Worms in cats

Strange, but even in today’s time, when there is a huge the number of medicines to treat worms, some refuse from acquiring cats because of fear of infection. Worms (or helminths) live in the body of an animal, eating blood, tissues, gradually poisoning the entire body. With insufficient attention to the issue of deworming, the animal can die, and both humans and other animals are at risk of parasite infection.

Causes of the appearance of worms in the cat’s body

An animal may be infected if eggs enter the body. helminths orally (when eaten by a cat, for example, raw fish) or through the skin. Helminthiasis infected mothers can often transmit the disease and the kitten in utero. It is noteworthy that sometimes a person can infect an animal with helminthiasis by bringing eggs worms on shoes, clothes, personal items. Therefore the owner of the cat it is worth monitoring your health condition, because worms are also dangerous to humans. In a word, worms can infect the body domestic and street cats, since helminth eggs are very common in the environment. Often reduced immunity, elderly or young cats may contribute to the disease. Worms parasitizing in the animal’s body are divided into three categories: tapeworms, roundworms, and flukes. IN depending on belonging to one of the categories, symptoms cat diseases can also vary.

The types of worms and the diseases they cause

Tapeworms or cestodes

Diseases in which the animal becomes infected with cestodes have such names and symptoms:

  • Diphyllobothriasis – a disease in which worms are long up to 1.5 meters, affect the intestines, mucous membranes. Infection occurs after eating raw river fish. In the presence of such parasites, the animal loses its appetite, vomiting, diarrhea may open or constipation. If not properly treated, the animal may suffer blockage of the intestine.
  • Dipylidiosis – the causative agent of this disease – worms up to 30 cm long, affect the intestines of cats and mucous membranes. Into the body animals get caught with fleas or lice-eaters when the cat licks your coat. Such a disease is characterized by diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy of the animal, loss of appetite.
  • Alveococcosis is a disease in which in thin intestines of the animal are parasitized by worms up to 4 mm long. Infection these parasites occur after eating a sick rodent (rats, mice). For a long time, the disease does not make itself felt, symptoms of alveococcosis in an animal are not as pronounced as with diseases diphyllobothriasis or dipylidiosis.

Roundworms or Nematodes

  • Toxascaridosis – infection with this disease occurs in utero or through the digestive system. Pathogens toxascaridosis – worms up to 5 cm long, parasitize in the liver, gall bladder, esophagus of the animal. With this disease, an animal loses weight with a good appetite, vomiting may occur (sometimes with blood), diarrhea. With intrauterine infection (kittens fall ill when in the womb of an infected mother) animals often die.
  • Hookworm – caused by the presence in the body of the animal worms up to 2 mm long, which are localized in the intestine. Infection may occur through the skin of an animal (data larvae parasites are absorbed into the cat’s blood through the skin) or get into the body when swallowing eggs, for example, with food. For a given diseases are characteristic: vomiting (sometimes with blood), loose stools, loss of appetite, increased thirst, cough.

Flukes or trematodes

  • Paragonimiasis – infection of the body occurs when eating unprocessed heat of crayfish, crab meat, shellfish. Flukes up to 1 cm long destroy the lungs of the animal. This disease is characterized by such symptoms in a cat: fever, vomiting, diarrhea, frequent excruciating cough.
  • Opisthorchiasis – parasite larvae enter the body when eating raw river fish meat. Worms up to 50 mm long localized in the liver, gall bladder and pancreas of a cat. Thanks to suckers with teeth, worms destroy internal tissues organs. With opisthorchiasis, the animal experiences pain in the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea may occur, appetite disappears, and sometimes on the contrary, the animal constantly experiences a feeling of hunger.

Symptoms of helminthiasis in cats

Thus, the symptoms of helminthiasis if present in the body the above parasites are most often similar. Worth paying attention to the appearance of the cat, increased appetite (with loss in weight) or lack thereof, the presence of high temperature. Almost always, an infected animal has a disorder digestion (sometimes accompanied by blood): vomiting and diarrhea. Cough, “riding” the cat on the floor, the cat actively licking its anal holes, halitosis should alert the owner cats. The owner should carry out timely prevention helminthiasis, as often the symptoms of the disease are visible only with neglected stages when the animal’s life is at stake.

Diagnosis of the presence of worms in cats

Sometimes a cat may vomit with worms, also in the stool worms can be found in such cases, in such cases of doubt the presence of helminthiasis can not be. But such confirmation of availability worms occur in cases of the presence of mature individuals in the body. For a veterinarian can perform a coprological diagnosis examination of animal feces for the presence of helminth eggs. In cases when the cat fell ill shortly before the study, test results may be false, due to the fact that in the body contains immature worms that do not lay eggs. In such cases, the analysis can be carried out repeatedly. Should remember the importance of proper diagnosis, because sometimes symptoms parasite infections are similar to symptoms of other diseases (viral or bacterial infections, diseases of the digestive system and other).

Treatment for Worms in Cats

After visiting the veterinary clinic and diagnosed, the owner of the animal can purchase anthelmintic drugs, which the doctor recommended. Preparations for deworming (“Pirantel”, “Drontal”, “Prazitel”, “Dirofen”) can be purchased independently, as most of them successfully treat the affected body of the animal, regardless categories of parasites (cestodes, nematodes, trematodes). Anthelmintic medicines are available in the form of tablets, suspensions, drops, possibly purchase of special anthelmintics for kittens. As a rule, treat a cat for worms in the morning on an empty stomach. Some medicines can be mixed in food, but sometimes a cat refuses to eat the food offered by the host, feeling the presence odor or taste. In such cases, you can bury medicine (suspension, drops or crushed and diluted with water tablets) directly into the mouth of a sick animal, previously reliably fixing it. In advanced cases, treatment may go through several stages. Before deworming should carefully study the instructions for the medication, follow it religiously. An overdose of such drugs may threaten damage to internal organs and even death of a cat, especially if an elderly animal, with reduced immunity, or vice versa, too young. Veterinarians do not recommend deworming too young, pregnant and lactating cats, acquiring drugs on their own. Having a little kitten or cat with offspring, it is preferable to purchase a doctor’s prescription anthelmintic.

Helminthiasis disease prevention

As a rule, any disease is easier to prevent than to cure. therefore the owner of the cat should be aware of such important and simple measures, compliance with which can save the animal from worms:

  • Hand washing with soap after visiting public places, transport etc.
  • Carrying out disinfection of a cat tray, bowls, litter.
  • Carrying out preventive deworming of animals (the same drugs intended for treatment), communicating with live nature – about 4 times a year. For domestic animals of life, helminthiasis should be prevented 2 times per year.
  • Heat treatment of river fish (in addition to the harm from the possibility infection by worms, it is generally harmful for a cat to consume a river fish).
  • If fleas are found, drugs should be purchased to combat them. Such bloodsucking can be intermediate hosts helminth eggs.
  • Fighting rodents.
  • Compliance with hygiene as a whole: both its own, and animal, and housing.

Like this post? Please share to your friends:
Leave a Reply

;-) :| :x :twisted: :smile: :shock: :sad: :roll: :razz: :oops: :o :mrgreen: :lol: :idea: :grin: :evil: :cry: :cool: :arrow: :???: :?: :!: