Tapeworms usually aren't much of a problem for cats. From what my vet told me, a cat's physiology is such that a tapeworm really can't do much damage. Tapes are certainly repulsive, but that's about it.

Fleas can come in on your shoes or clothing, on visiting animals, or if you have an older home, they can come in on rodents. Tapeworm reinfestation is always a possibility where fleas exist. Just check your cat's anus every once in a while. If you see things that look like small kernals of rice stuck to the hair around that area, she's got tapes again and will need another deworming.

Laurie

Yes I never knew that was what that little sesame seed looking thing was. Now that I know, I have seen it on the older cat, Ethel, too. So when I go to the vet this week I will get dewormer for her, too.

Bindi has still not done well. She spent all day yesterday lethargic, and drooling at the mouth still.

I took her back in late last night and they said it's odd because cats usually bounce back from this worm pretty quick. They checked her all out and then gave me a choice of
1) xray stomach to make sure sure didnt swallow anything foreign, fluids, another pepcid shot, and go home ($275)
2) xray, fluids, pepcid shot and draw blood for more diagnostics - $400
3) all of the above plus an overnight stay, nursing and more, $600

Ultimately they are baffled why she's still down like this.

I went with option 1. the xray was negative. She did wake up this morning and felt better. She sat in my lap for the first time since this started. And she nibbled on a little chicken and rice.

She is still lethargic, and some drooling is still happening but she's visiting the water bowl for sips, and moving around better than yesterday.

Still, I can't wait for my regular vet to be open. This emergency clinic seems like they are only interested in making money.

Since I live in the country and my cats are house/barn cats tapeworm is no stranger here. If your cat has tapeworn there is a new product out it is Profender and it is applyed on the back of the neck. You get it from the vet so you may ask about it. I am so happy with it it works and no pills. My loving cuddly cats go back to their feral roots when pilled, this has saved my hands and arms.

While your cat was at the vet, did anyone do a THOROUGH oral exam? something like string wrapped around the base of the tongue and down the esophagus does NOT show up on x-rays; you have to actually LOOK in the mouth. And most cats are not so cooperative to allow a thorough oral exam without sedation.

I hope your kitty continues to recover fully.

acorn, YES my vet gave me profender yesterday for my other cat, who shows signs of sesame seeds on her butt also. That stuff is the easiest! Why they didn't do that at the emergency vet is beyond me - that cat was already nauseous and a mess - sticking a pill down her throat was just cruel.

Also the profender liquid - 1) cheaper than the pill at the emergency vet, and 2) according to my regular vet only requires one dose versus two with the pill.

Today we'll take Bindi for her already scheduled 1-year checkup and get her weighed, then we'll start her and Ethel on anti-flea regimen.

Meghane, yes she did check the mouth and tongue and after that was negative, recommended the x-ray.

In hindsight: She has always been an orally fixated cat, licking a lit, etc. We theorize that it's because she was dumped at 5 days old and hand-fed by her foster mom until we took her home. (foster mom has other hand fed cats that are oral like that).

So the way she dealt with the bug in her tummy may have been to drool severely.

I will take the x-rays to her regular vet today though, just for a quick review.

And oh, my older cat slept Monday night in my hubby's recliner. And yesterday morning that chair was FULL of those #$!$#!% sesame seeds.

We also plan to rebait all the mouse traps in the attic, in case a critter is the cause of fleas in the house.

Sigh, well I guess I'm never too old to learn new things.

If you are baiting rodents with poison, and if your cats are finding and eating rodents that have been poisoned, then your cats may be getting poisoned, as well. I STRONGLY urge you NOT to use poison to control rodents in your house. Use traps baited with non-poisonous materials only.

Laurie

We bait with peanut butter :-)

BAD news. Bindi got worse last night and symptoms changed. Went home to get her for the vet visit but she was limp and her head was cocked strangely. She was glassy eyed.

We also found more throwup.

We took her in very quickly. My vet kept her overnight for blood tests and hydration. I'm waiting to hear from him now.

He thinks the throwing up was a red herring, that usually cats don't throw up with tapeworm. The thought now is that something else was wrong to begin with.

He said being an indoor cat does limit the possibilities but he had some theories. He said she presents neurologically. He said it doesn't appear to be worms or other parasites. He also said that it doesn't appear to be an injury such as a spine or something.

He was really thinking something in the area of a poisonous spider or something of that nature.

If the blood tests are negative, and she's still in bad shape, MRI's and CAT scans are next - but this is a specialist and would cost well over $2000. So if that's the case I may be at a point of deciding to put her down.

She's only 1 1/2 years old. It's just so sad.

I'll post shortly what I hear from the vet.

Vet called. Her liver is definitely elevated. So far no change in her presentation. Still listless, and limp. She is not interested in eating. They are hydrating her, and trying to just treat her symptoms now.

The working theory is that when this all started Saturday, it was unrelated to the worms, and that something triggered this - either eating something or being bitten by something that made her really sick.

In this situation there's no test he can run to specifically check for, say, a poisonous spider bite. We can only treat her and hope that she fights it off and feels better on her own.

More waiting and seeing at this point - I can only hope that one of the labs comes back with some big red flag on it that points us in the right direction. Otherwise it sounds like a lot of guesswork at this point.

A tapeworm can be very dangerous. They not only rob your cat of nutrients but they can get so long that they no longer stay in the digestive tract and can move into the respiratory (lungs and such) and even into cardiovascular areas (heart).

"A tapeworm can be very dangerous. They not only rob your cat of nutrients but they can get so long that they no longer stay in the digestive tract and can move into the respiratory (lungs and such) and even into cardiovascular areas (heart)."

Citation? Is this true?

My vet claims tapeworm does not need to be treated in cats. WebMD makes it sound like it should be treated.

I treat my cats and dogs about 4 times annually for worms. In all other countries but this one, it is the recommended course of action. Any cat or dog can get infected or re-infected at any time. Prevention is key.

I buy this de-wormer for my dogs and cat: http://www.pets-megastore.com.au/wormoutforcatssmalldogs50tabsx5kg11lbs-p-422.html Any de-wormer containing praziquantel combined with oxibendazole will kill all types of tapeworm as well as all the other common varieties of intestinal parasites.

WebMD is irresponsible to post such erroneous info. Particularly in the case of indoor-outdoor kitties who hunt, tapeworms can be very harmful. They can also be spread to other cats and humans.

Back to your kitty, I hope that she will be alright. The thought of a poisonous spider bite or other toxic substance is definitely more worrying than tapeworms. Let us know. I hope your cat will be on the mend soon with the supportive therapy your vet is administering.

There are more than one kind of tapeworm, some which are indeed quite dangerous... but thankfully 99.9% of tapeworms in domestic cats are not the dangerous kind. Rarely do these common tapeworms (which come from ingesting a flea with the tapeworm larvae in them) cause much disease at all, though, in large numbers, they can cause an unthriftiness of coat and some discomfort/itching as the proglottids come out the anus (proglottid is a single tape worm segment, full of thousands of tapeworm eggs). These tapeworms are extremely easy to treat with proper medication... but if kitty continues to have a flea infestation, more may develop down the road.

The dangerous kind of tapeworms are contracted usually from eating raw meat infected with the larval stages (eg. raw lamb, but possibly other meats as well). These ones do not end up in the digestive tract, though, but migrate to other parts of the body and develop huge cysts full of proglottids and are bad news. Though in 28 years as a vet, have not every run across one of these, thankfully.

Thank you, lzrddr. I think I will try to see a different vet in the same practice next time we are there.