Cat with tapeworm

sooty11

Hi all
i have a cat with tapeworm. Just noticed it today.
Do I need to take him to a vet? or can I just buy treatment at a vets clinic?
Im in north county Dublin, does anyone know a vets clinic open today?
Thanks

Not Just Mammy

As far as I know Sooty, you can buy over-the-counter treatments for your cat, but I'd keep a very close eye on her/him for signs that it's not working. If you find that the worms are still there after a full course of that treatment, I'd bring her to a vet. Good luck...they're nasty lol

planetX

not all wormers kill tapeworm - drontal or milbemax do.

sooty11

Thanks for your replies guys.
As the vets were not opened today, i rang around a few petstores and found my local pet shop are licensed to sell drontal. sorted!

dvet

Another tip, while you're buying the worming tablets, it might be no harm to get a spot treatment for fleas as well - tapeworms and fleas are often found on the same animal (linked life cycle)!

doctor evil

Any tips on administering the worming tablet?

My boy is very funny with his mouth (past associations) and the pill was big. I tried it in some warm dripping (was making fat feeders for the birds) which he loved but very coyly neglected the tablet. I ended up having to use the towel method. He kept it down but vomitted about an hour later, the dripping may have been too rich, he only got a small amount enough to cover the tablet.

Are these things normally coated in sugar? I don't want to break it next time in case it tastes very bitter.

dvet

doctor evil wrote: »

Any tips on administering the worming tablet?

My boy is very funny with his mouth (past associations) and the pill was big. I tried it in some warm dripping (was making fat feeders for the birds) which he loved but very coyly neglected the tablet. I ended up having to use the towel method. He kept it down but vomitted about an hour later, the dripping may have been too rich, he only got a small amount enough to cover the tablet.

Are these things normally coated in sugar? I don't want to break it next time in case it tastes very bitter.

If ham/other goodies won't fool him into taking the tablet (and with cats a lot of the time, they don't), and he's really not cooperating, you're going to have to give him no other option! Similar to what your vet/vet nurse would do:

- Try to get another person to help you, their job is to hold him still (one hand behind his bum, with that arm 'hugging' his legs/body, the other hand helping to hold his head.) If he's very nasty/wriggly, you can wrap up his body and legs in a towel to prevent him from getting away or scratching.
- With his head tilted up in the air, use one of your hands to open the jaw as wide as you can. It might help to curl his lips in over his teeth instead of having your fingers directly on his teeth. He's not going to bite down on his own lips.
- When his mouth is open, quickly put the tablet as far back as possible (on the back of his tongue). Close his mouth again & hold it gently shut for as long as you can, with his nose pointed slightly in the air.
- Watch for signs of swallowing. Also check his mouth again before you let him go... they can be good at holding it in there until they can spit it out! If he's not swallowing but the tablet is in there, try gently rubbing his throat to stimulate swallowing.

Be gentle and quick, and try not to stress him out - with a bit of practice this can all be done and over in the space of a few seconds. Depending on how stubborn your cat is, prepare for him to seriously avoid speaking to you afterwards though! :P


Other alternative is, (if it's a pill and not a capsule), crush it up and try to put it in feed somehow.. cat's are very wise to this though!

boxerly

Ive tried that with my cat and nearly lost a finger or two

dvet

boxerly wrote: »

Ive tried that with my cat and nearly lost a finger or two

Hehe! That's where the folding in the lips thing comes in! and the practice!

The Sweeper

First, next time buy milbemax - theyr'e the size of a human antihistamine and FAR easier to administer than drontal.

With the Drontal, cut the tablet into four quarters and handfeed your cat with something they like with the tiny quarter-piece hidden in it. I can pill five out of my six cats using the method dvet describes above. The final cat suffered a broken jaw from a car impact around 8-9 months of age and is very, very protective of his mouth. No amount of scruffing, pilling, wrapping in towels or anything else works - we've tried, and it's extremely stressful for him and for us.

Far easier with him to hide his worming meds in slivers of raw kangaroo and watch him gobble it down happily, thinking he's getting a treat.

boxerly

Think Ill leave it to my vet I really need my fingers hehe

Ado86

+1 for the flea treatment !! Often found with tapeworms, even though he may not be scratching.

planetX

Def milbemax is the easiest, nice tiny little pill. I sneak up on the cats while they're asleep and pop it down quick before they realise. It's a good thing to get into practice of giving pills, you might need to give dog sized antibiotics twice a day at some stage...not fun.
None of my cats will touch any medicine hidden in food, ever.

boxerly

I can give tablets to dogs no probs,my boxer was on 8 tablets a day till he died 3 weeks ago:( BUT my cat on the other hand is ................well a grumpy likkle biatch

TooManyDogs

dvet wrote: »

- When his mouth is open, quickly put the tablet as far back as possible (on the back of his tongue). Close his mouth again & hold it gently shut for as long as you can, with his nose pointed slightly in the air.

While you're holding his snout shut blow gently up his nostrils. Sounds mental but it makes them swallow! Gently massaging their throat can often have the same effect

EDIT - It makes dogs swallow anyway..... stuffing a tablet down a cat's throat makes you a hero in my book anyway!

dvet

TooManyDogs wrote: »

While you're holding his snout shut blow gently up his nostrils. Sounds mental but it makes them swallow! Gently massaging their throat can often have the same effect

EDIT - It makes dogs swallow anyway..... stuffing a tablet down a cat's throat makes you a hero in my book anyway!

+1 on the blowing up their nose! I've only over used it in dogs, but it works on all but the stubbornest

And as for putting my hands down cat's throats.. have to agree with you - I've literally had my whole fist in the mouth of massive bull mastiffs before while giving them tablets, and it was totally fine - cats are way scarier!