Both indoor and outdoor cats, old and young, can contract worms. Adults can contract worms from contaminated feces, fleas, or rodents, while younger kittens can be exposed to worms through nursing. Visible presence: For many cat owners, the first sign will be a visible presence of worms.
Change in coat: If your cat is infested with a parasite, their fur may appear dull, rumpled or clumped due to lack of nutrients or dehydration. Change in color of gums: The gums of a healthy cat should be nice and pink, but if they appear pale or white, your cat may be experiencing anemia, due to the worms. Worms in the gut can also cause diarrhea. Increased appetite despite weight loss: As the worms deprive your cat of vital nutrients, they need to take in more food in order to try to maintain their body condition.
While some worms can be seen by the naked eye, others must be diagnosed with fecal testing. Your veterinarian will ask you to bring in a stool sample, which will be placed in a solution that allows the parasite eggs to separate from the feces and float to the top.
Next, a drop of the sample is placed on a slide and examined under a microscope to determine the exact type of worm infesting your cat. This will determine medication, treatment, and follow-up care.
After treatment, your cat will likely need another fecal exam to ensure the worms have been wiped out. These eggs can infect other cats in two ways. First, a cat may eat ingest eggs directly from a contaminated environment. Toxocara cati is also passed from queens mother cats to kittens through the milk she produces.
Whenever a cat is infected with roundworms, some immature forms larvae remain dormant in tissues in the body. This usually causes no harm, but when a female cat becomes pregnant, these larvae migrate to the mammary glands and are excreted in the milk she produces for the kittens.
This is a very common route of infection and we should assume that every kitten will be infected with Toxocara cati as a result. However, to determine if a cat is actually infected with worms, a faeces sample can be collected and examined in the laboratory to look for the presence of the worm eggs. Hookworms are a type of small intestinal roundworm found in most countries throughout the world, but are more common in some countries than others.
These worms can cause damage to the lining of the intestine where they attach to the surface, and this may result in weight loss, bleeding and anaemia. Common cat hookworms include Ancylostoma tubaeforme, and Uncinaria stenocephala, but other species occur in some countries.
Tapeworms are generally long flat worms composed of many segments. Mature segments containing eggs are released from the end of the tapeworm and are passed in the faeces. To complete their life-cycle, all tapeworms require an intermediate host to first eat the eggs from the environment, and then the cat will become infected by eating the intermediate host.
Animals that act as intermediate hosts vary depending on the species of tapeworm. The most common tapeworms that infect cats worldwide are Dipylidium caninum and Taenia taeniaeformis. It can also cause breathing issues if too much abdominal fluid is pressing on the diaphragm and restricting the normal lung capacity for proper breathing. Yes, humans can contract worm infections from cats by coming into direct contact with contaminated feces or soil.
Accidental ingestion of contaminated soil or feces can happen in humans as well, so good hygiene practices are vital for preventing transmission from cat to owner. However, attempting to treat your cat with over-the-counter remedies or natural remedies for worms in cats is never recommended.
While it may seem like a faster and cheaper alternative to visiting your veterinarian, there is NO guarantee that those products are safe or effective in treating any type of medical condition, and they could actually be harmful to your cat.
Your veterinarian may prescribe an oral or injectable dewormer that will kill the adult and larval worms in the intestine at the time of diagnosis. Your cat may require multiple doses to kill any larvae that may have hatched after the first dose was given.
Praziquantel is also available as a one-time injectable treatment for tapeworm infections, which works by paralyzing and dislodging the sucker of the worm from the intestinal wall, allowing the worms to be passed in the feces. Your veterinarian may also recommend starting your cat on a monthly topical or oral flea prevention, since tapeworm infections can recur if there are fleas in your home environment. Migration of larvae through the organs and tissues of the body as they make their way to the intestine could result in severe skin infections, blindness, convulsions, or pneumonia, depending on the path of larval migration.
Ongoing losses of blood and vital nutrients, which should be absorbed by the intestines, can result in progressive anemia, weight loss, dehydration, and death.
Worm infestations in cats and transmission to children and adults can be prevented through good hygiene practices and the year-round use of heartworm, intestinal worm, and parasite prevention. For indoor cats, cleaning the litter box on a daily basis, as well as changing out the litter and scrubbing the litter box on a regular basis is vital for minimizing exposure to contaminated feces. For outdoor cats, regularly scooping feces from the yard, sandbox, and flower beds will minimize the potential for propagation of the parasite life cycle.
Sign up to emails today. Need to register your pet with a veterinary practice or call a vet for emergency advice? Share this How to get rid of worms in pets. Kittens and roundworm Many kittens have roundworm because it's commonly passed on to them in their mother's milk.
Print How to get rid of worms in pets. Stay in touch.
0コメント