Help! Elanco tapeworm de-wormer causes violent vomiting?!

[Vulky]

Please, please give me your thoughts and advice on this: We had a really bad batch of fleas at the end of summer and it took a couple weeks to get rid of them, even with pest control indoors and out, bathing for our cats, and Frontline applied (Frontline is the only treatment that doesn't cause problems for us). Winter finally did the last of them in and we sighed with relief... but then this week I noticed what looked like sesame seeds on my most active one's rear end and thought, uh-oh. So, being as one of the boys had to see the vet for a URI anyway, I grabbed some Elanco wormer for everyone, with the vets advice that I let URI guy recover from that before worming him. No stool samples involved, for some reason the vets here don't want them unless they are under an hour old and it is very hard to get a cat to poop on demand within their work hours - they said the de-wormer was safe, just use it.

Because anything to do with medicating the boys gives me serious anxiety, I decided to do one at a time, starting with the one with evidence on his butt, Wilber. He ate his pill with gusto, acted a little queasy for a few hours, then acted like he felt better than he had in years and is still full of it. This afternoon I did the next most "likely to have eaten his fleas" guy, a chubby ginger named Cornflake, about 5 years old, with no known illnesses. He fought and spit and drooled his pill out, barely consuming any of it, and has spent the rest of the day vomiting all his food and water up. He snuck outside when my husband went to work and when bought back in so he didn't freeze in the Iowa winter, he vomited all the dead dry grass he ate in the few minutes he was out there, and has since had two watery vomits with a bloody pink tinge to them. Possibly from the nasty dry grass cutting him? Or could it be the pill? I feel so bad I want to cry. It was from the same bottle I gave Wilber a pill from with no issues, was not expired and looked fine! Has anyone else had this from a tape-de-worming pill? I usually don't get fleas, so I use panacur twice a year and haven't had a lot of wormy issues until now. I don't know what to do to help him, but I feel like I poisoned my sweet boy!

He wants to eat, poor guy, but nothing stays. I took the dry food up to stop the madness of retching and clean-up every hour, and have been giving him spoonfuls of chicken baby food every 20 minutes or so with a little slippery elm mixed in because it's all I can think to do. So far it's stayed down, but its only been a few spoonfuls. He still wants attention from me and occasional food, but acts like he does not feel well and wants to hide in warm places. He usually wants to play this time of night and explore the house. The nearest vet doesn't do emergencies, it's half an hour to the next nearest and my past experience is every vet in a 80 mile radius thinks cats vomiting is not a big deal unless they look "shocky" and the most they'll do is give him an anti-nausea shot, which I do not want to run up a $200 bill for on a Sunday night if I don't have to (we're in rural Iowa, where livestock reins supreme and cats do not matter). Anyone at all deal with this? Any advice on helping Cornflake? I considered giving him charcoal or antacids, but don't want to compound my troubles.

And if he survives this, what the heck do I worm him with?

Thanks for listening. Oh, wise cat owners, please advise - it stops me from freaking out.

 

[NekoM]

Is it likely that he had a larger number of worms? It’s a little gross but check his vomit, the chances are he’s throwing up some worms.

 

[fionasmom]

Praziquantel | VCA Animal Hospital.

I don't know if this will help, but it does discuss side effects to the tablets. Elanco contains praziquantel which is an extremely common dewormer. From what I am reading, Cornflake did not consume much of the pill; however, that does not rule out sensitivity in one cat that did not occur in another. I have always used Droncit or Drontal, both of which contain the same ingredient.

If Cornflake seems very ill, you will have to get some help for him. If this were caused by the use of praziquantel, it does present a question.

What he ate outside could factor into the blood tinged vomit, especially if the grass scraped the inside of his mouth. Could this be coincidental to another problem?

Praziquantel is used in humans as well. It can have side effects which include vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and nausea.

 

[Vulky]

Is it likely that he had a larger number of worms? It’s a little gross but check his vomit, the chances are he’s throwing up some worms.

No sign of worms, just watery bile and food bits.

 

[Vulky]

Praziquantel | VCA Animal Hospital.

I don't know if this will help, but it does discuss side effects to the tablets. Elanco contains praziquantel which is an extremely common dewormer. From what I am reading, Cornflake did not consume much of the pill; however, that does not rule out sensitivity in one cat that did not occur in another. I have always used Droncit or Drontal, both of which contain the same ingredient.

If Cornflake seems very ill, you will have to get some help for him. If this were caused by the use of praziquantel, it does present a question.

What he ate outside could factor into the blood tinged vomit, especially if the grass scraped the inside of his mouth. Could this be coincidental to another problem?

Praziquantel is used in humans as well. It can have side effects which include vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and nausea.

Thank you for the link - I think the blood tinge IS from the grass scratching, and I think the grass eating binge was because the wormer upset his stomach so much - he was vomiting before his great escape and grass eating, but it was partially digested food, no bloodiness. I thought he was doing better today, so I thought I'd forgo the vet and see how he did, but right after closing time at the vets (of course) he had a very foul scented food-and water vomit on the stairs, and I found two more vomit piles in the litter boxes when I went to scoop them. He's more active today, and is very hungry but apparently unable to keep it down for long. I've also had to move all the houseplants because he keeps trying to eat all of them. Definitely regretting getting wrapped up in chores and not calling the vet. ugh.

 

[Vulky]

Praziquantel | VCA Animal Hospital.

I don't know if this will help, but it does discuss side effects to the tablets. Elanco contains praziquantel which is an extremely common dewormer. From what I am reading, Cornflake did not consume much of the pill; however, that does not rule out sensitivity in one cat that did not occur in another. I have always used Droncit or Drontal, both of which contain the same ingredient.

