Kitten with tapeworms

snowkitten

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Hi everyone, so last Thursday I rescued an abandoned kitten from the street. I took him to the vet and he got flea treated and dewormed against roundworms, as well as given some nutritional gel. I am currently taking care of him and am still not sure if I will be keeping him.

Right now, he has tapeworms and it's been stressing me out a lot. He was supposed to get treated for them today but the vet did not want to give him the injection bc of his age (he's around 5 weeks). So they told me to wait another 2 weeks. He is being quarantined in my bathroom for now and I've been cleaning up any worms or eggs that I see. But to be honest, it is worrying me bc I have a 6yr old dog as well. And I don't really want to be doing that for another 2 weeks, I would like for him to be able to run around too. He's also small and I'm scared that the worms will not let allow him to gain weight and be healthy.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Should I take him to another vet for a second opinion? Or should I just wait it out? Would it not be cruel to leave him in the bathroom for another 2 weeks? Also, how do I go about cleaning? There doesn't seem to be much information on how to kill tapeworm eggs.

He is 5 weeks and weighs less than a pound.

Any advice is appreciated. Thank you
 

fionasmom

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Welcome to The Cat Site and thank you for rescuing this kitten. If you decide not to keep him, please do not do a "free to a good home" ad as it will attract people who may not be desireable owners. You have spent money on this kitten and should ask to be compensated which will discourage anyone who has bad intentions.

So this baby was flea treated and dewormed against tapeworms so far. I think that the vet is being cautious since the kitten has already has some treatments for parasites and also is conscious of his age which is only 5 weeks. Many cat and kitten preparations draw the line at 8 or 9 weeks, with 6 being the minimum. It is possible to overtax the immune system of very small kittens.

I have kept kittens in a bathroom for much longer than 2 weeks. In fact, 5 months is my record and I still have one of those cats who is now 16 and apparently suffered no problems because of it. If the room has what the kitten needs and is kept clean, he is probably fine. He is tiny and does not need the run of the house and should not have it really, tapeworms or not.

Keep the dog out of the bathroom and keep that room clean without using any cleaners that would be toxic to the cat. If there are towels or cat bedding, wash it and keep it as clean as possible. Wash your hands after handling the kitten. While they are a nuisance, they are not an infectious disease so you don't have any danger from that.

I personally think that your vet is correct in proceeding with caution.
 
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snowkitten

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Welcome to The Cat Site and thank you for rescuing this kitten. If you decide not to keep him, please do not do a "free to a good home" ad as it will attract people who may not be desireable owners. You have spent money on this kitten and should ask to be compensated which will discourage anyone who has bad intentions.

So this baby was flea treated and dewormed against tapeworms so far. I think that the vet is being cautious since the kitten has already has some treatments for parasites and also is conscious of his age which is only 5 weeks. Many cat and kitten preparations draw the line at 8 or 9 weeks, with 6 being the minimum. It is possible to overtax the immune system of very small kittens.

I have kept kittens in a bathroom for much longer than 2 weeks. In fact, 5 months is my record and I still have one of those cats who is now 16 and apparently suffered no problems because of it. If the room has what the kitten needs and is kept clean, he is probably fine. He is tiny and does not need the run of the house and should not have it really, tapeworms or not.

Keep the dog out of the bathroom and keep that room clean without using any cleaners that would be toxic to the cat. If there are towels or cat bedding, wash it and keep it as clean as possible. Wash your hands after handling the kitten. While they are a nuisance, they are not an infectious disease so you don't have any danger from that.

I personally think that your vet is correct in proceeding with caution.
Thank you so much for responding!
Yeah I don't want to give him away by posting him online. I'm looking for a home for him at the moment for when he is ready (I'm going to make sure he is a little bigger and healthy). However, I'm not sure how to go about it. I'm currently asking close friends and family who I think would be good owners. Any advice?

As for the tapeworms, I think I will wait it out bc as you said he is probably too small. I'm just worried that the worms aren't letting him get healthy. He is still a little underweight. How much do you recommend I feed him? At the moment he's eating 5 times a day (a can a day with some milk added in). Not sure if I should feed more seeing as he's tiny. Thank you.
 

fionasmom

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The Essentials Of Kitten Nutrition – TheCatSite Articles
This article might help with the feeding question. I think that you are probably okay but since tapeworms are going to be there for probably a couple more weeks, you might call the vet and ask if that changes the amount that the kitten needs. It should not amount to a visit or a charge for that information.

“kittens To Good Homes” – How To Find A Good Forever Home For Your Kittens – TheCatSite Articles
There are some tips here about finding a new home. If you can confine your search to people you know, at least in general, it will make some of the rehoming easier. You might add a question about their vet to the list to see if they have one or not? Also, it is not first come, first served. You might see if any local rescues could help you, even if you had to take the kitten to their adoption events. Many rescues, especially those with a non profit license have contracts that they make potential adopters sign.
 

BlackCatOp

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If you are only concerned about the kitten spreading tapeworms to your dog then don’t fear! Tapeworms must have an intermediate host (ie a flea or carrion) that the cat or dog eats to get the tapeworms. In other words, the egg sacks (rice looking things) are not infectious as is out of kitten.
 
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