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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 12, 2014 16:35:53 GMT
So Mieze has somehow managed to get tapeworm (I think), despite none of the pets having fleas and her being a house cat, haha. The vet was very surprised when I said that none of the pets have fleas. I know tapeworm can't come from food so it's not from that either, she has just been eating KiteKat at the moment anyway as she won't eat anything else.
We had noticed that she wasn't eating very much recently, and she had been acting a bit different than usual. She wasn't being as cuddly as she normally is and when I went to pick her up yesterday she went a bit mad which is very unusual for her. I mean she's never been fond of being picked up, but it seemed as though she had a sore stomach or something.
Anyway today when I was cleaning out the litter tray that only she uses, in one of the poops there was lots of moving little yellowy segmented maggot like things, eeew! Now we have had a fly problem in the flat, but having done some googling I reckoned that my first suspicion was correct, she has tapeworm. I didn't realise that live bits could come out though? There was loads, argh.
Anyway after I found this I immediately cleaned the whole litter tray and went to find Mieze. She has been hiding away a lot recently. I actually caught her as she was going to the toilet, so I stopped to watch to see if there were any signs of worms, and actually she had some rather explosive diarrhoea. Before I got a chance to catch her she ran off. Next time I saw her, she was dragging her bum across the living room floor (thankfully wooden) and then she quickly ran to the toilet again. After this I put her and her litter tray in the dogs cage (will give it a good clean before Rosa next uses it haha) and went to get some wormer from the vet.
The vet didn't actually give me any advice, and I can honestly say that in all my time owning pets I have never had one have worms before. It's gross haha, I have made the living room into a sparkling clean worm free haven (although I know they aren't like fleas so won't be living in the soft furnishings) and can honestly say my living room has never been this clean before haha. I think my man and I will be sleeping here for the next while so that Mieze can get loose in the bedroom (it has less soft furnishings than the living room, easier to clean and she'll be happier there than locked in Rosas pen). We are keeping the cats separate so that I can make sue Carlotta doesn't have worms either, they have all been wormed today just in case anyway but I thought it would be much easier to monster with the cats having separate loos. The reason I knew it was Mieze is she uses both loos but Carlotta only uses one.
Anyway has anyone else had a cat have worms? What was it like? What do I need to know? Help haha!! This is completely new to me!!
Oh, I've not taken Mieze to the vets by the way, apparently it's not that easy to diagnose except by finding segments on the hair around her bum if she's not kept clean. I realise now I should have bagged up the poop that had all the worms in it and taken it to the vet but the second I saw it I shoved it in a bin bag and chucked it out, urgh. If I see any more in one of her poops I'll get a sample for my poor vet anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2014 18:56:59 GMT
I've twice had cats with tapeworms!!! Both were PARRT fosters too. Lily (the original one) was the longhaired tabby & white who had the broken leg. She was on crate rest in a 4ft dog crate as she was a big lass but in the evening I would have her on the sofa with me for an hour or two. Well, soon after she came to us I had her on my lap and I just happened to notice a pale cream/off-white on the fluffy hind leg fur, just below her bottom. I assumed it was just a bit of fluff and picked it off. It was only the next night that I saw another couple and THAT is when it dawned on me and I actually saw one emerge from her bottom and it was WRIGGLING!!!!!!!!!! I don't know HOW I didn't throw up there and then because tapeworms, and the thought of them, just make me want to be violently sick I went to the vets the very next day and told them she had tapeworms and I got some wormer for all four cats. After that there was no problem The second was two years later when we fostered Suzi, the FeLV queen who had been used as a breeding machine by druggies (she was the spitting image of your Mieze by the way....probably why I have such a soft spot for black cats). She had actually been in the home of another fosterer so how she had tapeworm egg cases coming out of her bottom just like Lily I do not know. I would have thought the fosterer would have been more organised and up on her worming regimes.....especially as she had a few cats!!! FeLV Suzi was kept upstairs apparently because the others bullied her....tho' you would have thought anyone with half a brain cell would have kept her separate because of her leukaemia virus Anyway, I noticed the familiar white wrigglers emerging from her bottom that first week and, as before, got some worming pills and did both her and George and had no more problems Tapeworms are easy to zap....they're just pretty gross when you see them
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 12, 2014 19:49:55 GMT
Thanks for the reply @gillykat ! Does the wormer get rid of the worm pretty quick then? Mine all got a spot-on wormer from the vet which has a flea treatment included in it, it was just the receptionist and she didn't give me any information. Another lady who may have been the vet did walk in and say to me at one point "Berlin has so many sparrows!" and walked out again ahaha so no chance to ask her in any case!