If Cornflake seems very ill, you will have to get some help for him. If this were caused by the use of praziquantel, it does present a question.

What he ate outside could factor into the blood tinged vomit, especially if the grass scraped the inside of his mouth. Could this be coincidental to another problem?

Praziquantel is used in humans as well. It can have side effects which include vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and nausea.

I read all the VCA page and just like most write-ups, they say bad reactions are rare - but reading reviews on sites like Chewy or Amazon, I find many complaints like mine - immediate bad reaction and a very sick cat. I get so frustrated with labeling on pet products in this country - they all act like nothing should go wrong with using their product, and if it does its very, very rare and to immediately call the vet. In Europe, a lot of labels tell you bad reactions are likely and offer what to do as aftercare if they happen, with calling a vet as a last resort. I suppose here it would get them sued.

 

[Vulky]

To update:
Cornflake seemed better this morning after having a little wet food last night. Early this morning he was acting like his old self and playing with the other cats. I thought he was on the mend, gave him some more of his wet food and a little slippery elm and went off to work. He was fine when I got home, but just before 6pm, and after the vet clinic was closed, he had a violent, very watery vomit on the stairs that looked like liquid food and smelled terrible. He has since been trying to eat the houseplants, so they are all removed, and he wants his dry food but I have taken it up so his poor stomach can settle a little (it was down since this morning, since I saw no vomit and he seemed better). I went to do the daily scoop of litter boxes and there were two more vomit piles, watery with food bits, in the litter, where I did not think to look this morning.

So, he's acting better but still has a bad stomach - though it takes him awhile to go from eating to vomiting, unlike yesterday when it was almost immediately after eating it all came up. For now, I don't think his health is in danger, as he is active and perky, but I think I'll isolate him tonight and make sure he's going to the bathroom alright and not just throwing up (no signs of diarrhea in the boxes, but not much poo either). Then he'll have to visit the vet if he isn't markedly improved tomorrow.

As I told fionasmom, there's no sign of worms in the vomit, I inspected closely. There were no signs of worms in the litter boxes, just tapeworm segments on Wilber's butt, and he is much happier since being wormed. None of my other cats (there are three) show signs of worms, but neither did Wilber until the bits on the butt (except for a tiny weight loss and a dry coat I blamed on winter) and I know tapeworms can hide well. So worming was meant to be a "just in case" thing, which I deeply regret. I also haven't treated my last two cats as they have heath issues (my FIV+ guy has a URI and the other one is quite old has birth defects and kidney disease) because I fear a reaction like Cornflakes may kill them!

I wish I had a vet who would take them overnight to collect samples and make sure they needed the wormer. The policy of needing a poo half an hour old and only when they are prepared to take it in seems nuts to me - I cannot schedule pooping for their convenience. I had an old vet, since moved, who would stuff samples for worms in the lab fridge and accept them within 24 hours so long as they weren't allowed to desiccate in the litter. Anyway, I still welcome any thoughts or discussion - thanks so much to fionasmom and NekoM for replying!

 

[iPappy]

Hi, is he pooping OK? If you're not sure could you separate him from the others so you can monitor the box he's using? I'd be worried that the continuing vomiting could mean some of that grassy stuff is clogging him up and the food has nowhere else to go.
I've had the very rare pet that has had absolutel violent reactions to basic wormers, so I know how frustrating this is for you.

 

[Vulky]

Hi, is he pooping OK? If you're not sure could you separate him from the others so you can monitor the box he's using? I'd be worried that the continuing vomiting could mean some of that grassy stuff is clogging him up and the food has nowhere else to go.
I've had the very rare pet that has had absolutel violent reactions to basic wormers, so I know how frustrating this is for you.

Thanks - it is frustrating. I didn't separate him last night, but he's in a bedroom by himself now just to see if he's pooping and peeing alright. I think most of the grass came out with the vomit, but you never know. I am wondering if he has something else going on, but he seemed perfectly fine until he had the de-wormer.
I've got my oldest boy sick, too - he has an URI that has bothered him for six months now and my vet prescribed a Convenia shot every other month to try and stop it - the first two fixed him right up until the snot returned, but this last one has made him tired and withdrawn, so of course I looked up side effects and now I'm terrified he's overdosed on it and won't be with us much longer. Calling my vet with concerns got me a message about how she's never noticed any side effects from it and to just wait and see.
I have loved cats all my life, but when these guys are gone, I'm afraid I won't be getting more. It's just too hard to take care of them these days. I'm always second guessing myself, frustrated with vets, and heartbroken when things don't work out.

 

[iPappy]

Thanks - it is frustrating. I didn't separate him last night, but he's in a bedroom by himself now just to see if he's pooping and peeing alright. I think most of the grass came out with the vomit, but you never know. I am wondering if he has something else going on, but he seemed perfectly fine until he had the de-wormer.
I've got my oldest boy sick, too - he has an URI that has bothered him for six months now and my vet prescribed a Convenia shot every other month to try and stop it - the first two fixed him right up until the snot returned, but this last one has made him tired and withdrawn, so of course I looked up side effects and now I'm terrified he's overdosed on it and won't be with us much longer. Calling my vet with concerns got me a message about how she's never noticed any side effects from it and to just wait and see.
I have loved cats all my life, but when these guys are gone, I'm afraid I won't be getting more. It's just too hard to take care of them these days. I'm always second guessing myself, frustrated with vets, and heartbroken when things don't work out.

It's good he's separated, just so all your bases are covered.
Convenia is kind of a hit or miss thing with cats. I try to avoid it now, but not initially. I think it was developed so cat owners didn't have to pill or medicate their cats at home (hoping for less stress) but some cats don't handle it well. Is your oldest boy a cat you're able to medicate in case he needs to be on oral antibiotics in the future?