Will this worm treatment work?

[Perimenoanti]

I have dewormed my 4 month old kitten. It has worms, so it's important this works. I have given two spot on treatments in one go, which are now running down his fur. Is this going to work if it's supposed to be absorbed into the skin?

Is repeating the treatment within a week too soon?

Why have you used 2 treatments? You need to stick to whatever the vet prescribed. Be that one a week/month etc........

At 4 months old you can kill a kitten very easily by overdosing.

As the pp said you may well be killing him giving him 2 treatments and it won’t make the treatment more successful. What spot on is it you have used ? for future reference , you need to part the fur and then drop it on the skin , if he’s small you may need to do this in a few areas for it to absorb . Has this wormer come from a vet ?

At 4 months have you checked he’s reached the minimum weight for one spot on, never mind two??
Does he have roundworms or tapeworms?

Yes, 2 spot ons above 2.5kg of weight, which he is. This isn't my question though. Why are you doubting I'm giving an incorrect dose?

He has tapeworms.

Thanks, I know how his fur needs to be parted. Sometimes things don't go as planned with cats, as I am sure you know. Thanks for the tip to apply on several small areas.

It's the beaphar spot on treatment. 2 tubes above 2.5kg of weight.

I'm going to presume you have wormed your kitten with the correct dose for his weight.
Check the manufacturers instructions for how often to worm, but to repeat in 7 days sounds too soon to me.
Wormers do work when used correctly.

I have just looked it up and it says to use every 3 months. So I wouldn't do it any sooner than that without checking with your vet first.

@HappyToSmile it says monthly, but that younger kittens should be done bi-weekly. Hence my question.

I will ask the vet anyway as we have an appointment for something else, but I needed to give this treatment asap.

Tapeworms are usually from ingesting fleas (or hunting but assume he is not going out yet) so you need to check/treat for fleas too. Ruffle his coat onto a white surface (bath works well) and if you are seeing black specks wipe up with damp kitchen roll and look for them dissolving to red colour (flea dirt = blood sucked from kitty)

We tried over the counter flea and worm treatments to be absolute rubbish. They aren't cheap from the vets, but if you compare it to the money we wasted experimenting with ineffective treatments, it's far more cost effective.

@LuckysDadsHat respectfully, it doesn't seem you know too much about this. Every three months is recommended for adult outdoor cats. Kittens need to be done more often as they can contract worms via the mother's milk etc.

If very young kittens can be done every other week I just wondered how soon too soon is for an older kitten if the initial treatment didn't go as planned.

What would the vet give? Like a different substance but also as spot on?

I know pills are better but it's such a struggle.

@Miloarmadillo2 okay. He isn't going out and won't be. But he currently has an ear infection which I am treating him for. They seemed to think it's bacterial. No mites.

My assumption was that he brought these worms in from his previous home. I have only had him for a few weeks.

Our cats have spot on bravecto and we've had zero infestations since they started on it. We do a monthly plan for the surgery which for £16 pm each means they just post the treatments out to us and give them an annual checkup. Vaccinations are also covered. You get a reduced rate on treatments too. I works out cheaper than payg, and it means you don't forget a dose. I think most vets do these schemes so it might be worth looking into.

Also, the bravecto helps keep ear mites at bay which is an issue with one of our cats.

The flea/worming treatments that are prescription only (ie via your vets) are better.
Worth finding out how much your vet will charge for them and work out if it's cheaper (usually us) to pay for a prescription from them and buy online

Thanks, I will speak to the vet about it on Friday.

We’ve recently changed vets and my cat has been given tablets for both flea and worming. It is so much easier! She hates spot-on treatments with a passion and it was so difficult to apply them effectively. She’s gobbled up the tablets like they were Dreamies. I realise this doesn’t help you in the short term, but might be worth looking into for future treatments? Wormer is Milpro and for a kitten/small cat it’s a tiny tablet (half a tablet for our 3.5kg girl).

@KittenKaboodle oh really? Are you saying they make this like a treat so kitty wants to eat it?

I have just applied the spot on treatment to my older cat. There would be no way I could force a tablet into him. He wouldn't even let me grab him.

No forcing required for either tablet - just offered her them the way I would a treat, on the palm of my hand, and she ate them! Granted she is a bit of a gannet, but she wasn’t even remotely suspicious. The vet said the flea treatment (Credelio) is more palatable than the wormer, but the latter is so tiny you could easily grind it up and add it to wet food.

Thanks I will look into it.

By contrast, it was always a battle to apply the spot-on, which required 2 people and always ended with her hiding under the bed for an hour afterwards and us feeling dreadful.