what are the telltale signs that your kitten has worms?
Answers:
A rough coat, pot belly, diarrhea, and poor appetite are all symptoms. However, many cats have no symptoms at all..Most cats are born with roundworms, and if they have ever had fleas, they will likely have tapeworms.
easy. when your cat takes a dump and there are white little moving things in the poop.. the cat has WORMS
Unless it has been wormed recently it probaly does. A large rounded belly and poor weight gain is a sign of a bad case.
Diarrhea, or you might see worms in the poo. Kittens should take preventive treatment for worms anyway, because often they are not detectable. They should take Banminth a few times, according to the instructions. After they take it, you see worms coming out in their poo.
Hi there.cats can be victims to several different intestinal parasites or worms, but roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms are the most common.
Below I've outlined the common intestinal parasites and facts to keep in mind for preventing parasites.
Symptoms for intestinal parasites include but are not limited to diarrhea, weight loss, vomiting, poor hair coat, listlessness, and anorexia.
Tests:
Testing for intestinal parasites is pretty simple. Take a small stool sample (a teaspoonful) to your veterinarian and ask for a fecal float test. Most veterinarians recommend the test as part of an annual exam. Roundworms and tapeworms can be seen in the stools but hookworms and whipworms are too tiny to be seen in the stools. That is why the test is important, it is used to find the microscopic eggs in the stools.
Zoonosis:
Zoonotic disease refers to disease spread from animal to human. Parasites can also be spread to humans. Children are at risk while going barefoot or playing in the sand box. Talk to your medical doctor to learn more about treatment and prevention.
Roundworms:
Roundworms are very common in kittens. They will often cause a pot-bellied appearance. They can be seen in vomit and stool but not seeing them doesn't mean they are not there. Roundworms can also infest adult cats and be passed to kittens during pregnancy. T
The worm can also be passed to the kittens through the mothers milk. The eggs from the adult worms are passed in the stool and can re-infest the kitten or can infest other cats.
Hookworms:
Hookworms are blood suckers. A severe infestation can cause anemia and actually kill a kitten. In adults hookworms can make the animal weak and have poor stamina. Cats get hookworms from soil that has been contaminated or from ingesting eggs in the milk of a nursing mother.
Tapeworms:
Cats usually get tapeworms from ingesting fleas while grooming themselves. The tapeworm is released from the digested flea and attaches itself to the intestine and starts absorbing nutrients. You know your pet has tapeworms when you see tiny segments that look like a grain of rice around the rectum of your pet. You might also see them in the stools.
De-wormers:
It is important to know what kind of parasite your pet has so you can de-worm accordingly. De-wormers will generally not kill all parasites so it is important to use the right one. If you keep your pet on monthly heartworm preventative your pet should be protected against most of the intestinal parasites. Just one more good reason to use heartworm prevention.
Extra info:
* Never try to deal with a worm or flea problem by yourself by buying an over the counter medicine. Many of these medications have caused fatalities in cats. Always get worm/flea medications from your veterinarian.
* Occasionally cats can have a reaction to deworming medication (or any medication for that matter) even if it has been administered by your veterinarian. Vomiting, diarrhea, shaking or poor co-ordination can all indicate a bad reaction to the medication. In this case the vet should be contacted immediately.
Check the cat's stool
Most times there are no tell tale signs. If there are tape worms, only way to tell, is to lift the tail right after the cat pooped, I mean immediately after, before the cat even had a chance to turn around and see the little white thing go back into the butt. These worms are caused by fleas.( tape worms) If a cat ever had fleas, even if you dont see them, they got tape worms! Mom cats can pass them along to babies as well as round and other worms that leave no tell tale signs! Sometimes no signs until years later when there is blood in the stool. Cat's cannot stop eating or having the urge to when worms are there because worms get most of the cats food, then the worms start eating at the cat's stomach lining. My cat looked healthy, but he loved to open cake boxes, learned to open old fashioned lunch boxes and eat what ever he could. he had worms and we did not know. P.S. Chocolate can kill a cat. Round worms can be detected by the vet, a stool sample will tell. Good luck to you and your new Kitten. a simple vet visit with the kitten is always so sweet. Got to wash all the cats bedding if there are any worms. Good Luck. I had allot of cats in my life, only a few had worms. It is not a problem, nor expensive to have the kittys dewormed from the vet. P.S. Don't rely on the store boughten crap, it don't work, makes things worse, and makes the cats sick! Sometimes it makes the worms active instead of killing them. If you cant afford a vet appointment, get a stool sample to them, and ask about what de wormer should be used an maybe you can get a vet that can cut you some slack and maybe take payments. ( most do)..
Seattle has the right information,most cats never had a reaction to deworming med from the vet.
we just give our cats a tour up cigarette in some wet cat food if the have worms that will get read of them
Intestinal Worms and Cats
Of all the health topics cat owners consider, intestinal worms rarely make the list, especially if the cat stays in the home exclusively and never has adventures in the great outdoors. Even though you may not see any outward signs of parasitism or hear them discussed very often, internal parasites may be to blame if your cat has intermittent diarrhea, does not seem to gain weight despite a healthy diet, has dull fur or is not as active as you think she should be. As important, humans can become infected with roundworms and hookworms, which is why we need to be diligent in litter box care and not allow our outdoor cats to use the garden and children’s play area as a “potty spot.” Here are the other worm worries to watch out for in cats:
ROUNDWORMS (Toxocara cati, Toxascaris leonina) are the most common type of worm to infect the animal kingdom. These are usually 2 to 4 inches long, tan or white “spaghetti-like” creatures with tapered ends. If a roundworm burden is heavy, a cat may vomit these worms or pass them (whole) in the stool. Witnessing an event like this will often result in a panic call to the veterinarian. In addition to causing vomiting and diarrhea, roundworms can have an effect on a cat’s overall health and appearance. Kittens infected with roundworms will have a potbellied, bloated look to them and may be constantly hungry. Although uncommon, roundworms can actually become so numerous that they create an intestinal blockage so that stool cannot pass. Roundworms are zoonotic (can be transferred to humans) and can cause an infection known as “Visceral Larva Migrans,” that may result in inflammation of muscle tissue and blindness. For this reason, feces should be scooped from the litter box daily and disposed of in the household trash. Anthelmintics (de-wormers) that are frequently used to treat roundworms are pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole and piperazine. Let’s hope your kitties never need them.
HOOKWORMS (Ancylostoma braziliense) are blood-sucking intestinal parasites and have the ability to cause anemia (and sometimes death) in kittens and adult cats. Hookworms cannot be seen by the naked eye, and the severity of adverse effects will depend on the amount of worms in the intestine, the animal’s overall health, age and acquired immunity. In one of nature’s bits of generosity, cats become more resistant to hookworms as they grow older. Remember when you were young and your mother did not want you to go outside barefoot? This is because in humans, hookworms can cause “Cutaneous Larva Migrans,” commonly called “creeping eruption.” The hookworm larvae will burrow into the skin of a human’s foot or leg causing a linear, red lesion, which is intensely itchy. This parasite has also been known to cause chronic intestinal bleeding, abdominal pain and diarrhea in small children and the symptoms aren’t any nicer for cats. De-worming medications usually include pyrantel pamoate and fenbendazole.
TAPEWORMS (Dipylidium caninum, T. taeniaeformis) are the other type of parasite that’s visible to the naked eye. Actually, what you will observe are tapeworm segments that have broken off from the adult parasite that is attached to the lining of the cat’s intestinal tract. These tapeworm pieces vary in length, are usually white and are frequently seen (while still alive) contracting and expanding around the cat’s rectum or on a dog’s stool immediately after elimination. Once the segments die, they will look like grains of uncooked wild rice or sesame seeds and are often found where the cat sleeps.
If you think this is as gross as most people, you’ll want to protect your cat with effective flea prevention.
That’s right: The most common route of infection occurs when the cat swallows a flea that is carrying the parasite’s eggs. The good news is that tapeworms cannot be directly transmitted from cats to dogs or humans; in both infections the flea needs to be involved in the lifecycle process. De-worming can be done by either oral medication or by injection and the most common antiparasitic agent used is praziquantel followed up by epsiprantel (Cestex).
COCCIDA (Isopora felis) is not a worm, but a single-cell microscopic organism that will wreak havoc in a cat’s intestinal tract when present in great numbers. This protozoa will cause watery diarrhea in young and susceptible animals that have immature or compromised immune systems; in some cases, the diarrhea can be severe enough to be life-threatening. Eradication of this parasite is usually successful with a daily dose of a sulfonamide antimicrobial agent.
It is important to know that most cats will not even show signs of intestinal parasitism at first; the initial step in parasite control is having a stool sample tested by your veterinarian. If the fecal exam is positive, the proper medication can be prescribed or recommended for purging that particular worm. If you are ever in doubt about the proper medication to use, be sure to consult your veterinary care professional before proceeding and never use a de-wormer on a cat that is otherwise sick, pregnant or debilitated. Worms are a health risk for sure, but properly treated can be cured effectively.
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