Anyway Mieze seems a bit happier now after her diarrhoea. She's been in the dog cage with some water and her litter tray partially so if she has any more diarrhoea then she can easily get the the bog, and partially so that she can get some eat and fluids and I can keep an eye on her. If the wormer works pretty quick though then she can obviously come out straight away and join the rest of us haha.
Poor thing, she's not been having the best time recently. Hope she gets back to her usual, wonderful cuddly self soon!
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 12, 2014 21:04:02 GMT
Hmm, have read up on the wormer the vet gave me, stronghold. Apparently it is effective against: fleas, mites, roundworms and hookworms. Great, but Mieze has none of those things. I did tell the lady (who went in to speak with the vet) that it was tapeworm Mieze had... Was gonna phone them up tomorrow to find out how long after medicating should she be rid of the worms, so I will make sure to find out about this too. They already forgot to give me a tenner of my change (which I made them credit my account with), but if they've got me to needlessly medicate my pets with something which won't even treat the thing the cat has then I will be fuming. And they will be paying me my money back too, I will bring out my inner Fifer if I need to! Man, I don't know why I bother trusting vets these days.
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Post by tonib on Sept 12, 2014 23:35:47 GMT
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Post by spider on Sept 13, 2014 7:08:02 GMT
o yuck they seem horrible things to find in the litter tray bet most of us will be off for worm drops after that they work fast one of the garage cats had 2 bug ticks on ther back i put on some drops and the next day they were gone was kinda happy to see that i done the other two last week coz this would be the time of year for ticks etc
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2014 8:49:36 GMT
Yes, they worked pretty quick - a day or two and I was no longer seeing those hideous wriggly egg cases Funnily enough my two ARE due their quarterly worming soon and I'll be getting their tablets (or may try drops this time) week after next when Neil gets paid. I'll have a chat with the vet on Monday afternoon when Lily gets her check-up as I'm not sure whether it would be advisable to worm them more regularly once they go outdoors....just in case the wee tinkers eat a bird or a mouse
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 13, 2014 9:35:04 GMT
Well I phoned the vet this morning, she says it's okay for Mieze to have the Milbemax tablet today (either half or a full one depending on her weight). I think ill phone another vet who hasn't made this mistake to check first as I read online that you have to wait two weeks to give the tablet to not poison the pet.
She says the tapeworm I described are the ones which come from fleas (I'm assuming now that this is the vet who the lassie went to ask yesterday about which thing to give) but as I highlighted many times yesterday, none of my pets have or have had fleas. In any case, if they gave me the wrong thing yesterday for that reason they should have also told me that if need to buy something else as well or most normal people would have gone away, treated their cat and thought nothing more of it till they saw the worms again.
I'm so annoyed that I've ended up treating all three of my pets that won't even protect them from the thing Mieze actually has! The Milbemax tablet treats loads of different types of worms (but not fleas, but they've all been flea'd anyway so didn't even need that) so surely it would have made sense to give me the Milbemax which actually does treat Tapeworm rather than giving me something that only treats fleas, mites, roundworm and hookworm! Grrr.
