Preventing tapeworms in cats is easy once you understand the relationship between cats, fleas and tapeworms.
The Life Cycle Of A Tapeworm
The tapeworm life cycle begins when a flea larva ingests a tapeworm egg. The tapeworm egg develops into a tapeworm larva in the developing flea. You cat accidentally ingests the tapeworm infected flea when it is grooming itself. The flea enters your cat's stomach where it is digested, freeing the tapeworm larva. The tapeworm larva passes to the cat's small intestine where it fastens itself using its hook like mouthparts. When the tapeworm grows into an adult, segments of its body called proglottids break off and leave the cat via its feces. Each of the proglottids contains up to 20 tapeworm eggs. When a proglottid breaks open, it releases the eggs. If a flea ingests one of these eggs, it becomes infected with a tapeworm larva and the tapeworm's life cycle begins again.
Cat Tapeworm Symptoms
The surest sign of a tapeworm is seeing the proglittids around your cat’s anus or on his stool. However, there are other signs that your cat has a tapeworm. For example, you may see that your cat is urinating frequently or having a problem urinating. Or you might notice that the cat is suffering from abdominal discomfort or is even vomiting. Have you seen your cat dragging or scooting its anus across the floor or carpet? This is another clear sign of tapeworms in cats. Your cat may even suffer convulsions if it has a really serious tapeworm infestation. It is thought that these convulsions may be due to the toxins produced by tapeworms.
Cat Tapeworm Treatment
Fortunately, treatment is relatively easy for tapeworms in cats. You will need to take the cat to your veterinarian who will treat your cat with a medication brand named Droncit. This could be administered either as an injection or in tablet form. Alternatively, he or she may suggest you buy the product Tradewinds Tapeworm Tabs. This is an over-the-counter version of the Droncit in that they both contain the chemical Praziquantel. If you treat the cat yourself using the Tradewinds Tapeworm Tabs, be sure to follow the directions and use the appropriate dosage which will be based on your cat's weight
Preventing Tapeworms In Cats
The key to preventing tapeworms in cats is to prevent your cat from accidentally consuming fleas. That means you need to protect your cat from fleas. The best and easiest solution is a topical cat flea medicine such as Frontline Plus for Cats & Kittens.
If you believe there are fleas in your home, you can buy one of the many flea-killing treatments available over-the-counter at your nearby pet store or even at your supermarket. Some of the more popular of these flea killers are Adams Carpet Spray, Bio-Spot® Inverted Carpet and Premise Spray, Raid® Flea Killer Plus Carpet and Room Spray, Frontline® Spray and Ectopamin Flea and Tick Spray, an all-natural flea killer. Whichever flea killer you choose, be sure that it contains an insect growth regulator (IGR). This is because it is not enough to just kill the adult fleas; you must also interrupt the flea's lifecycle to prevent further infestations.
Do you live in an area where fleas are prevalent? In this case, you may also need to spray your yard to rid it of these tiny pests. There are any numbers of insecticides available that will kill fleas but you should discuss this with your veterinarian before using any of them. The problem with many insecticides is that they are not selective -- they'll kill helpful insects as well as harmful ones such as the fleas.
As you can see, preventing tapeworms in cats is not a difficult task. The important thing is to make sure your cat is free of fleas.
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