Hi, my cat (7) had tapeworms recently. He was a stray that I took in and took to the vet. He was given many different dewormers but tapeworms showed up 3 weeks later. He had blood in every bowel movement and it was concerning. I gave him tapeworm dewormer a week ago and he has been passing dead worms but that has tapered off at this point to where he isn’t passing any. The bleeding has gotten better but hasn’t stopped. At this point it’s a drip after some bowel movements but not all of them. Is this normal? Is this something that will taper off over time?
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Tapeworms
- Thread starter MQV90
- Start Date
It sounds, to me, like you might be experiencing re-infestations. In other words, your cat gets worms, you de-worm and the cat is okay but, later, gets infested again.
Fleas are the main vector for tapeworms in cats. Fleas often have tapeworm larvae growing inside them. When a flea bites the cat, the cat itches the fleabite by chewing on it and swallows the flea. The dead flea goes inside your cat's digestive system where the tapeworm larvae grow and infest the cat.
What might be happening is that, when your cat gets worms, you give medicine to kill the worms but there are still fleas in the cat's environment. A while later, the fleas go onto the cat and the process starts all over.
The way to get rid of the worms, once and for all, would be to get rid of the fleas.
Clean, clean clean! Get rid of all the fleas! Vacuum all the carpets. Vacuum all upholstery and cat bedding. Vacuum your beds if you allow the cat to sleep with you. Vacuum the hell out of everything and everywhere you can think to vacuum! De-flea the cat. Use "Frontline" or similar products if your cat isn't sensitive/allergic to those kinds of medicine. (Some cats can get sick from using Frontline. Talk to your vet before using such products.) If your cat has a lot of fleas, a flea bath might be necessary. Also, flea spray or "bug bombs" might be necessary if the flea infestation is bad.
Also clean the hell out of the cat's litter box. Dump and replace all the litter. Clean the hell out of the box using soap and water, followed by a solution of Clorox bleach and hot water. (1 cup of bleach to a gallon of hot water.) Clean the area surrounding the cat box using the same method. In fact, while you're at it, you might as well clean all the washable, hard surfaces in your house using the same method of soap, hot water and bleach... Kitchen floors, bathrooms, the area where the cat's food dishes are and any other places you can think of.
Washable fabrics can be cleaned in the clothes washer if it is safe to do so. Use bleach if the fabrics are bleachable. They make liquid disinfectants for non-bleachable fabrics if you want. Otherwise, wash twice in the hottest water the fabrics will withstand. Once you have washed all your washable fabrics, it's a good idea to run your washing machine, empty, with nothing but hot water just to make sure there's nothing left behind that can affect the next load of laundry.
Keep your cat indoors if you can. Cats that go outside get fleas more often. They can get ticks and other nasties, too! If your cat hunts outdoors, it can get fleas or worms from the things it kills. If a mouse, squirrel or rabbit has fleas and your cat kills one of those critters, it'll end up swallowing more fleas and the worm infestation process starts all over, again.
Tapeworms are usually easy to get rid of. One or two doses of (vet provided) medicine usually gets rid of worms within a week or so. If you are de-worming the cat and it poops out dead worms, you're obviously killing them off. If the worms don't seem to go away after that, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the cat is getting infested with worms again and again.
The way to stop re-infestation is to get rid of the reason for the infestations in the first place... Get rid of fleas!
Fleas are the main vector for tapeworms in cats. Fleas often have tapeworm larvae growing inside them. When a flea bites the cat, the cat itches the fleabite by chewing on it and swallows the flea. The dead flea goes inside your cat's digestive system where the tapeworm larvae grow and infest the cat.
What might be happening is that, when your cat gets worms, you give medicine to kill the worms but there are still fleas in the cat's environment. A while later, the fleas go onto the cat and the process starts all over.
The way to get rid of the worms, once and for all, would be to get rid of the fleas.
