Cat has round worms--time to freak out!

I hope it's okay to ask about this here...it is a health issue that I'm hoping some of you have knowledge about.

My 8-year-old cat vomited a worm this evening, which appears to be a roundworm. She is an indoor kitty, and has NEVER been outside to play or eaten any rodents, etc. I adopted her through the SPCA when she was 13 weeks old, and I do recall her vomiting a round worm once before when I first adopted her. She was promptly to the vet and treated. (She will be at the vet first thing tomorrow as well.)

For some reason, I thought since she was treated and was an indoor cat that she wouldn't need recurring worm treatments. And what makes me mad is my vet never suggested I should treat her 1-2 times a year or anything else as a preventive measure.

We just moved into a new apartment, so I think the stress of that may have made any dormant worms active again. Or, and I'm not sure about this, the previous tenant's cat may have infected the place and she's got them since we moved in May 1? We had the carpet shampooed twice for good measure and cleaned from top to bottom before moving in. I'm just not sure how she got infected. I scoop her litterbox daily.

My fiance is worried that we're all infected now. He is typically a hypochondriac, but should I be concerned? I don't have any symptoms, and neither does he (though suddenly his stomach is feeling icky--probably a reaction to being totally freaked out by this situation, though I'm the one that had to confront the worm.).

Any advice out there? I plan to clean things as much as possible and get her on meds tomorrow. But she has the run of the house (though has only been on a couple of pieces of furniture since we moved. She's still a bit freaked out and tends to lurk in corners or under chairs.) I'm not really sure how I can sterilize the entire apartment. Help!

ETA: I'm getting married Sunday and am set to leave for a 5-day honeymoon next Tuesday, so I'm hella-stressed out as it is, and would not want to leave my cat while she's sick. My parents are going to come over and feed her, etc, while we're away, but I have visions of canceling my honeymoon to wait for her to pass worms. Am I overreacting? AAAGGGH!

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mel on May 27, 2008 at 9:16pm: Guess I posted this a bit too close to the dinner hour? LOL. Not exactly dinner conversation...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Goony on May 28, 2008 at 12:09am: Well I know roundworm is contageous. My MOM was just telling everyone this weekend about how i cought it from my grandma's cat when I was a little girl. I guess it was difficult to get rid of too. I don't remember it at all, but if you start noticing a circular patch anywhere on your body you better go see the doctor. You could google it and probably find out everything you need to know.

Congratulations on your wedding. PLEASE don't cancel your honeymoon. Your cat will be alright. There's medicine for her and she'll be alright.

xo
goony; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mel on May 28, 2008 at 6:18pm: Thanks for the advice. I took her to the vet today, and he was perplexed, since, he said, adult cats very, very rarely present with roundworm. Also, turns out she has infected ears that I didn't even know about (unrelated to the roundworm). Again, he said that adult cats shouldn't need to have their ears cleaned by their owners (I do clean hers occasionally with cotton swabs, which she likes) and rarely have infections. It's weird that she presented with two conditions that are not really common in an adult cat. I'm wondering about her immune system. Maybe the stress of us moving this month put her over the edge; I don't know.

She needs ear drops for two weeks, so it does look like I'll have to postpone my honeymoon. I'm not sure she'd let my parents pick her up, much less put drops in her ears (she's a very shy, nervous cat). We'll see how it goes...poor cat. So many annoying things are happening leading up to my wedding. lol. My closet shelf and clothing rod came crashing down last night...accidentally bought a broken bottle of cleaner today at the store...blah--I'll stop whining.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Alie Cristine on May 28, 2008 at 8:48pm: Hi Mel,
Bad things usually come in three's - worms, crash, broken bottle..... Get a good nights sleep things should be back to normal in the morning :-)

If your worried about kitties overall health, after she's done with the meds from the vet you may want to get her on some probiotics. Good intestinal health is key to overall health! Best wishes for an awesome honeymoon!

Alie :-); ▶ Reply to This

RSS

Welcome to
My Crazy Sexy Life

Sign Up
or Sign In

Bulletin Board

You asked for 'em and now they're finally here! Groovy Make Juice Not War and Crazy Sexy Cancer Goddess Tee Shirts!
Your purchase helps maintain this beloved community!
*****************************
Check out The Crazy Sexy Tech Lounge for your Q&A about using site features!