Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
Our cat recently started leaving these yellow seed looking segments all over the bed. I am very nervous and scared all the time about getting sick so naturally this concerned me. What do I do? Will I get or do I now have these worms too? If I touch them without noticing and grab something to eat, will I catch them? Or if I pick my nose, will they enter my brain and kill me? How can I get them to leave the cat for good?
~ Kris
Thomas: First of all, Kris, those yellow seed things are almost certainly tapeworm egg sacs. The good news is that tapeworms are easy to get rid of and they very, very rarely infect humans.
Bella: You see, tapeworms are transmitted by fleas, which a cat may eat while they’re grooming.
Thomas: The stomach digests the fleas but doesn’t have time to digest the tapeworm eggs before the cat’s meal moves on to the intestines. Once the eggs hatch, the worms attach themselves to the intestinal wall.
Bella: The only purpose of a tapeworm’s existence is to reproduce itself, so it feeds and creates egg sacs, which are shed when the cat poops.
Thomas: And those egg sacs are what you’re seeing.
Bella: The best way to get rid of tapeworms is to get a deworming medicine that contains praziquantel or epsiprantel. Drontal, Profender, Droncit and Cestex are the most effective of these.
Thomas: Drontal is a broad-spectrum dewormer, meaning it kills roundworms, hookworms and two types of tapeworms including the one transmitted by fleas. Drontal only comes in pill form.
Bella: Profender is a topical product like “spot on” flea and tick prevention products, and it too is a broad-spectrum dewormer.
Thomas: Droncit and Cestex only treat against tapeworms, and therefore are a little less expensive than Drontal and Profender.
Bella: All four of these products must be purchased from or prescribed by a veterinarian.
Thomas: There are lots of home remedies for treating tapeworm infections, but the majority of them are ineffective if not outright dangerous. One home remedy involves feeding garlic to your pet, and garlic is highly toxic to cats!
Bella: Better to spend a few dollars and get the product that works and is safe!
Thomas: Now, as for your question about whether humans can be infected: it’s possible, but the odds are very remote! The only way you could get tapeworms is if you accidentally ingested a flea.
Bella: According to a 2014 article in Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, a human infection with flea tapeworms is rare. In the past 20 years there have only been 16 reports of flea tapeworm infections in humans, and almost all the cases were found in children.
Thomas: So there’s no reason to freak out. Also, they can’t get up your nose and into your brain — I promise! Like most parasites, they require very specific conditions to hatch and survive, and those conditions are only found in the intestines.
Bella: If you did accidentally swallow a tapeworm segment, the acid in your stomach would destroy it before it hatched.
Thomas: So, our advice to you is to take your cat to the vet, get some tapeworm pills and use them as directed to treat the infection.
Bella: The very best way to prevent tapeworms is to prevent fleas, so we recommend that you use a topical flea control medicine. Your vet will know which ones work best in your area.
Thomas: And once again, when it comes to flea goop … buy the good stuff! Yes, it’s expensive, but you’re paying for a product that’s safe and effective.
Bella: Most of the inexpensive flea medications, flea collars and the like that are sold at pet stores are much less effective, so buying that crap is being “penny wise and pound foolish,” so to speak.
Thomas: Good luck, Kris. Go forth and deworm!
Bella: What about you other readers? Do you have advice for Kris on deworming or keeping his home worm-free? Share your thoughts in the comments.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
I would suggest that, in addition to getting your cat treated by a vet to get rid of tapeworm and any other parasites, you treat your yard with diatomaceous earth. It will kill any fleas that enter your yard and hopefully prevent you kitty from being reinfected. It’s easy to spread and easy to find. Any large DIY store should carry it. I purchase it a lowes, but any store like that should have it. It works for the entire season and helps keep fleas out of your yard, and by extension, your house. Below is a short tutorial on what diatomaceous earth is and doesn rom an article by Julie Richards.
The best organic product that kills fleas in the lawn is a powder made from fossilized plants called diatomaceous earth. Diatoms were prehistoric single-celled organisms that formed silica deposits in the earth’s crust. The deposits are ground to a fine powder to make diatomaceous earth. The garden variety of diatomaceous earth is used as an organic insecticide in the landscape. Apply the product as a powder, slurry or fogger to kill the fleas in the lawn. The powder penetrates the joints in the exoskeleton of a flea and acts like razor blades. The flea is cut into pieces and also becomes dehydrated from the cuts. The food grade diatomaceous earth is used for killing fleas, not the pool grade formula.
Lastly, if your cat is a hunter, try to keep her from eating her prey. If you see her with her kill, praise her and tell her, or him, what a good, brave, smart kitty she is, then take it and throw it away where kitty can’t get it. Years ago we had a cat who was a mighty hunter and normally brought his kill home. There we would offer his favorite treat in exchange for the prey. If not dead, we’d release it in the field behind our house, if we were too late we would dispose of it. Once we started practicing these steps our cat never got another tapeworm, or any other kind of worm , for that matter. Good luck getting rid of this nasty parasite.
Hello. I would just like to add, that I also use diatomaceous earth as an oral dewormer and worm preventative for my kitties. You have to be sure to get food grade diatomaceous earth, if you plan to feed it to your kitties. Many people use this for themselves as well, as it is supposed to have health benefits such as lowering blood pressure. It does take a very long time to get rid of worms this way, but it is a good option for people who don’t feel comfortable using medications on their cats, or those who can’t afford a vet visit, or those who care for feral colonies. It is a really good product with a million and one uses, and it is fairly inexpensive. Good luck, and I hope your kitty gets well soon. :)
To use this as an oral dewormer, how much and how often is recommended? Asking for my indoor/outdoor cat AND a colony nearby.
I got rid of my cats tapeworms using less than $12 dollars and a little bit of work, the raw organic honey from trader Joes, water, and a lemon. Cut the lemon up, squeeze a small amount into a cup, get out the pulp and seeds, put a little warm water in the honey and leave it for a minute or 2, mix in equal parts honey water with the lemon juice and serve orally. They don’t like it, sometimes they will foam at the mouth or act like they are going to throw up (rare, only if you give too much at once) repeat steps at least 3 times a day. I saw results within 2 days.
Is it safe to give them that mixture?
It never harmed my cats. Although the fleas kept making the worms come back. Used Bayer dewormer. Worked very well also. Not natural though.
thank you i think i will try this since i dont want my kittens to take medicine. i am overwhelmed and worried
Can it hurt the cat if they don’t have worms and I give them the deworm medicine ?