Intestinal parasites can cause serious health concerns for both your family and your cat. Both indoor and outdoor cats can benefit from routine deworming typically every 3 months.
Even if your cat never goes outside it can become infected with intestinal parasites from a variety of places. If you have another pet that does go out, they may bring parasites into your house.
You can also bring worm eggs into your home on your clothing or shoes. If your indoor cat catches a mouse or eats a flea that happened to make its way indoors, these are all carriers of intestinal parasites that your cat may be susceptible to.
What are some internal cat parasites?
Some of the more common intestinal parasites are tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms, but there are still others that may affect your cat or kitten. Working out a routine deworming schedule with one of our veterinarians is very important as is annual stool (poop) checks.
What are worm infestation symptoms in cats?
Cats or kittens that are suffering from intestinal parasites may be experiencing some diarrhea, have a “pot belly” appearance, be losing weight despite their voracious appetite, have no energy etc., or they may have no signs or symptoms at all. This is why it is important to send out annual stool samples to the lab for analysis.
While most intestinal parasites are microscopic, there are 2 types of intestinal parasites that you can see with the naked eye. These are tapeworms (which look like little pieces of rice around the bum area) and roundworms (which resemble spaghetti). You may also see these intestinal parasites in your cat or kittens stool after they poop.
Do worms affect humans?
There definitely are some intestinal parasites that affect humans. For more information on this topic, please feel free to discuss this further with the veterinarian when you are here with your cat for their preventive care exam.
What is the deworming schedule?
There are many types of dewormers on the market as there are also many types of intestinal parasites. Unfortunately, there is not one single dewormer that is effective for all types of intestinal parasites, so each pet must be treated individually dependent on their presenting complaint, past history and results of their stool (poop) sample analysis from the lab.
Any deworming medication side effects?
Typically, all deworming medications are very well tolerated and will cause no side effects to your precious four-legged animal companion.