Fleas and Tapeworms

[stephanietx]

For the first time since we've been caring for him, our outdoor community kitty has fleas. He's been so itchy and scratchy the past week to 10 days. I was thinking it was food related since we changed food about 3-4 weeks ago, but then I saw a flea crawling on him. I got topical flea meds from the vet today and also got a tapeworm pill. I applied the flea med earlier this evening (he thought I was killing him) and he's already more comfortable. When should I give him the tapeworm meds? I will call the vet tomorrow and ask, but just in case I don't hear back from them, I thought I would ask here.

 

[di and bob]

I saw that it depends what you want to give together. So I would definitely ask the vet. That being said, cats get tapeworm from ingesting fleas, so it is good the fleas will die first. Put the tapeworm pill in a tiny bit of cheese or pressed into half cooked bacon (I haev used a tiny piece of pill pocket to 'cement' them to bacon or other treats too) they usually gobble that up. You could cut it in two also. Salmon Pill pockets work well too, though I usually tear them in half. Maybe pressing pieces in a soft cat treat would work too.

 

[FeebysOwner]

When you call the vet, ask if it would be more appropriate to test his stool for worms first. I presume you cn collect some stool from outside - ideally soon after he goes - bag it and refrigerate it if you can't get it to the vet right away. Although, fairly common with fleas and tapeworms, it doesn't always happen, so why give this cat a wormer if it is not needed?.

 

[stephanietx]

When you call the vet, ask if it would be more appropriate to test his stool for worms first. I presume you cn collect some stool from outside - ideally soon after he goes - bag it and refrigerate it if you can't get it to the vet right away. Although, fairly common with fleas and tapeworms, it doesn't always happen, so why give this cat a wormer if it is not needed?.

My vet has stated previously that cats are not like dogs. Dogs will bite at fleas and not get them, but cats will get almost all of them, so she always recommends deworming for tapeworms if your kitty has fleas.

 

[FeebysOwner]

My vet has stated previously that cats are not like dogs. Dogs will bite at fleas and not get them, but cats will get almost all of them, so she always recommends deworming for tapeworms if your kitty has fleas.

Interesting. I guess my cat is just out of the norm then. We've been fighting fleas off and on for a few years now and - knock on wood - she has not had any tapeworms.

 

[fionasmom]

I guess that I am in the middle on this. My cat vet does not automatically deworm if a cat has fleas, but I have had a few occasions where various cats have had tapeworms and then had to be treated for them. This has always happened during flea season, even if the cats are treated. I have had exactly one dog out of 7 who ever had tapeworms.

 

[RTR]

Revoluion, a topical should take care of a multitude of problems!

 

[stephanietx]

Revoluion, a topical should take care of a multitude of problems!

We don't use Revolution because of the many negative side effects it has. I have one kitty who's had a very severe reaction to it.