Clean, clean clean! Get rid of all the fleas! Vacuum all the carpets. Vacuum all upholstery and cat bedding. Vacuum your beds if you allow the cat to sleep with you. Vacuum the hell out of everything and everywhere you can think to vacuum! De-flea the cat. Use "Frontline" or similar products if your cat isn't sensitive/allergic to those kinds of medicine. (Some cats can get sick from using Frontline. Talk to your vet before using such products.) If your cat has a lot of fleas, a flea bath might be necessary. Also, flea spray or "bug bombs" might be necessary if the flea infestation is bad.
Also clean the hell out of the cat's litter box. Dump and replace all the litter. Clean the hell out of the box using soap and water, followed by a solution of Clorox bleach and hot water. (1 cup of bleach to a gallon of hot water.) Clean the area surrounding the cat box using the same method. In fact, while you're at it, you might as well clean all the washable, hard surfaces in your house using the same method of soap, hot water and bleach... Kitchen floors, bathrooms, the area where the cat's food dishes are and any other places you can think of.
Washable fabrics can be cleaned in the clothes washer if it is safe to do so. Use bleach if the fabrics are bleachable. They make liquid disinfectants for non-bleachable fabrics if you want. Otherwise, wash twice in the hottest water the fabrics will withstand. Once you have washed all your washable fabrics, it's a good idea to run your washing machine, empty, with nothing but hot water just to make sure there's nothing left behind that can affect the next load of laundry.
Keep your cat indoors if you can. Cats that go outside get fleas more often. They can get ticks and other nasties, too! If your cat hunts outdoors, it can get fleas or worms from the things it kills. If a mouse, squirrel or rabbit has fleas and your cat kills one of those critters, it'll end up swallowing more fleas and the worm infestation process starts all over, again.
Tapeworms are usually easy to get rid of. One or two doses of (vet provided) medicine usually gets rid of worms within a week or so. If you are de-worming the cat and it poops out dead worms, you're obviously killing them off. If the worms don't seem to go away after that, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the cat is getting infested with worms again and again.
The way to stop re-infestation is to get rid of the reason for the infestations in the first place... Get rid of fleas!
The bleeding is not normal. I have an indoor/outdoor cat who hunts and picks up fleas/ticks, and as a result has had tapeworms several times (I saw the living worms drop off of him). Profender always cleared them up. However, he has never left blood in the litter box. I suspect that the bleeding you are seeing is caused by something else. If the blood is red (as opposed to black), then presumably it is from lower down in the digestive tract. The cause could be something like extreme constipation. In any case, I think that a visit to the vet is in order. Save some of his bloody stool and take it with you if you can.
Bug bombs are dangerous for cats. Most of them use pyrethroid insecticides, which are extremely toxic to cats, and leave an insecticidal residue throughout the "bombed" rooms. A topical flea treatment marketed specifically for cats (NEVER use a flea treatment marketed for dogs on a cat, because they frequently contain pyrethroid insecticides) should deal with fleas, even if it has to be repeated once a month for a few months.It sounds, to me, like you might be experiencing re-infestations. In other words, your cat gets worms, you de-worm and the cat is okay but, later, gets infested again.
Fleas are the main vector for tapeworms in cats. Fleas often have tapeworm larvae growing inside them. When a flea bites the cat, the cat itches the fleabite by chewing on it and swallows the flea. The dead flea goes inside your cat's digestive system where the tapeworm larvae grow and infest the cat.
What might be happening is that, when your cat gets worms, you give medicine to kill the worms but there are still fleas in the cat's environment. A while later, the fleas go onto the cat and the process starts all over.
The way to get rid of the worms, once and for all, would be to get rid of the fleas.
Clean, clean clean! Get rid of all the fleas! Vacuum all the carpets. Vacuum all upholstery and cat bedding. Vacuum your beds if you allow the cat to sleep with you. Vacuum the hell out of everything and everywhere you can think to vacuum! De-flea the cat. Use "Frontline" or similar products if your cat isn't sensitive/allergic to those kinds of medicine. (Some cats can get sick from using Frontline. Talk to your vet before using such products.) If your cat has a lot of fleas, a flea bath might be necessary. Also, flea spray or "bug bombs" might be necessary if the flea infestation is bad.
