Deworming Concerns

[Outerzone92]

Hey everyone, I'm going to be giving my cat some deworming medicine after being advised to, and I was wondering if I can get some tips on what to expect. I've posted on this site before, I just got my first ever kitty a month ago, so I'm completely new to this whole process.

To explain the situation, he's been fine the last few weeks, not showing any symptoms of being sick, no vomiting, no parasites in his stool, just being a normal healthy kitty. Then when I got home last night and settled in, I heard him heaving and looked over to find him vomiting. At first I thought it was just a hairball, but when I looked closer it had worms in it! At this point I'm completely freaked out and scared for my poor boy. I've stayed up with him most of the night, and he seems actually better than before he vomited last night. He's also been eating properly this whole time, so he hasn't lost his appetite, I'm just really worried about my big guy, even to the point where I'm sick to my stomach myself.

I'm also trying to figure out how he got the parasites to begin with. Ever since he was in the shelter, he's not been near any birds or rodents, he dosen't have any fleas, and overall I keep my trailer clean, especially where he hangs out. I haven't changed his food or brought anything weird into the trailer either. The only thing I've changed with him is his brand of kitty litter, though I don't know if that could have caused this at all.

I apologize if I went off-topic, I'm just worried sick about my boy and I want to make sure he's ok. If anyone can give me any advice on what to expect after he receives his medicine, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jcat]

He may have had worms all along and whatever worming medicine the shelter gave him didn't work; often it takes two or three doses over a period of weeks to get rid of all the worms. Some wormers only work on certain types of worms, too.

Usually there aren't any side effects to worry about. Did you take a picture of the worms to show the vet? It's not necessary, but helpful. Roundworms are often vomited. (S)he'll probably want you to drop off a fecal sample in a couple of weeks to see whether another dose is necessary.

 

[Outerzone92]

He may have had worms all along and whatever worming medicine the shelter gave him didn't work; often it takes two or three doses over a period of weeks to get rid of all the worms. Some wormers only work on certain types of worms, too.

Usually there aren't any side effects to worry about. Did you take a picture of the worms to show the vet? It's not necessary, but helpful. Roundworms are often vomited. (S)he'll probably want you to drop off a fecal sample in a couple of weeks to see whether another dose is necessary.

I apologize for taking a while to respond, its been a little bit of a crazy day honestly.

I did take him to the vet today and what you said matches with what the vet suggested, in that he may have had the worms all along. They did give him a dewormer at the shelter for a different parasite besides the roundworm however. I actually had a sample/picture for the vet of the worms, along with a stool sample that I brought along. They did find some eggs in his stool, but not too many of them thankfully. They also gave him a distemper shot that the shelter may or may not have given him, which they didn't note on their paperwork.

Along with the vet visit, I gave my boy some deworming medicine that the vet OKed, so hopefully that'll do the trick. I'll also give him his next dose in a couple weeks according to the bottle. So far he hasn't shown any side effects of the vaccine or medicine except being sleepy, but it might be best to just have him sleep some of his illness off. He also hasn't touched too much of his food, however he did eat shortly after the vet visit. I feel all I can do at the moment is just keep an eye on him to make sure he's ok. I'll take him back to the vet for a follow up just in case, but I'm sure he'll be just fine.

 

[jcat]

That's good. The majority of the kittens We get at the shelter were born to strays, ferals, or indoor/outdoor cats, so they're all treated for worms.

 

[stephanietx]

It usually takes more than one deworming treatment to get all the worms due to the life cycle of the parasites. Glad you got him to the vet!