Tumble's Got Worms

[stephanietx]

So, I found a worm sticking out of Tumble's anus this evening. We'll be trying to collect a fecal tonight and storing it in the fridge until we can get to the vet tomorrow. He was wormed a few weeks ago, but he did have some fleas when we got him and had been treated with Frontline or Advantage, so I wasn't extremely worried about it. We've never had to deal with worms before (strange, I know), so I'm not sure how to sanitize and if my other 2 cats are at risk of getting them. After we get him treated, what steps do we need to take to sanitize his room, bedding, carpets, and litter box? I'm assuming we'll need to wash all the bedding in hot water and throw out the litter and bleach the box.

What about my other 2 cats? They've not shared the litter box, but they've been in the room, sniffed him, walked around in there and stuff like that. Should they be treated as well?

ETA: They've not shared boxes, but we've been using the same scoop in all the boxes, so they've potentially been exposed as well.

 

[catsallaround]

most likely tapeworms. The other cats get it from the fleas. You can bring cat to vet and have them do it or go to petsmart and buy a bottle of tape tabs(I buy online due to how many cats I have

I would get the fleas under control then treat them for worms otherwise you'll just waste money on deworming them.
After I deworm my crew I never do anything special except dump it if I see anything obvious... After the deworming for tapes my guys are usually quieter/drink more.

 

[stephanietx]

We were flea-free before they moved in with him. We treated our girls right away with Revolution and I haven't seen any fleas since. He's been much quieter today than normal. We've already collected the fecal and I'll call the vet's office first thing in the morning. Will talk with her about treating the others.

My main concern is sanitizing his room and what all needs to be done for that.

 

[catsallaround]

I never been told to do anything special but if they tell you anything please come back and post. The segments you see just dry up and look like rice in few hours. they are the very end of the worm..the actual part in the cat you may see if after dosing they throw it up but if it comes out in stool and is small probably not.

 

[catsallaround]

I never been told to do anything special but if they tell you anything please come back and post. The segments you see just dry up and look like rice in few hours. they are the very end of the worm..the actual part in the cat you may see if after dosing they throw it up but if it comes out in stool and is small probably not.

 

[darkmavis]

I never saw any fleas on Genever or in my apartment, but lo and behold, about 6 months after we adopted her, I saw a tapeworm segment on her butt and freaked out. I got a 1-dose topical med from the vet to get rid of it. I still didn't see any fleas, but I still washed her blankets and ours with a hot water wash, and vacuumed like crazy. It was suggested to buy a flea collar and cut it up and put it in the vacuum bag, but I didn't get around to that part. Since you did have fleas, you might want to do the flea collar in the vacuum, and empty it right after vacuuming.

Good luck!!

 

[stephanietx]

We took the little man, who was very scared, and his poop to the vet this afternoon. The good news is that he doesn't have any parasites in his stool. The bad news is that he does have tapeworms. She gave him another round of dewormer (Strongid) and a deworming tablet. She also gave him his 2nd set of boosters. She didn't find any fleas on him, and we've not seen any fleas on him since the first day we got him, so we don't have a flea problem. However, we'll probably treat the area with DE or something like that. We'll go ahead and wash all the bedding in hot water, too.

 

[ziggy'smom]

The tapeworm will not infect your other cats and it does not exist in the environment, only if inside a flea. It could have been months ago that your kitty swollowed the flea that carried the tapeworm larvae so if none of the cats have fleas now there is no need to treat your home. I just treat the cats with preventative and that has always been sufficient.

Just FYI, tapeworm is usually not discovered in fecal tests so even if your cat has a negative fecal he may still have tapeworm. It's usually diagnosed by seeing the worm segments (the little rice looking things) in the stool or on the cat. If you see a worm in or around their anal area it's most likely tapeworm.
Since cats groom themselves they are quite likely to swollow a flea and get tapeworm if they have fleas. Therefore it's usually a good idea to treat a cat for tapeworm if you know that he's had fleas.

 

[stephanietx]

The vet told us that if a cat has a flea on it, it'll catch it almost every single time and that's why tapeworms are more common in cats than in dogs. I guess dogs just aren't as good at catching their prey! LOL I had told them a couple of times, when making the appointment and again when they were doing the intake. They still weren't hearing me until specifically told the vet, "I saw this white wiggly thing hanging out his bum last night." Then she went and got the tapeworm pill and shoved down his throat. She only charged me for the booster anyway, so I was happy about that!