Also clean the hell out of the cat's litter box. Dump and replace all the litter. Clean the hell out of the box using soap and water, followed by a solution of Clorox bleach and hot water. (1 cup of bleach to a gallon of hot water.) Clean the area surrounding the cat box using the same method. In fact, while you're at it, you might as well clean all the washable, hard surfaces in your house using the same method of soap, hot water and bleach... Kitchen floors, bathrooms, the area where the cat's food dishes are and any other places you can think of.
Washable fabrics can be cleaned in the clothes washer if it is safe to do so. Use bleach if the fabrics are bleachable. They make liquid disinfectants for non-bleachable fabrics if you want. Otherwise, wash twice in the hottest water the fabrics will withstand. Once you have washed all your washable fabrics, it's a good idea to run your washing machine, empty, with nothing but hot water just to make sure there's nothing left behind that can affect the next load of laundry.
Keep your cat indoors if you can. Cats that go outside get fleas more often. They can get ticks and other nasties, too! If your cat hunts outdoors, it can get fleas or worms from the things it kills. If a mouse, squirrel or rabbit has fleas and your cat kills one of those critters, it'll end up swallowing more fleas and the worm infestation process starts all over, again.
Tapeworms are usually easy to get rid of. One or two doses of (vet provided) medicine usually gets rid of worms within a week or so. If you are de-worming the cat and it poops out dead worms, you're obviously killing them off. If the worms don't seem to go away after that, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the cat is getting infested with worms again and again.
The way to stop re-infestation is to get rid of the reason for the infestations in the first place... Get rid of fleas!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
That makes sense but he’s had profender and revolution plus twice in this past month.It sounds, to me, like you might be experiencing re-infestations. In other words, your cat gets worms, you de-worm and the cat is okay but, later, gets infested again.
Fleas are the main vector for tapeworms in cats. Fleas often have tapeworm larvae growing inside them. When a flea bites the cat, the cat itches the fleabite by chewing on it and swallows the flea. The dead flea goes inside your cat's digestive system where the tapeworm larvae grow and infest the cat.
What might be happening is that, when your cat gets worms, you give medicine to kill the worms but there are still fleas in the cat's environment. A while later, the fleas go onto the cat and the process starts all over.
The way to get rid of the worms, once and for all, would be to get rid of the fleas.
Clean, clean clean! Get rid of all the fleas! Vacuum all the carpets. Vacuum all upholstery and cat bedding. Vacuum your beds if you allow the cat to sleep with you. Vacuum the hell out of everything and everywhere you can think to vacuum! De-flea the cat. Use "Frontline" or similar products if your cat isn't sensitive/allergic to those kinds of medicine. (Some cats can get sick from using Frontline. Talk to your vet before using such products.) If your cat has a lot of fleas, a flea bath might be necessary. Also, flea spray or "bug bombs" might be necessary if the flea infestation is bad.
Also clean the hell out of the cat's litter box. Dump and replace all the litter. Clean the hell out of the box using soap and water, followed by a solution of Clorox bleach and hot water. (1 cup of bleach to a gallon of hot water.) Clean the area surrounding the cat box using the same method. In fact, while you're at it, you might as well clean all the washable, hard surfaces in your house using the same method of soap, hot water and bleach... Kitchen floors, bathrooms, the area where the cat's food dishes are and any other places you can think of.
Washable fabrics can be cleaned in the clothes washer if it is safe to do so. Use bleach if the fabrics are bleachable. They make liquid disinfectants for non-bleachable fabrics if you want. Otherwise, wash twice in the hottest water the fabrics will withstand. Once you have washed all your washable fabrics, it's a good idea to run your washing machine, empty, with nothing but hot water just to make sure there's nothing left behind that can affect the next load of laundry.
