Occasionally, the adult worms can be found in the cat’s stool or vomit. Sometimes only a few eggs are passed into the feces, so examination of more than one stool sample may be necessary to find them. Intestinal parasites are diagnosed by finding worm eggs during a microscopic examination of your cat’s stool. Other sources are from the mother’s placenta or milk, or from ingesting infected wildlife (rodents, earthworms, cockroaches, fleas). Since cats are such excellent groomers, they can become infected by licking their paws after walking on contaminated feces (from the litter box or outdoors). Most commonly cats acquire intestinal parasites orally – by eating or licking objects contaminated with worms or worm larvae. Their presence does indicate current or prior flea infestation. Tapeworms are relatively harmless, but can cause anal irritation and scooting. Tapeworms are long, flat, segmented worms that look similar to rice. Roundworms are not as harmful as hookworms, but can cause weakness in adult cats and stunted growth in kittens. They live in your cat’s stomach and intestines and consume partially digested food. On average, they are about 3-5 inches long. RoundwormsĪs their name implies, these are worms which have round bodies. Hookworms can cause severe anemia and even death in young kittens. Despite their small size, they suck large amounts of blood from the tiny vessels in the intestinal wall. Hookworms are parasites, which get their name from the hook-like mouthparts they use to attach your cat’s intestinal wall.
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