Man I really don't like or trust vets at all these days, every time I go to a vet they do something wrong, they never give me any advice despite my questioning and when they do give advice I often find upon my own research that it is wrong. Berlin is huge and has tons of vets, surely with all the competition some of the vets might actually have to go and learn what they are doing!!!
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 13, 2014 20:14:21 GMT
Poor Mieze, who is confined to the bedroom to keep her separate from Carlotta (so I can keep an eye on litter trays mainly) has been trying to jump up at the door handle in an attempt to get out the room. The downstairs neighbours must be living in fear of the massive loud bangs each time she hits the floor. Se has stopped miaowing now she's been fed, hopefully she is away for a post-meal nap in the den I made her with the top of Rosas den (she didn't seem so keen on the full size model haha) which she has spent a good while hiding in between door attacking sessions.
Totally furious at the vet, she didn't even offer an apology so having to go in to the vet tomorrow now to get this other tablet for the lot of them (had to get them all weighed today first and the vet was shut before we could get along). The vet I phoned to check that the tablet was okay to give so soon after the first one said they'd advise waiting a few days but since they don't know my pets they can't say how long to wait as they don't know their previous heal history. Some animals are more likely to get poisoned from this kind of things than others it seems. Hmm. I'm very wary about giving them the tablet so quickly, it is recommended to wait two weeks after all. Really no idea what to do, but Mieze needs to be treated for her tapeworm asap, she's having a horrible time and untreated tapeworm is never good.
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Post by pixiepops on Sept 23, 2014 1:38:13 GMT
Never had this problem either, although I suspect I will be like you if I ever find my wee boy has them. I make sure to worm him regularly. Do you have a worming plan for your cats? If not it may be something worth looking at
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Post by pixiepops on Sept 23, 2014 1:45:16 GMT
She says the tapeworm I described are the ones which come from fleas (I'm assuming now that this is the vet who the lassie went to ask yesterday about which thing to give) but as I highlighted many times yesterday, none of my pets have or have had fleas. Just a thought Not sure how many fleas need to be present for something like this to happen but is it possible that you may have brought fleas into your home from outside? I heard fleas can actually attach themselves to your clothing etc when outdoors from other pets, grass, etc. so could this be a possible reason?
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 23, 2014 5:44:56 GMT
I did worm and flea the cats regularly but I didn't like giving them unnecessary chemicals when they are both house cats, and as Rosa was being regularly done then it didn't seem a problem. I think flea season is ending now anyway so won't be doing them over winter in any case. I've been trying to find ones that are a bit better for them, so will hopefully find something good soon.
The vet said I could have brought a flea in on my shoe even, and yeah they can attach to clothes and things, and they can have eggs in the home environment for a massive long time, although I think we've been here much longer with no problems so would have found any living here by now. We did have a friends dog over recently, Luna, but they are the kind of owners who would have kept Luna at home if she had fleas and would have told us, plus it never noticed any signs of them while she was here at all.
It only takes one flea really for the cat to ingest. They were all flea'd recently as I'd done the cats when I'd done Rosa last time, not sure why, but that doesn't stop them eating a dead flea I suppose.
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Post by tonib on Sept 23, 2014 10:21:51 GMT
You may think you'd have seen them before but all it needs is a new animal/human in those areas you go through, who could bring a flea into them & then you/Rosa (before it had been affected by her flea treatment)/visitor could bring one in.
Also do you feed raw pork? I go back to older days when I was always taught that pork should be well cooked as the flesh can carry tapeworms (I think that was the type of worm) but cooking would kill them. Not sure its quite the same this days but you never know.
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Post by smilesbetter on Sept 23, 2014 17:19:15 GMT
Not fed pork before, Mieze doesn't eat the raw food anyway, she will eat around it in her bowl if I try to sneak a little in haha! So if it was from that, Carlotta would have got it. I'm surprised Carlotta didn't actually, she seems like the more likely cat to get ill haha I think it's definitely from a flea being brought in somehow.
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