WORMS! Help :(

[danielle07]

Hi!! I’ve mentioned in some previous posts that last month we adopted a kitten (5mo) named Fish! We got him to be a playmate and buddy for our older Siberian cat (5yo) Percy. Right before we got Fish, the foster mom informed us he had some new upset tummy diarrhea. She promptly took him to the vet, where they ran tests on him. His fecal test came back negative and they told me he just had a sensitive stomach and I would need to feed him prescription GI food. I’ve had him on the special diet and his poops were NOT getting much better and he was still so gassy. I made an appointment with my primary vet for this Saturday (3/25). I called with the rescue vet multiple times about his tummy but was never really given helpful info and was told over and over that his fecal test came back negative

last week Percy started not eating as much food. He isn’t really rejecting food but he’s been eating very little. Other than this drastic change in appetite, he’s been acting normal. Him and Fish are still running around playing, he isn’t avoiding us and isn’t showing signs of feeling lethargic or weak, just acting not hungry. I felt a gut feeling that something was wrong…the moment fish used the litter box this pat Saturday, I shooed him out and immediately saw a white wiggly worm!! I was DISGUSTED but felt a little relief that I finally had an answer to his tummy issues and knew my gut was warning me! I sent the video of the worm to Fish’s rescue vet… and the only thing they told me was that it looked like a tapeworm and would call me on Monday when the vet was in (my primary vet was closed by this time)

I have never had a cat with worms, and now I’m very worried about Percy. I called his vet today and moved the appointment up from Saturday to Thursday (I am a nurse and work at the hospital the next 3 days sadly). They informed me that as long as he’s not acting weak or excessively lethargic I should be okay to wait. I feel so guilty and so bad for my babies, and now I’m really freaked out by Percy’s significant decrease in appetite. Looking for advice and if anyone has seen a decrease in cats appetite from worms possibly. Thank you!

 

[Shawna87]

Both my cat and my sisters cat got worms. My cat is obsessed with food so she never has a decrease in appetite. Do you know what type of worms they are? I think the most common is tape worms. You can do a google search to find out which kind. If they are tape worms I gave my cat the medicine pictures below and they were gone within 24 hours. My sister did the same and worked too. I never had issues with them after that. I gave her a second dose a couple weeks after to make sure they didn’t come back.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Or, if you are not sure what type of worms, there are broad spectrum wormers such as Drontal or Panacur. Some worms can cause digestive tract upset which could be impacting your cat's appetite.

Maybe you could ask your vet if you need to wait for the appt. before using a worming product. A fecal sample that you could drop by the vet's office on your way to work might be an option as most vets will test a sample without actually seeing the cat first.

 

[silent meowlook]

Tapeworms look like moving long grain white rice. They come from fleas. They don’t do much. They don’t cause GI signs that I know of.

 

[Spookyandsammy]

What if their just the size of grains of rice their not moving

 

[stephanietx]

Those could be the casings from the tapeworms.

 

[Caspers Human]

Roundworms, probably. They look like little pieces of spaghetti.

Could be tapeworms, as well. It's hard to tell without seeing it.

In either case, the vet will give your cat some medicine, usually a pill, at the clinic and, sometimes, they give you one or two more to take home for later.

Worms are gross but aren't life threatening in most cases. The medicine usually kills the worms in one or two doses. Once it's done there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Everything should be back to normal in less than a week.

 

[Spookyandsammy]

He’s also loosing weight and not. Eating much could that be from them

 

[fionasmom]

In my experience, grains of rice sized worms have always been tapeworms, but that is certainly not conclusive. As was stated, take your cat to the vet and have the worms taken care of. You can discuss the symptoms you are seeing, such as a loss of appetite and determine if it is from worms or something else. Worms can make a cat lose their appetite, but tapeworms might increase it.

Internal Parasites in Cats | VCA Animal Hospital | VCA Animal Hospitals

 

[Spookyandsammy]

He has cancer he has a week to live

 

[fionasmom]

He has cancer he has a week to live

I am so sorry

 

[Spookyandsammy]

I am so sorry

He’s passed away

 

[fionasmom]

I am very sorry for your loss of Scotty.