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**Common Worms found in Cats and Kittens**
TYPE OF WORM	DESCRIPTION: LENGTH, COLOR, AND SHAPE	PRIMARY ROUTES OF INFECTION	COMMON SIGNS & SYMPTOMS	DIAGNOSTIC METHODS	TREATMENT Type of Anthelminitic (MOST COMMON)
Roundworm (Toxocara cati)	3-10 cm White Slender with tapered ends	Direct (by ingestion of eggs - normal grooming activity); kittens are infected through the placenta or through nursing breast milk. Indirect transmission occurs from eating rodents and flies. Note: Treatment of queens before breeding will decrease the likelihood of infecting kittens	Weight loss, malnutrition, vomiting, abdominal distention or pop-belly, anemia, listlessness and poor hair coat in kittens - symptoms are less apparent in cats.	Fecal flotation test to detect the ova (eggs); occasionally adult worms are passed in the stool or in vomitus and can be seen with the naked eye.	Styrongid-T, Nemex (pyrantel pamoate) Panacur (fenbendazole) Vercom (febantel and praziquantel) Piperazine Two treatments 2 weeks apart.
Hookworm (Ancylostoma, Uncinaria)	5-15 cm Grayish-white Red if blood-filled Thin with tapered ends	Direct (by ingestion of eggs - normal grooming activity); kittens are infected through the placenta or through nursing breast milk. Note: Treatment of queens before breeding will decrease the likelihood of infecting kittens	Intestinal blood loss, anemia, melena, weight loss, and poor coat condition.	Fecal flotation test to detect the ova (eggs) using fresh stool.	Styrongid-T, Nemex (pyrantel pamoate) Panacur (fenbendazole) Vercom (febantel and praziquantel) Two treatments 2 weeks apart
Tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum, Taenia)	Up to 30 cm Each segment 5 mm White Flat, made up of segments that look like flattened grains of rice	Ingestion of fleas	Scooting hindquarters along carpet	Observation and identification of the tapeworm segments in the cat's feces or around the anus.	Droncit (praziquantel)
Lungworm (Capillaria aerophila, Filaroides osleri)	5-9 cm Grayish white Slender with tapered ends	Ingestion of infected rodents, lizards, and birds.	Chronic harsh cough or persistent, dry cough; secondary bacterial pneumonia infection may occur	Capillaria - Eggs in feces, bronchial or nasal secretions Filaroides - Zinc sulfate flotation test to detect larvae, bronchoscopic examination for nodule formation	Fenbendazole; antibiotics also indicated if secondary bacterial pneumonia infection is present.

Worms should be diagnosed and treated by your veterinarian. Probably the easiest cat worm to recognize is the tapeworm when you can see the "white pieces of rice around it's anus," but the medication to treat tapeworms safely is only obtained with a prescription from your veterinarian. The risk of poisoning your cat with over-the-counter medications is far greater than any damage tapeworms could cause your cat.

Nemex (not approved for use in cats) is the usual medication that I use to worm my cats for roundworms. This is available without a prescription but the dosing should be done by your veterinarian.

Anthelminitics are the class of drugs used in the treatment of parasites in cats and they can be very toxic. So I would just like to caution you to follow the advise of your veterinarian.

Many catteries work with their veterinarians to obtain a prescription for a large quantity of Droncit, Drontel, or Nemex, for example, so that they can use it as prescribed to regularly worm the cats in their cattery. Cattery medicine practices are often very different than methods used for someone who just has a couple of cats. Can you imagine trying to obtain a stool sample from each cat in the cattery when my colony of cats are not caged (except the studs) and the number of cats and kittens I have varies from about 15 to 30 during kitten season? Non-cattery cat owners can and should collect stool for fecal examination. Then, only if needed, have the cat wormed. Why subject your cat to worming medication if he doesn't need it?

Common worming prevention precautions should include keeping the litter boxes clean, washing cats regularly to minimize accumulation of the eggs on it's coat, flea prevention measures, standard disinfecting of the cattery with chlorine bleach, and do not allow cats outside where they can hunt.

Cattery queens should be wormed before breeding.

References:

Diagnostic Parasitology for Veterinary Technicians, Joann Colville, DVM (1991)
The Howell Book of the Cat, Tim Hawcroft, B.V.S.c (Hons), M.A.C.V.Sc (1991)
The Cat: Diseases and Clinical Management, Volume 1, Robert G. Sherding, D.V.M. (1989)

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