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I live with my grandparents right now and they have 4 dogs and I have 2 cats, but as soon as I saw the worms and the fleas I immediately went out and got some flea medicine. I have this goat dewormer that is safe to use with dogs and cats, at the right dosage of course, so i weighed all the dogs and my other cat so that I could give them the right dosage and they get that for 3 days. But my other cat, Duracell, she got fixed when she was 6 months old and I've had her about 4 years now. But I have never had to give her any flea or earmite medicine because she never got them. But as a safety precaution I have started her on flea and dewormer right now. I have cleaned almost the whole house now and so I should be good to go once Cinnamon is well again.Glad to know that Kitty is doing better!
Tapeworms do explain some or all of the symptoms that you described so I think your vet's diagnosis is on the mark.
(Not saying that your vet was wrong. Just the opposite... what your vet said lines up with observed facts. More like saying, "Aha! That's it!")
Making sure that your cat gets the medicine she needs is important, right now. I'm sure you know that. Just being supportive, here.
One thing to note... Tapeworms are transmissible from pet to pet AND from pets to humans.
Since you have one or more dogs and... I don't know... do you still have other cats? You need to be on guard against other animals getting tapeworms, too.
Tapeworms can be transmitted by eating an infected animal like a mouse or a rabbit. They can be transmitted from fleas and, rarely, through fecal contact. These are the things you should be on the lookout for.
It's possible that your cat caught a mouse or something and got worms when she ate it. She was an outdoor cat and it's reasonable to think that is how she got them.
Fleas can also be an intermediate host (carrier) of tapeworms. If an animal has worms and a flea bites the animal, the fleas can carry the tapeworm eggs to another animal. What can happen is that one animal gets worms, passes it (through fleas) to another then, even if the first animal gets cured, the first one can get worms again because of the second.
This exact scenario happened when I was a kid. My father used to breed hunting dogs. One of the dogs got worms and Dad got the dog de-wormed from the vet. Then, other dogs started getting worms. Dad got them cured but not before the first one got them again.
Dad had to call the vet to come out and de-worm ALL FIVE of the dogs at the same time.
(This was back in the days when vets an doctors still made house calls. Besides, how the heck is somebody supposed to pack up that many dogs and take them all to the vet? )
Finally, worms can come out in the animal's feces and, if another animal or person comes into contact, they can get infected, too.
Here's what I think you need to do in order to get rid of tapeworms, once and for all...
First, clean out the litter box, really well. Throw away all used litter and clean up any spilled litter. Use hot water and Clorox bleach to disinfect the litter box and the surrounding area. Make sure you do a good job of this and if your cat or other animals made a mess in the house, clean and disinfect those areas, too. Tapeworm eggs are small... they can be smaller than a grain of sand or as large as a grain of rice. You might not see them but they can still be there and they can reinfect an animal without even knowing it.
Second, get all your animals de-flea-ed. Use flea shampoo if you can. Use flea medicine if you can get it. Clean the heck out of your carpets, upholstery and bedding where animals stay.
Finally, get all your animals de-wormed, even if you don't think they have worms because they might have them without knowing. The eggs take time to hatch and grow. You can probably use OTC de-worm treatments from the pet store, etc. but I would still just call the vet to touch base. De-worm, again, two weeks later. Like I said, worm eggs can be latent for a time after getting infected.
I don't want to be an alarmist but, in your case, where you already lost one pet, I think it's wise to "double down" on prevention.
I'm happy to know that Cinnamon is feeling better and that her problem wasn't anything serious.
Thoughts and prayers be with you! Sending good vibes!