Mary Allen
Annoying parasites make life difficult for your house cat? This is how you recognize worms in cats and remove the uninvited guests quickly and gently.
Ticks and fleas don’t play cat and mouse with us for long. Since they cavort on the body surface of our darlings, an infestation quickly catches the eye. The situation is different with their colleagues from the realm of worms: it is often difficult or impossible to identify a worm infestation – it takes place (similar to giardia) in the innards of our pets. Here you can find out how to recognize an infection with worms in cats and how to remedy it.
Worms in cats: what are they?
The most annoying parasites for our house tigers are roundworms and tapeworms. In the event of an infestation, these differ significantly from one another in one respect.
Roundworms
Roundworms in cats have perfectly adapted creeps. In the course of evolution, they have adapted perfectly to the way of life of our furry friends and do not need an intermediate host to reproduce in the event of an infestation. The sexually mature animal releases fertilized eggs into the cat’s intestines. Larvae hatch from these and then mature in the bloodstream and in various organs. By coughing up, they get back into the digestive tract via the esophagus.
However, in the event of a worm infestation, many of these eggs are excreted via the intestines and end up on a so-called transport host. This “transitional host” transports the worm eggs and later the worm larvae until it is picked up again by another velvet paw while eating or playing. Such transport hosts include – how could it be otherwise – the cat’s prey: birds, mice, or squirrels.
All nematode species in cats are between one and ten centimeters long when fully grown, so they are easy to spot with the naked eye, but only when they leave the cat’s intestines and are in the cat’s feces or on the cat’s anus.
Among the roundworms, roundworms are the most common in cats. These live in the small intestine of the animal and rarely cause symptoms in the event of a worm infestation. The much smaller hookworms also live in the small intestines of our house tigers. The stomach worm nests in the gastric mucosa and the gastric glands. The lungworm inhabits the small bronchi and alveoli of our furry friends. Hairworms are rather rare but can affect all organs such as the heart, liver, kidneys or bladder.
Tapeworms
Unlike threadworms, tapeworms need an intermediate host to spread. Their body is very long and consists of numerous limbs. The end segments of hermaphrodites are full of immature eggs that our cats excrete with their feces. These develop into larvae in the bodies of the intermediate hosts – these are usually rodents. These develop into so-called fins, which another cat picks up by eating the intermediate hosts.
Thus the worm’s reproductive cycle begins anew. The most common tapeworms found in cats are thick-necked tapeworm and cucumber seed tapeworm. The fox tapeworm is much rarer, but since it causes severe organ damage in humans as an intermediate host, it is of great interest to health authorities.
In some European countries (UK, Norway, Finland) pets without confirmed deworming against the fox tapeworm (Echinococcus) are not allowed to enter the country or are subject to forced treatment and quarantined for one day.
Why do cats get worms? How are cats infected?
Infection with a worm infestation can occur in four ways:
- So-called transport hosts such as rats, mice, or hedgehogs are infected with larvae and are eaten by cats.
- The larvae of the worms travel via the blood into the mammary glands of a mother cat and are ingested by the kittens with their mother’s milk.
- The cat picks up either the eggs or the larvae of the worms from the ground (earth, sand, dirt) in direct contact.
- In the case of hookworms, subcutaneous (through the skin) penetration of the worm into the cat can very rarely be the cause of an infestation.
Can you prevent worms in cats?
no The four routes of infection described above cannot be avoided in a normal, healthy house cat. It’s natural for cats to hunt mice, dig in sandboxes, or drink mother’s milk as a kitten. In principle, you can assume that the probability of infection decreases the less often your cat has the opportunity to behave in this way.
Can an indoor cat get worms?
Because an indoor cat rarely gets the chance to scratch outdoors or hunt for prey, it is less likely to be afflicted and attacked by the annoying parasites than its free-ranging conspecifics. But that is by no means a guarantee for a worm-free life.
Indoor cats can also come into contact with your shoes, which may be contaminated with eggs or larvae. Are your children’s sand toys lying around in the apartment or can mice get onto your balcony? Then you can be sure that your indoor cat can also pick up one or the other worm or worm eggs.
Can kittens get worms?
Normally every kitten is suckled. Unfortunately, the larvae of certain roundworm species have the bad habit of maturing in the mammary glands of the adult animal. This is how they find their way to their definitive host, the kitten. They stay there as mature worms until you finish them off with a dewormer.
