert, but if these are indoor cats I don't see how "season" for spreading would have anything to do with both these cats having worms. Is this more of a farm vet and used to dealing with larger, farm animals? I see you are from PEI (I was raised in NB) and I can't help but wonder if he really knows much about the smaller animals. I would definitely get a second opinion.

She could have had the worms passed to her from her mother if she was infected and they were sharing a litter box. Nearly all kittens have roundworms. A stool sample should be checked too. There are 4 types of common worms in cats. One of my cats loves to hunt and will get worms from the stuff she catches. I was just at my vet a couple of weeks ago with another cat and she said the recommendatations on treating cats for worms has changed. I used to have to treat twice a yr and the new recommendations are 4 times/yr. Because I have 4 cats and they of course share litter boxes they have to all be treated.
I had a cat that when she was young vomited up worms-that is a very good indication that this cat MUST be treated. At the time Sheba had one of the worse cases of worms in a kitten that they had seen. I was quite worried at the time.

I deworm my three cats at the same time, 3 times a year.

The 'season' he referred to had something to do with the season of the worms' eggs, I believe. Certain times of year they lay the eggs where they can be spread, or something? It didn't make a lot of sense to me either, but he was the expert, right? Our vet actually came recommended by a number of people and he is one of the 'small animal veterinarians' at the clinic we visit (they have both a small and a large animal hospital in the building).

From the information I've been reading on the site and past threads re: worms, specifically roundworms, there are times when the worms can remain 'dormant' for lack of a better term even with prior treatment... Did I comprehend that correctly?

If worms would spread that easily then humans would be in pretty big trouble too and would catch them just as easily. If your cats are indoors then they probably got the worms from mom and after they are dewormed there won't be any need to do it again (though an annual fecal is always good). My cats get raw food and they still don't get worms from that (recently tested). Its common in kittens because their immune systems are weak and if mom has worms they get them from her. Get them wormed and you should be all set .

Clover is an outdoor cat and he hasn't had worms since he was a kitten. Its not as easy to get as your vet is making it out to be.

Hi everyone,

So I picked up Strongid at the vet last night and my boyfriend was the lucky administrator of the dosage to both cats. They weren't very willing to accept the banana-flavored vile.

The clerk at the clinic advised after the dosage the cat with the worms (I am fully suspecting it's Zoe as she's the baby and I think she's had them since we got her and the first time she was medicated it was just the Drontal (?) -yellow pill and perhaps there were eggs left and now we have a recurrence?) would expel the worms in the feces.

Dumb question, but again, I'm a noob at this issue....I've been reading up on this, and all literature seems to point toward there being a LOT of worms to work their way out. I checked Zoe's stool this morning and there was nothing. When shall I expect them to expel? Can't wait for this....hah. Also, I've bought a brand new litter box and new litter (was going to anyway as I wanted a larger box, and thought this was a good time to do that) and I was wondering when I should change the litter/box. When I see worms?? Or, now since they've been treated?

Thanks in advance everyone....this forum keeps me sane!

My kitten got the strongid when we found her, and then again a few weeks later. The second dose is absolutely vital, as the worms in the GI are adults. The eggs float around their body (yes, eww) and then settle in the GI tract, which takes awhile. This is why you have to give the second dose--otherwise you will just repeat killing the adults, leaving the eggs and young worms to grow up and lay eggs themselves.

Zissou only pooed one worm that I saw, after her first dose, so maybe she didn't have too heavy a worm infestation. Maybe she got lucky and got extra fleas instead!

Good luck!

Actually the pill dewormer "Drontal" that you gave last time kills more types of worms than the liquid does. The liquid type does not kill tapeworms (which they get from eating fleas, mice, etc). You won't see dead tapeworms in the stool either even though it kills them in about 24 hours. I would give both doses of the dewormer and follow up with a group fecal check about 2 wks after the second dose (just to make sure there's no evidence of parasites).