I cannot manage to worm my cat, should i make him stay outside...

[Monkeyandanimal]

...until i can get him wormed? I know he has tapeworm (yuk, gross), i have seen the segments. i have 3 young children, the youngest just 6 weeks and i don't want to expose them to worms, tape- or otherwise, any more than i can help. I posted yesterday about getting wormer over here. We used to live in ireland and the worming pill was very small and red and he didn't even mind the taste, so i could worm him regularly. I just tried drontal and the pill is massive; there is no way he will take it; i have the scratches to prove it. I can't hide it in food as it is so big he can eat around it, and he won't eat food that is contaminated by it anyway; he wouldn't eat the bit that had touched the pill, so grinding it up is not an option. My MIL is going to post me a worming tablet from the vet in ireland, but it will be a few days before it arrives; should i make the cat stay outside until he has been wormed? Or is that cruel and unnecessary? He is looking at me sadly through the window......

Have you registered with a vet here? If you have and they have seen him then they may dispense you a milbemax tablet. Be aware there is very close monitoring of veterinary meds being posted from the Republic of Ireland due to farms illegally importing meds.
In my practice if we haven't yet seen your cat we would do a free consult to be able to dispense the milbemax and if you got me I would even put it down for you.

...sorry, put it down? my cat? I don't want to do that!

Thanks for replying again Lonecat. I haven't registered Jess with a vet yet, as the thought of trying to cart the cat to the vets along with the 2 naughtiest little boys in the world and a big bump has put me off. Big bump is now a little baby, but it would now be a real hassle to get to vets with the 2 boys, buggy and cat carrier. DH works nearly all the bloody time and not really anyone else who can help with the kids. I guess i will have to steel myself and just do it when DS1 in nursery; then its just speedy-runner-away-DS2 , the buggy and the cat carrier!

Do you think i should let the cat come inside in the meantime?

If it were me, I'd try harder to get the pill into the cat. I realise that's horribly unfair, especially as I don't know what you've tried so far. It's partly because you may need to give him other pills in the future, and so the both of you might as well get used to this. Also it's because surely it'll take a while for the wormer to get rid of his worms, so the longer you wait, the longer it'll be until he can get in.

Can you get a tablet thingy like this?

Alternatively, the method I use on my cats is to have the tablet and some butter on a small plate beside me. Get hold of the cat and sort of straddle them - obviously don't sit on your cat, but have them between your knees so they can't get up. You can then use one hand to tip their head up and pry open their mouth, then drop the buttered tablet as far back as you can and stroke the cat's throat until you're sure the tablet's gone. It can take a couple of attempts, but if you're calm and firm you should be able to work out a technique. It's not as rough as it sounds, honest!

Alternatively, as Lonecat suggests, could you pop to your vets? They'll be able to at least advise you on good pill dispensing techniques. (I don't think mine would be generous enough to do a free consult, but they'd definitely only charge for a short consult rather than the full price.)

I don't know much about tapeworm and children; is there any way you can shut the cat in a room in you house with litter tray and food where he'll not come into contact with the kids. He could stay there until you're sure he's over it, then disinfect the litter tray fully. Just because it's been manky and rainy all day today here and I know my cats would hate being stuck outside in the rain.

A friend told me a trick for giving a cat pills. I tried it and it worked.

Hold the cats muzzle with whiskers brushed back, tilt the cars head and he'll open his mouth. Pop the pill in then when you let go the cat's natural response is to lick his nose and inadvertently swallow the pill.

Google it

How are the finances, Monkey? I'm only wondering because my own vet does an 'animal ambulance' (ie a van) whereby they'll pick up the animal for treatment and drop them back. They'll also come to your house.

Both of those are designed primarily for people with access problems. They'd be more expensive than normal surgery attendance (no NHS for pets) and I haven't had to use them, my vet being so close, but I know they're there if needed. If it's really, really difficult for you to go and funds permit, would that be an option you could consider? (Or maybe getting a neighbour or friend to take him in after clearing it by phone with the vet.)

Bloody creature! I've just tried again, and wasted yet another pill in the process; had him wrapped in a towel, pill in butter, cat clamped firmly, but he is like houdini. I think i'm a bit too nervous of his claws to do it properly. I will get DH to try later, otherwise I'm going to phone vets tomorrow and ask if they do a pick up service. If not, we'll all have to go. Thanks everyone. (Cat is inside now, BTW.....)

