Content

• Steps
• Advice
• Warning

Intestinal parasites, also known as worms, are common in kittens and large cats. These nasty parasites enter the body in many ways. Kittens can get helminth eggs from breast milk, older cats get hookworm through the skin, and tapeworms through infected fleas, rabbits and guinea pigs. Worms are so common in cats, so it's important to know how to recognize their signs for the earliest needed treatment.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Look at the cat's physical signs

1. 

   Pay attention if your cat's belly is bulging. Cats with too many worms often have a bulging abdomen with no fat around the spine or pelvis. Your cat's belly will be swollen, round, and lumpy (the cat may look pregnant). The difference between a bulging cat and a fat cat is that the rest of her body is in a bad condition.
   • Nematodes are a common cause of bloating, although other types of worms cause similar symptoms.

2. 

   
   
   Check the cat's fat pad. As you slide your finger over a healthy cat's spine, you should feel lumps along the spine, not the protruding angular bones. Those are cat fat cushions. A cat with a severe worm infection will not have these fat patches. As you stroke your cat's spine and pelvis, you will also see it pointed and angled.
   • Checking your cat's "condition" is to check the fat surrounding the cat's bones. Points to look out for are the spine, hips, and pelvis.

3. 

   
   
   Check your cat's coat. Intestinal parasites suck up most of the nutrients in your cat's food. That means your cat will not be given vitamins, minerals, and protein to maintain good coat. See how the coat has features such as:
   • Dull hair.
   • The coat is not shiny.
   • The hair is tangled and sticky

4. 

   
   
   Pay attention to whether your cat is vomiting or has diarrhea. Worms can irritate the stomach and intestinal lining, causing diarrhea and vomiting. Cats with severe worm infections can have intestinal obstruction, causing severe vomiting, which can be life-threatening. Cats can also vomit worms, which look like fluttering spaghetti.
   • If your cat begins to vomit uncontrollably, get it to the vet immediately.

5. 

   Observe the color of your cat's gums. Some types of worms, especially hookworms, can cause a cat to bleed gums, causing slow but constant blood loss. This leads to anemia, sluggish and weak cats, in kittens can be life-threatening.
   • You can identify anemia by lifting your cat's lips and looking at her gums. Healthy gums will look rosy. If there is anemia, the gums will be pale white, gray or pale pink.

6. 

   Watch for the signs of worms in the kitten. Kittens infected with worms are often lethargic and stunted, meaning they are not as thriving as their peers. They are small, less active, have bristly hair, have a bulging abdomen, and have less fat around the ribs and spine.
   • If you don't have another kitten to compare it to, it's hard to judge, but a healthy kitten will be active, playful, plump and with soft, glossy fur.
   • A kitten with a severe worm infection can have long-term, declining health consequences throughout life.

7. 

   Check if your cat has fleas. Fleas carry tapeworm eggs, when cats lick their fur, they can eat whole fleas and carry tapeworm eggs into their body.
   • It is easier to identify a flea on a cat with its droppings. It is the dry blood excreted by a flea and usually on the fur of the animal.
   • To find them, brush the cat's fur in the opposite direction. You should see black spots sticking to the fur's paw.
   • To check if the spots you see are flea feces or are just dirt or regular flakes, apply pressure to the dirt with a damp paper towel. Because flea droppings are dry blood, wiping with a damp cloth leaves a red or orange streak.
   • If you find flea or flea feces, treat the cat and treat the environment (like cat's house and bed) so that it has no living soil.
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Method 2 of 2: Identify each type of worms

1. 

   Understand why you must identify the type of worms. If you suspect your cat has worms, the next step is to try to determine the type of worms. This will help you figure out which medications are effective for treating the worms.

2. 

   Find migratory tapeworm eggs. Looking down at the cat's tail, the tapeworm eggs are usually pushed out of the cat's anus and trapped in a nearby fur area. Tapeworm eggs are usually creamy white and described as looking like a grain of rice, cucumber or sesame seeds.
   • These eggs may fall where your cat is lying, so check your cat's bed quickly.
   • If you find a tapeworm egg, bring your cat to the vet for tapeworm treatment.

3. 

   Check your cat's feces for tapeworms. This will be easier if the cat defecates with a sand pad. Check your cat's feces for signs of flukes. Sometimes they will lie clearly on the stool, but sometimes you will need to wear gloves and disposable tools to break the stool before you can check.
   • The tapeworm is creamy white, flattened and has many burns. They average 10-60 cm long.
   • Dipylidium caninum flukes: Cats can become infected with this tapeworm by ingesting a flea infected with a tapeworm.
   • Taenia taeniaeformis: Cats can become infected with this tapeworm when hunting, catching and eating rodent-infected species.

4. 

   Identify nematodes. The nematode is very common and looks like a pasta. They average 5 -10 cm long but can grow up to 12 cm. There are two strains of nematodes, both of which invade cats in several ways:
   • Toxocara cati worms: This worm can be passed from breast milk and most kittens get this worm from birth. This is a strain of worms that swell a kitten's belly, and cause diarrhea and vomiting.
   • Toxascaris leonine worms: This worm can be spread through contact with other infected cats or rodent subspecies. The worms may vomit or lie on the stool.

5. 

   Determination of hookworms. Hookworms are tiny (0.5 to 1 cm in length), twisted and have a hook-like mouth. It is difficult to detect them with the naked eye. Hookworm Ancylostoma duodenalis can be found in breast milk, but kittens can also be infected when walking on the ground, or bed worms.
   • Their teeth-like mouth hooks into the intestinal lining and releases anticoagulants that cause bleeding in the intestines. The kittens infected with this worm will become anemic, lack energy, and develop poorly.

6. 

   Ask your veterinarian to check your cat for heartworm infection. Heartworms are more common in dogs than cats, but cats are still likely to be infected. This type of worms is more commonly found in the blood vessels than in the stomach, meaning you can only go to the vet to have them checked.
   • Dirofilaria immitis worms: Mosquitoes infected with this worm can put eggs in the blood of the cat. Signs are not usually characteristic such as lack of energy, weight loss, and cough. Sadly, many cats show no symptoms and die suddenly because a blocked blood vessel cannot carry blood to the heart.

7. 

   Go to the veterinarian to get samples for analysis. The best way to check for worms (not including heartworms) before they have a serious health problem is to take a sample of cat feces to the vet. Adult worms can lay eggs while living in a cat's gut. Worm eggs are usually (but not always) excreted in the feces and can be seen through preparation and microscopic observation.
   • Eggs of different worms have different shapes to help identify them.
   • If the examination of your cat and its feces shows no worms, that doesn't mean your cat is worm-free. It is just that the worms are not eliminated from the body. Many cats have severe worms but do not let go of any. The only way to be sure is to take a sample of the cat's feces for analysis by the veterinarian.

   

   Brian Bourquin, DVM
   

   Experts agree that: Collecting a cat stool sample twice a year is the best way to check for worms. This is especially important if your cat is going out often, although your cat is also at risk for worm infections.

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Advice

• Knowing what kind of catworm is infected is not just an exercise in school, as different types of worms have different specific drugs to kill them. However, for the time being, it can help if you, the cat's owner, are suspicious of the domestic cat's infection.
• Identifying the type of worms will give you a rough assessment of what worms your cat is likely to be infected with.
• A cat with a bulging abdomen, lack of fat and has not been dewormed in the last 6 months is more likely to be infected with severe worms. However, other health conditions can cause any of the above, so bring your cat to the clinic if in doubt.

Warning

• With the exception of heartworms, there is no more effective way to prevent them than by minimizing your cat's exposure.
• Always wash their hands - and make sure children in the house wash their hands too after having been with cats with unknown worm infections. Although catworms do not live in a person's stomach, they can hide under the skin and cause consequences, especially if they travel to the eyes.
• Identifying your cat with worms and the type of worms they are infected will help your cat stay as healthy as possible. In addition, cat worms can also be transmitted to humans, especially young children who do not wash their hands carefully after playing with a cat. With a little bit of attention on cat health, littering and taking the feces for analysis once a year, you can keep your cat and family members worm-free.