Take a deep breath!  It's possible Scout has roundworms.  They can stay in a
cat's systems for years from when they were kittens - second stage larvae
can remain encysted for years.  The good news is that they are easily taken
care of, just talk to your vet.  Here's an article about them:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_roundworms_in_cats___kittens.html

Hugs,

CatNipped

Take deep breaths and do not panic.  It is not necessary to bleach the whole
place out or take showers.  Get in touch with your vet tomorrow, explain
what you saw and get some worming tablets for both cats.  Job done.  Relax.

Tweed

You just wait and see TED tomorrow.  If you are worried about personally
being infected, either TED or your own doctor can give you some medicine
too.  Best  of luck.  MLB

First of all *DONT PANIC*. I realise this is easier said than done.

Worms are not going to kill her in the next 24 hours, indeed, many creatures
live just fine with worms all their lives and don't know the difference.
She'll be fine until you can get her to the vet. Its *not* an emergency.

I don't know how she got them either, perhaps she has 'always' had them. It
can be passed from mother to kitten, and most cats don't even notice they
have them.

As to your likelyhood of you catching worms: its minimal. I assume you use
gloves to clean out hte litter boxes, and clean them out well. And that you
wash your hands after doing so. Its unlikely that there are any infectious
areas in your house *besides* the box anywat.

When yo go to the vet, take both cats and if you can manage it, stool
samples from both. The treatment for worms is easy (paste or pills) and if
you feel it necessary, you can go to the pharmacy and get yoruself and John
some de-worming tablets too.

Purrs that you can stay sane until you get to the vets tomorrow. And dont'
worry - Scout is *fine*.

Yowie

Yes, she could have worms even though she is an indoor cat.  But don't
panic.  This is usually easily (and inexpensively) treated.  Whatever you
do, *do not* buy over-the-counter medication.  Buy only from your vet --  
over-the-counter medications are usually ineffective and may be dangerous
(including reports of death from Hartz medications).  If possible, take a
fresh fecal sample to the vet so it can be examined under a microscope for
parasites (the "fresher," the better for this purpose).  I would guess that
these are round worms, but tape worms are also a possibility.

Although they are usually easy to treat, it is imporant to get this done as
soon as possible.  Your vet may want to treat both cats, as a precaution.
This page has pictures of various types of worms that may be seen in cats
and dogs  http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html  (Warning:  some of the
pics are rather disgusting to see.)

MaryL

If you actually SAW a worm, she may haver a rather bad
infestation, but it's not really life-threatening!
(Certainly not if you just noticed it - you'd have to
neglect the situation for a fairly long time, and I
seriously doubt you're the kind who would.)  As to how she
got them, even animals who don't go out come in contact with
floors and carpets and things that come in from outdoors -
maybe one of you stepped in something that contained worm
eggs, and she sniffed at it enough breathe them in?  Purrs
for your panic - such things are a nuisance, but not worth
stressing out over.

If you wash your hands with reasonable frequency (and before
eating) I don't think you're in much danger.  Kids are more
careless about hygiene, that's why they can acquire
non-discriminating parasites from their pets.

Have you seen *any* fleas?  Could simply be a tapeworm.

kili

Don't panic. Call TED tomorrow and arrange for both cats to be treated, if
either or both have worms they're easily treated, if not, no harm done.

This happened to Nocturne once, except that the worm actually came out.
We flushed it down the toilet, and the next day we went to the vet and
got de-wormer pills for all the household kitties.  We haven't seen
worms since, though we usually de-worm everyone once a year just to be
sure.

--Fil

I'm sure everyone else have given you good advice, so I'll just add
some calming purrs :-)

Ginger-lyn

Home Pages:
 http://www.spiritrealm.com/summer/
 http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~summer/index.htm (genealogy)
 http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
                        Animals in Movies Website)

Purrs that it's nothing, or at least that it's easily treatable and
not gross.