Questions About Dewormers!

ss9lr

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Hello! My newest kitty, Luna just had her first vet visit a little over three weeks ago on June 3. By that time I had had her for a week and I noticed a few tapeworm segments coming out of her anus. She received a dewormer at her vet visit and all seemed fine since then, until a couple of days ago when I noticed one regular segment and few of the smaller dried segments both on my bed and on her behind. She's also been battling quite a bit of fleas. I'd been combing her everyday, pulling out at least 20-30 every other day or so. I finally was able to give her capstar yesterday and it managed to get the last of them. I combed through and got out about 50, mostly dead. I also noticed a decent decline in flea dirt, probably mostly due to my daily combing.

My main question is how effective should the dewormer have been?

Would it completely kill the tapeworm and she'd just pass it in her feces? Or does it not completely eradicate the egg segments and therefore as long as she still has fleas, it'd be hard to fully break the lifecycle?

I'm hoping that if there's success with getting the last of the fleas (both on her and with the constant cleaning around the house), that could take care of it all. Or would another dewormer need to be given if I start seeing more and more segments?

Thanks for any help you all can give me!:)
 

maggiedemi

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How old is she? Is she old enough for a topical flea treatment like Frontline? If she has fleas, she will probably keep getting worms. Also, usually a de-wormer has to be repeated in 2 or 3 weeks to get the eggs that hatched. Ask your vet before doing this of course.
 
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ss9lr

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She's about 11weeks. She did receive Revolution at her vet appt, but I've decided to save money for all four cats, I'll start them on Advantage II instead when it's been a month from their last topical application. Her next vet visit is on the 26 so I'll be sure to mention it to the vet.
 

maggiedemi

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Yeah, mention to the vet that she might need another dose of de-wormer to kill the eggs that hatched.
 
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ss9lr

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Thanks so much for the help!:thumbsup:
 

Willowy

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Regular de-wormers don't kill tapeworms. You have to ask for that specially. And, yeah, all de-wormers have to be repeated in 3 weeks to kill the new ones that have hatched.
 

maggiedemi

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Oh good point, Revolution doesn't kill Tapeworms. I forgot about that because I've never used it. Ask your vet for something like Drontal that kills both Tapeworms and Roundworms.
 
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ss9lr

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Ahh I see. Looks like they have her Pyrantel Pamoate which I see is just for hookworm/roundworms. That appointment was a drop off because it was the only way they could fit her in and I did make sure to mention that I had seen tapeworm segments during the week, however, I did notice in her results that she did test negative for tapeworm which is strange. Luckily I'll be there at her next visit so I'll be sure to ask again about medication for tapeworms specifically. Thanks!
 
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