How dangerous are worms in cats?
According to the vet, the parasites do not harm an adult, healthy cat if the number of worms is kept within limits. But why you should still fight them is not only the health benefits but also the hygienic benefits for humans and animals.
Only in old cats and kittens without a fully developed immune system are moderate to severe disease courses possible in the event of a worm infestation.
Symptoms: Signs that the cat has worms
The following symptoms show you that your cat may be plagued by annoying parasites:
- itching
The cat feels itchy: You can tell by the fact that it is “sledding”. She slides along the floor with her buttocks and is obviously trying to scratch herself. - weight loss
The cat becomes emaciated with a worm infestation for no apparent reason. This symptom is easy to explain: a large number of worms or a meter-long tapeworm need a large number of nutrients. The parasites eat away at the cat’s food, so to speak. - vomiting and diarrhea
The cat vomits frequently and suffers from diarrhea. Don’t be afraid to examine the vomit or feces closely. Attentive cat owners will discover a certain number of worms in the vomit or in the feces if there is a heavy worm infestation. - Bloated stomach
The cat suffers from bloating, which is a sign of a serious infestation. Now a quick reaction is important. Sometimes the worms pierce the small intestinal wall of our furry friends, which can lead to peritonitis or an intestinal blockage in the cat.
According to the veterinarian, the symptoms described occur with varying frequency and intensity, so they are not a very reliable indicator of worm infestation in cats.
What to do if the cat has worms
According to the vet, regular deworming is also recommended for cats that have no symptoms to worry about. If your cat has been shown to be infested with worms and is showing symptoms, you will need to deworm them. You can do this in the form of pills or pastes, which you can get from the vet, but also by means of tinctures (spot-on) on the coat.
Deworming not only serves the health of the house cat but also that of your family. As fluffy family members, velvet paws are hugged and kissed by children in particular – this is how eggs or larvae can be transmitted to humans quickly through direct contact with cats. Playing outside and gardening, where the cat is and doing its business, i.e. defecation, increases this probability. Only regular deworming can prevent this and worms in cats to some extent.
When are the worms gone after a dewormer?
According to the veterinarian, after 24 hours you can assume that there are no more eggs, larvae or finished worms in your fur ball’s digestive tract. If there are symptoms of roundworms, for example, these will also subside quickly and your kitty’s digestive tract can recover.
Worms in cats: how long does a wormer last?
Deworming cats is not a preventative measure and is not comparable to vaccination. It only kills the finished parasites and their precursors (egg, larval stages). This means that the kitty can take in worm eggs again on the first day after the treatment, from which roundworms, for example, can develop.
At first glance, this seems to make deworming a rather pointless exercise in the fight against worms in cats. But that’s not the case: It takes time for a new infection to develop and develop worms, which then settle in the cat’s intestines. During this time, the cat’s body can recover well.
How often should you deworm your cat?
According to the vet, indoor cats should be dewormed twice a year, even if they don’t show any symptoms. Deworming four times a year is appropriate for outdoor cats. Deworming is usually well tolerated. However, if you never want to administer medication to your darling on the off chance, you can take stool samples and have them checked for worms to be on the safe side. Test kits are available online and at well-stocked pet stores. Let your vet advise you!
Are cat worms contagious to humans?
Almost every type of worm is specialized in one species. The fox tapeworm, for example, has adapted to the intermediate host mouse and the main host fox. Complications arise when humans happen to get in the way of this development cycle as intermediate hosts. The larvae of the fox tapeworm penetrate through the blood into the lungs and liver of humans to mature, which leads to serious diseases.
The same applies to the worms adapted to our cats. If there is a shortage of hosts, they are happy to accept a transport host or substitute intermediate host such as humans. Therefore, caution is advised, especially with children. Please do not confuse this with exaggerated hygiene – you are more likely to damage the relationship between humans and animals.
Worms in Cats: Can They Be Transmitted to Dogs?
According to the veterinarian, because the different types of worms have adapted precisely to their hosts, transmission from dogs to cats and vice versa is rare and less successful for the parasites. However, this cannot be completely ruled out.
For this reason, always treat all animals living in your household on the same day! If you don’t do this, you always have an animal – whether it’s a dog or cat – that can infect the others again.