Seen A Roundworm. Can I Deworm Again After Just 6 Weeks?

[wilburph]

Hi everyone. I just want to check if I can/should worm a cat again when it hasn't been the advised 3 months yet (about 6 weeks). I just removed a roundworm today from a former stray/street cat, the second since her last treatment.

Long version:

I dewormed the local strays about 8 weeks ago using a pet shop liquid dewormer for roundworms only ("PetArmor for Cats" - it's hard to find well-known brands here in the Philippines). I followed up after 2 weeks as the product advised (so about 6 weeks ago).

This one cat (formerly a friendly street cat, now a fully domesticated and lovable pet who never goes outside our garden) kept releasing worms for a while after. I saw one 3-4 weeks ago and I just saw another today. There may have been others I didn't see, as she only started using a litter tray a few weeks ago. She suddenly developed diarrhoea this afternoon after a normal bowel movement in the morning, and the worm followed at night.

She previously had the first worming treatment of her life in January when she was spayed. She has bald patches on her back and near her tail which I've read may be caused by roundworm, so I'm eager for her to be totally rid of the things. I don't know her age, I only moved to the area last year.

Would you advise another round of deworming for her tomorrow, when she feels like eating again? (It's mixed with her food). Or should I wait 6 more weeks as the internet generally advises? (The product packaging doesn't mention 3 months, just a 2 week interval after the first worming for heavily infested cats).

Thank you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I found this:

Worms and your cat

From what I am reading, the frequent worming in kittens and then cutting back is to ensure that the worms are, indeed, dead. You are working with a grown cat who has a full infestation. I don't think that worming her again now would be an issue. You might want to hold off for just a day or two and see if any of our really experienced people who have dealt with this (we have LOTS of rescuers) spot your thread and check in. You'd be amazed at how often one reply seems to spawn others!

 

[wilburph]

Thank you. She seems happy enough and not really sick, just not much of an appetite, so it can wait a little while. I know I should take her to the vet, it's just a bit far and inconvenient unless it's an emergency, plus the vet standard where I live isn't very good, as I've discussed before on here. She's had a bloated stomach since they spayed her, and they cut half her ear off to mark her as spayed, like that's a normal and humane thing to do.

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Another deworming won't hurt, she is an adult Cat and, as Mamanyt1953 said, she can deal with it.
It took me almost 8 months yo get rid of the parasytes that my poor Alice had (she was vomiting worms, so It was a massive infestation) because I was following instructions the first 4 months and there were simply too many worms for the recommended amount and frequency of treatment adviced.
You still have to take her to the ver to see if they can give you another brand of dewormer just in case her parasytes are somehow resistent to the product you are using.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Thank you. She seems happy enough and not really sick, just not much of an appetite, so it can wait a little while. I know I should take her to the vet, it's just a bit far and inconvenient unless it's an emergency, plus the vet standard where I live isn't very good, as I've discussed before on here. She's had a bloated stomach since they spayed her, and they cut half her ear off to mark her as spayed, like that's a normal and humane thing to do.

Ear tipping is fairly normal to do for strays and ferals who are brought in for neutering. It prevents TNR programs from catching the same cat twice and not realizing that the cat is already neutered until it is anesthetized again, shaved, and in rare cases, when the scar is not easily seen, opened up. Don't know quite why they would do that to your cat unless you took her initially as a stray/feral. It isn't exactly pleasant, but the pain is minimal during the healing process. And, should she manage to go astray again, she'll be easier to spot.