Vile - worms...!

[PickledWilly]

Yuck. My 6 month old kitten has tapeworms! Saw bit of white rice like stuff around the fur on her bum, she has just done a poo in her tray and it was mostly large tapeworm!!!! Absolutely gross. Have tried to give her a worming tablet today with no success - she literally refused to swallow it. Crushed one into her food and she knows full well it is there. Has eaten a tiny bit and left the rest. How will I know when all traces of worm have gone?

What was the tablet? I assume you got it from the vet. Ask their advice about a repeat dosage but it sounds as though you will need to put it directly down her throat. Open mouth, push tablet right to the back with your finger, close mouth. It's very useful to have a syringe so you can then syringe a bit of water into her mouth to help with the swallowing. If she's only six months it shouldn't be difficult to do.

If you really can't manage it yourself maybe pay the vet to do it for you.

It was Drontal. We did try hundreds of times but she literally spat it out the vet did our older cat and it looked so easy!

If she spat it out then it wasn't far enough down the throat - you really need to push it down a bit with your finger. It looks as though you will need to get the vet to do it then.

You could try with Shiphams fishsandwich paste or similar. It's very sticky and cats seem to love it. If you make a little ball of it and stick the tablet inside cats will often just swallow it straight down. Test with some without the tablet first.

You can get a liquid that you put onto their necks to deworm them. Our kitten will not take the tablets either.

Pop pill in mouth. Hold mouth shut. Stare at cat and then suddenly blow on the cat's nose. It's amazing how well it works.

I’ve found that hiding them in these treats is the only thing that works! They are horrible smelly cat treats (95%meat apparently) but they are soft enough to split the treat and put the tablet inside it . My cat gobbles them up and doesn’t realise that he’s just had a tablet!