Keep your cat indoors if you can. Cats that go outside get fleas more often. They can get ticks and other nasties, too! If your cat hunts outdoors, it can get fleas or worms from the things it kills. If a mouse, squirrel or rabbit has fleas and your cat kills one of those critters, it'll end up swallowing more fleas and the worm infestation process starts all over, again.
Tapeworms are usually easy to get rid of. One or two doses of (vet provided) medicine usually gets rid of worms within a week or so. If you are de-worming the cat and it poops out dead worms, you're obviously killing them off. If the worms don't seem to go away after that, the only reasonable explanation I can think of is that the cat is getting infested with worms again and again.
The way to stop re-infestation is to get rid of the reason for the infestations in the first place... Get rid of fleas!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
His poop is actually soft and he goes 2x a day. I don’t think he’s constipated. He doesn’t have diarrhea either. I’m just going to have to take him to the vet.
Using a bug bomb would be a last resort. I thought that would be clear without need of explaining.
Yes, bug bombs often use pyrethroids. Yes, pyrethroids can make cats sick.
No, don't use pyrethroids when cats are around. If you think you need to use a bug bomb, take all cats out of the area while treatment is in progress and keep them out until you can't smell the insecticide, anymore. Usually, 24-48 hours.
Yes, bug bombs often use pyrethroids. Yes, pyrethroids can make cats sick.
No, don't use pyrethroids when cats are around. If you think you need to use a bug bomb, take all cats out of the area while treatment is in progress and keep them out until you can't smell the insecticide, anymore. Usually, 24-48 hours.
BTW: I'm sorry, I don't think I read your first post correctly.
You say that your cat HAD worms even though it took you a couple of tries to get rid of them all? Correct?
Now, you say that even though you THINK the worms are gone, the cat still has blood in its stool? Right?
Yes, I agree with the others. Of course, be sure that the source of the worm infestation has been taken care of but, once you have, if all the worms are gone but the bleeding doesn't stop, there might be another problem that needs a vet's attention.
You say that your cat HAD worms even though it took you a couple of tries to get rid of them all? Correct?
Now, you say that even though you THINK the worms are gone, the cat still has blood in its stool? Right?
Yes, I agree with the others. Of course, be sure that the source of the worm infestation has been taken care of but, once you have, if all the worms are gone but the bleeding doesn't stop, there might be another problem that needs a vet's attention.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #9
yes it seems to me that the worms are gone. He has blood in his stool with the tapeworms but now that he’s been treated he has way less blood that before but there’s still blood.
Yup! Time to call the vet! 
At minimum, talk to them by phone to get their opinion. If the vet thinks it's worth an examination, take him in.
At minimum, talk to them by phone to get their opinion. If the vet thinks it's worth an examination, take him in.
The problem is that the insecticide spread by a bug bomb settles onto every surface in the house. This is why the labels all say to cover up the dishes in your cupboards, etc, before setting off the bug bomb. There really is no safe way to use bug bombs in a house with cats unless you go line by line through the ingredients and independently verify that they are relatively safe to use around cats. I do not think that I could ever reach that level of confidence myself.
I have a cat who once lived with me in a rental house in which pyrethroid insecticides had been sprayed (contrary to the landlord's promise to me) on an attached screened porch where my cat spent many hours each day. They were sprayed only on the porch, and the spraying was done a couple weeks before my cat and I moved in. Nonetheless, my cat had persistent neurological symptoms -- twitching, scratching, rippling of the muscles along her back, and even trying to bite her own tail -- for the entire length of our stay. I did not initially attribute these symptoms to insecticide residue, but I did note that every insect and spider who entered the screened porch died within hours. Almost immediately upon moving out of that house, my cat's neurological symptoms vanished (I did not treat them with medication; they disappeared on their own).
I am not trying to be argumentative. I would simply like to spare other cats, and their human companions, that unpleasant experience. Cats have the endearing trait of bathing themselves with their tongues, which keeps them clean, but also means that they end up ingesting every toxin in their environment. Pyrethroid insecticides compound the problem by being both very common and extremely toxic to cats.
