Deworming

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M.C. Mullen - 09 Nov 2003 05:27 GMT

I deworm Tommy three times a year with a broad spectrum pill.
He eats the occasional mouse. Is that enough?
How often do you deworm your cats?

--
Carola

^..^ ~~ ,
=?`= ___ )
(_

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Nadine - 09 Nov 2003 15:41 GMT

Carola wrote:

>I deworm Tommy three times a year with a
>broad spectrum pill. He eats the occasional
>mouse. Is that enough? How often do you
>deworm your cats?

I have a fecal check done yearly with their vaccinations and only worm
them if something shows up. I do periodical visual checks for tape
worms as they don't show up very often in microscopic checks.

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perky1 - 09 Nov 2003 16:00 GMT

Mine are indoor cats, so I worm
them every three months, but
since your cat catches mice,
he should probably be wormed
more often.
I work for a vet, and that's
what I've learned being around
animals like I am, but I don't knowEVERYTHING about cats,
and maybe someone else has
a better suggestion.-----Perky1

> I deworm Tommy three times a year with a broad spectrum pill.
> He eats the occasional mouse. Is that enough?
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> =?`= ___ )
> (_

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Dee - 09 Nov 2003 21:06 GMT

> Mine are indoor cats, so I worm
> them every three months, but
> since your cat catches mice,
> he should probably be wormed
> more often.

My cats were all wormed as young kittens, Misty wormed again after she had
fleas as a kitten and had tapeworm. h0p was feral and had worms terribly,
terribly badly. He was wormed repeatedly until he was two. I have a
fecal done every year, sometimes twice a year, and have never had any kind
of a worm problem again until this year (almost ten years later) after the
first and only flea infestation we've ever had. Though I took fecals of
all the cats in, nothing showed on any of them. Sammy however, threw up a
hairball full of tapeworms so they were all treated again. My God those
things are heinous.

Dee

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M.C. Mullen - 09 Nov 2003 21:45 GMT

| My cats were all wormed as young kittens, Misty wormed again after she had
| fleas as a kitten and had tapeworm. h0p was feral and had worms terribly,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
|
| Dee

Does this mean that there is a connection between worms and fleas?
This thought has not occurred to me yet...
Would one problem weaken the cat so that it gets the other one?
Has anybody got any more info?

Carola

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Nadine - 10 Nov 2003 11:52 GMT

Carola wrote:

>Does this mean that there is a connection
>between worms and fleas? This thought has
>not occurred to me yet... Would one problem
>weaken the cat so that it gets the other one?
>Has anybody got any more info?

Yes there is a connection between tape worms and fleas and or eating
rodents. It has nothing to do with weakening the cat. Fleas are a host
for tape worms and when an animal swallows an infected flea they become
infected with tape worms. Most over the counter wormers do not treat
tape worms. The majority of tape worm infestations are diagnosed by
sight, as they don't usually show up in a microscopic check.

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Dee - 10 Nov 2003 22:57 GMT

> Does this mean that there is a connection between worms and fleas?
> This thought has not occurred to me yet...
> Would one problem weaken the cat so that it gets the other one?
> Has anybody got any more info?

Hey Carola,

Ingestion of fleas leads directly to tapeworm. It's not a matter of the
animal being weakened, flea larvae ingest tapeworm eggs and they develope
in the mature flea. When the cats grooms and ingests the flea...there
goes the tapeworm egg. Argh, it's terrible, and they very often don't
show up in fecals. Tapeworms can grow to be about 3 or 4 inches long I
think, and the thought of those things living off my cat's
intestines...aargh! If you have a flea investion, treat for tapeworm.

Dee

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M.C. Mullen - 11 Nov 2003 04:26 GMT

| > Does this mean that there is a connection between worms and fleas?
| > This thought has not occurred to me yet...
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
|
| Dee

Thanks to everybody!
I've done a bit of research on the topic in the internet, and I've even
learned the
proper English expression for (de)worming too! :-)

Carola

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Cheryl - 10 Nov 2003 03:19 GMT

> I deworm Tommy three times a year with a broad spectrum pill.
> He eats the occasional mouse. Is that enough?
> How often do you deworm your cats?

My indoor cats aren't wormed at all past the initial adoption. My
feral had roundworm but after her first worming series she doesn't get
exposed to them anymore (roundworms come from eating prey, from dirt,
from nursing on an infested mom). The others aren't exposed to fleas
but if I found an infestation I would have a fecal done for tapeworm.
I was a little worried this year about mosquitoes since we had a very
wet summer and probably should have them tested for heartworm but they
don't show signs and only go out in an enclosure only infequently. I
haven't seen any signs of mice nor any signs of them eating mice.

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