Worms

[emmab]

Our cat was sick last week after eating something undescribable outside, he is quite a hunter. However, when he was sick I noticed two worms. He is not showing any other signs of worms. Maybe his food intake has increased a little, or maybe I am just a paranoid parent however that may just be because I am feeding him something a bit more palatable atm!!! He is given drontal every 3 months, if not just before the 3 months is due, but want to be sure I am worming him often enough. There seem to be so many websites that say you need to worm your cat more often than 3 months if they are hunters but they don't say how often? Is this every month, 2 months, I don't know? I also want to make sure I keep on top of this. Any advice would be great please.

[Diana]

Best bet is to ask a vet. 3 months is the usual, I do mine every 3 months and one doesnt hunt, the other occasionally brings us gifts. Is he showing other signs such as eating and eating yet losing weight?

[emmab]

Thank you for your reply. No he isn't losing weight he is as normal, just the one episode being sick and there were some worms. He is very active, very happy, but want to be sure I have nipped this in the bud.

[Crewella]

I'd check with the vet too. I believe the every three months is more of a preventative and with some wormers they recommend a higher dose if the cat actually has worms, but I would check first and see what the vet recommends.

[Meandmymunki]

My vets now recommend monthly worming for cats that hunt.

[Crewella]

My vets now recommend monthly worming for cats that hunt.

Monthly - wow that's a new one on me! I'll check with my vet to say what he says, as my Daz has started catching things most days. Thanks for that.

[emmab]

I too have just heard back from my vet, and she suggests monthly worming is fine for real hunters. She also said that the wormer will only work at the time of administering, so if you see or suspect worms it is important to keep on top of them and give it straight away. I thought I would add this to the forum, as the topic doesn't seem to have raised much interest but is a vitaly important thing to be aware of. She also said Drontal was more than adequate for worming.

[MarkB]

Bear in mind that if you use Stronghold or Advocate monthly, they will also deal with worms, apart from tapeworm - you can use droncit tablets or spot on to cover the tapeworm.

However, my vet says that although spot-ons are a good preventative, he would always recommend a tablet for a know infestation - makes sense really..

[elastu]

Years ago my vet recommended Drontal once a month rather than 3 monthly.