There's a spot on that would do the job. (I temporarily forget its name but your vet won't.) Maybe that's the one for you?

Might I suggest youtube? There are video tutorials on there showing how to worm a cat.

Profender spot on is the one I get from the vet for Seniorboy- who would laugh at the notion that I would even attempt to give him a pill. I seem to recall that that does both round and tapeworms.

Have you got one of those pill syringes? Best thing ever. Vet gave it for free with a course of pills.

If you secure one of these the method is:

Nonchalantly approach cat
Sit on cat to trap between your legs
With a pre- loaded syringe in the right hand, prise open cat jaw quickly with left hand by reaching over the top of its head and making a pincer grip towards back of jaw - this keeps you away from the fangs.
Have the syringe right in frobt of its face
The second that jaw opens, you have half a second to ram the syringe in and squirt the pill. Don't worry about aiming but it has to go in deep.
Clamp the buggers jaw shut for a second, stroke cgin to encourage a swallow. I then offer or ram in a tasty treat. This always makes them swallow.
Release the cat and watch for a few seconds.

If the above takes more than 10 seconds in total, it won't work. Speed is your ally.

Yeah, i think i botched it because i wasn't quick and sure enough!

But i have succeeded this morning with crushed pills and butter and his breakfast; he was hungry enough to eat the stuff, with lots of dilution in his grub; i hope it will work having taken it with lots of food and butter!

Glad i bought two packets of tablets even though i wasted 2 doses!

Some good tips on here, thanks; i'm going to look into the Spot on treatment for next time. By the way how long does the Drontal treatment last?

Drontal treatment just clears the worms out. It doesn't last any length of time. In addition, to have tapeworm, your cat must have eaten a flea. Another two reasons to use spot-on treatment.

It's also very unlikely your children would become infected with tapeworm and they can't be infected from the worm segments you might see around. The children would also have to ingest a flea to become infected, which is pretty unlikely.

mash pill in fish paste
smear on cat
cat grooms itself
licks off pill & fish paste
:)

Genius idea JuliaS - I'll remember that for future!!

Sorry, forgot to say, the cat can also get worms from eating birds or mice, but your children are presumably even less likely to eat those!

Triliteral

Out of interest, Monkey, and as he's got worms, has he been de-flea'd recently? Might be worth doing that as well if not.

We manage to get ours to eat their worming pill by hiding it in a small lump of stiliton. It's probably dreadfully bad for them (and I wouldn't give it to them otherwise), but the strong smell and taste seems to work in disguising the tablet.

I lve the stilton idea Greenshadow!

Yup, i've put some flea and tick stuff on the back of his neck too. But def going to get some that does worms as well as fleas for next time!

Anyway, with regards to the worming, how often should it be done/how soon can the dose be repeated? I really don't want my cat to have worms at all ever!! unrealistic expectation i know!

Worming a cat just gets rid of any worms in the system at the time, unlike flea treatments, there isn't an ongoing effect and no wormer lasts longer than another,some are just more effective and /or have a broader spectrum than others.
It depends on the risk of reinfestation how frequently you worm your cat, some worms can go through their lifecycle in a month. It's recommended to worm your cat at least every three months, but you can do it monthly, especially if your cat is a hunter or if you are concerned about young children sharing the environment.
Profender spot on will treat for tape and round worms but not fleas so a separate treatment needs to be used.
Stronghold spot on does fleas and roundworm but not tapeworms, there isn't spot on than treats all the endo and ectoparasites unfortunately!

Not really directly cat related, but reins for your runner might help when you have to take so many small people/felines about.

Yes - you'll need to use separate treatments for worms and fleas, I'm afraid. And not together. It's best to leave a gap between the types of treatment to avoid chemical overload on the cat. Your vet will advise.

My vet advised at least 4 days between flea and worm treatments, I'm the same as you and can't get pills down my cats necks for love nor money so the drops on the back of the neck are fab! I think the wormer last about 3 months.

oh dear, poor cat, i've wormed and de-flead the same day. i hope he's ok now....

The word on the street is that the 'golden bullet' will be here before the end of the year in spot on format. Only for cats, not those nasty dogs.