Tapeworm Outbreak!

[Crazy8catlady]

It's happened again. Everyone has a serious case of tapeworm. I have dosed EVERYONE with diatomacious earth. Do any of you have a sure fire way to fight this battle that doesn't involve expensive deworming juice? Diatomacious earth works but it takes time to go through their digestive track. I'm open to suggestions.

 

[lacy2000]

That’s interesting about the diatomaceous earth...how much do you give them?

 

[Sandy Beach]

Drontal tablets are very effective for tapeworms and pretty inexpensive for cats. I think I paid $3 or $4 a pill from my vet, one per cat. Some people redose in 2 weeks.

 

[Crazy8catlady]

That’s interesting about the diatomaceous earth...how much do you give them?

I give them a table spoon each in wet food. the dog gets about 4 tablespoons.. but for the moment shes immune to the outbreak. It dissolves in their food and once it hits their digestive system It shreds the worms but its safe on the digestive system.

 

[Willowy]

Cats get tapeworms from fleas. Make sure you have a good flea control protocol.

I'm not sure if DE works for tapeworms. You can get OTC tapeworm pills at just about any pet supply place (they're just as good as the prescription pills), or praziquantel sold for fish if the cat pills are too expensive.

 

[lutece]

For tapeworms, praziquantel is very effective and safe. You can buy praziquantel fairly cheaply online or at a pet supply store without a prescription. But if everyone is getting tapeworms, you probably have fleas, too. Fleas are the intermediate host for the tapeworm and if you don't eradicate the fleas, everyone will just get reinfected with worms again. So, it's important to treat for fleas at the same time.

 

[Wile]

I've always found dewormers from the vets work best and are usually inexpensive. From what I have read, diatomaceous earth is not an effective dewormer for internal parasites like tapeworms. Most of the studies on DE are in other species - goats, horses, sheep, etc. This site lists some sources you can pursue if you are interested: Diatomaceous Earth Natural Wormer Clinical Studies

 

[Crazy8catlady]

yeah we have quite the flea issue. we have a dog.. she taxi's them in. The DE has worked on 5 out of the 8. I think Ill get the OTC stuff for the other 3.

 

[Crazy8catlady]

the DE worked... a little too well... I just found a MASS of tapeworm. I swear if it was stretched out it would reach 4 ft. I woke my mother up to verify what it was. I have only seen bits of worm never the full worm. OMG it was.. for a lack of better words other than gross... it was INCREDIBLE!!! we got the super dewormer just in case there was more of.. anything. DE for the WIN lol

 

[Willowy]

Ew! Gross!

Well, glad it's working anyway .

 

[jen]

If they aren't on flea prevention this is going to just continuously keep happening. It is easy to add something along at least for the dog in along with his monthly heartworm prevention. There might even be one that does fleas and heartworm prevention for the dog, Revolution perhaps or maybe something else is on the market now, its been awhile since I worked at a vet clinic.

 

[Crazy8catlady]

the revolution is AMAZING. but expensive. Im trying to find the website where you can order them from canada. Does anyone know that site?? if I had one cat it would be super simple... but with 8 it gets to be around the price of a mortgage payment real quick.

 

[Willowy]

I don't think Canada can sell it without a prescription. You want Australia or New Zealand. I used to know of a site but I lost the link. . .maybe try googling "Australian pet supply" and compare the prices.

 

[stephanietx]

The best way to prevent tapeworms is to control fleas. You will need to treat for fleas in your home and yard before truly eliminating tapeworms. Tapeworms are not treated by Revolution and similar products. You have to use a different dewormer for tapes.

 

[jen]

the revolution is AMAZING. but expensive. Im trying to find the website where you can order them from canada. Does anyone know that site?? if I had one cat it would be super simple... but with 8 it gets to be around the price of a mortgage payment real quick.

I am thinking there is something else that does flea and heartworm combo for your dog. But I am drawing a blank. What do you use for heartworm prevention currently? For cats you can use XL dog frontline plus and I was told Revolution too and dose it down for your cats but someone would have to chime in with the amounts because I don't have that info handy. I used to do this with Frontline Plus and I could treat like 9 cats and have left over lol.

 

[Crazy8catlady]

we use frontline. I will look into austrailia.

 

[sabrinah]

Trifexis prevents both fleas and heartworms. I gave it a shot but it was absolutely useless in my area. The flea outbreak was terrible. Perhaps it would work in your area if the fleas aren't resistant to it. I use Comfortis on my dog and have never had a flea problem since switching to it.

 

[jen]

we use frontline. I will look into austrailia.

That only does fleas, you might be able to find a combo flea and heartworm prevention which is why I was asking what heartworm prevention you use. Seeing as you live in Florida I would hope heartworm prevention is used.