Treating tapeworms in Kitty?

[Bleenie]

I discovered recently that my newly adopted "barn cat" (now a house cat) has what I have identified to be Tapeworms. I was wondering if anyone here knew of any treatments for them, to get rid of them? I know I can buy wormer from my vet, just can't remember if it's liquid or a pill but I will call tomorrow just to check. I just wanted to see if there were any other ways to get rid of them first.
Thanks everyone.

 

[love-my-wolves]

Afraid not, medication is the only way to go. Typically, vets will give you pills, and with cats, well, you know how that goes....

Ask specifically for the liquid, if they carry it. Farm stores sometimes sell over the counter meds, but their effectiveness is spotty. I worked for a vet for 5 years, and one thing I hated was that the med for tapeworms is considered a prescription at most vets, and requires #1 an exam and #2 a test (that most times doesn't show tapes anyways). Tapeworms come from eating either infected food/feces, passed from mother to kittens or fleas. Flea medicine is not prescription, and neither should tape medicine, but that is my opinion. Paying close to $75 for treatment seems excessive to me. Good luck with your kitty!!!

 

[Imp]

Quote:
You can buy an effective tape worm med at the feed/pet store. It is praziquantel. It is a little spendy. I think I pay $8 for 3 pills. It is cheaper to buy larger amount or on-line.

Imp

 

[StormyMoon]

Tractor Supply Co. has tape worm medication now for cats and dogs.

 

[Bleenie]

I know I can buy liquid wormer and worming pills from my Vet but they are for different types of worms and I cannot remember which is which. I have bought plenty of the liquid for puppies we've taken in and it was very fairly priced when i got it from him. I don't need a prescription for the pill either, my sister had to buy some a while back for their 4 dogs and it cost around $75 to treat them all, of course she couldn't rememebr what kind of worms they had though... I'm just glad i only have one cat, lol.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

You can also use Safeguard "Goat " wormer:

Dosage
Fenbendazole is normally available in an oral suspension. The recommended dosage is usually 1/2ml of the liquid drug per 2 1/5 lbs. of body weight in a kitten and double that for the adult cat. This means that a 12-lb. adult cat may get 6 ml in a dose. Vets prescribe giving the drug once a day by mouth for three days straight because the mildness of the drug will not kill all of the parasites within a single application

Read more: Fenbendazole for Cats | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5420721_fenbendazole-cats.html#ixzz1JhqQheP3​

 

[Akane]

There are preventatives like garlic and apple cider vinegar that help cut down on the incidences of worms with some moderate risk since garlic can cause anemia in cats and dogs but for an existing infestation you need meds. Anything strong enough to kill all the worms is going to carry the same health risks or more as the meds from the vet or pet/feed store even if it's an herbal or "natural" treatment. Dewormers work on the principal of being a toxic substance. You are just ingesting an amount that is not overly toxic to the host while being toxic enough to kill the worms. The best way to go when an animal has a noticeable infestation is a chemical dewormer with a proven safe dose for your animal. As cheap as they are it isn't going to anymore expensive than any other method you try anyway.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Quote:
Yes, tapeworms usually don't show up on a fecal float. That isn't what the vet is looking for when you bring your cat and a stool sample in and tell them you've seen tapeworm segments. The vet wants to check the stool to see if there are any other kinds of worms because an animal that has tapeworms obviously has some exposure and could well have other types of worms as well. The vet has a few choices for medications to treat tapes, but one option will only get tapeworms while other options will get tapes and other worms too. It just makes more sense to test the stool so that you only have to give one dewormer if possible. It's less stressful for the cat, the owner who has to give the medication, and you get more for your money if you can use one medication and kill multiple types of worms rather than use one medication for tapes and then have to go back and use another one later.

As for the form of the medication, the vet I work for generally uses pills. Personally I prefer pills for most cats as I can be sure I got the entire dose in (or not) rather than liquids where an unknown amount is spit out all over me and everything near by. But for the cats that just can't be pilled, we do use an injection to kill the tapeworms.

As to the requirement of an exam and prescription, some of that may be a legal issue. The way the law is written in my state there must be an established doctor-client/patient relationship. So legally we can't dispense medication or prescription food of any kind unless we've actually seen the animal. You can thank malpractice lawsuits for that one, I'm sure.

 

[Scoop]

I just got the medicine at a PetSmart store for $25.00 for 3 pills. Seems like it took affect in just a couple of hours. So far no side affects. I thought paying $25 would be cheaper than running to a vet for what is easy to diagnose yourself.