Keeping Your Cat Worm Free.

Although your cat may not show any outward signs of infestation it can still have worms. Some worms can be life threatening for your pet and some intestinal worms can cause illness in people. So in order to keep you and your cat well it is a good idea to have a regular worming program in place.
There are two groups of worms that are dangerous to our pets, intestinal worms, which live in the intestine and heartworm, which lives in the heart.

Intestinal Worms
Intestinal worms all go through a complex life cycle that involves hatching from an egg and growing into an adult worm to lay its own eggs. The time taken to complete this cycle can be as short as two weeks. This in combination with the hundreds of eggs laid each day means a worm problem can develop very quickly.

There are three different types of intestinal worms that can affect cats and they are named according to the way they look. Roundworm is tubular and looks very much like a piece of spaghetti. Tapeworm is a flat worm that looks like a piece of tape. Hookworms have a hook in their mouth that they use to attach onto the lining of the cat's intestine. All of these worms live in the intestine and cause disease either by sucking blood from the gut or by interfering with the absorption of nutrients. Fleas transmit the flea tapeworm, so an important step in the control of this worm is to control fleas on your cat. Both Roundworm and Hookworm can cause disease in people, but the regular treatment of cats and good hygiene practices should protect you.

Treating kittens and cats.
Kittens should be treated for intestinal worms every two weeks starting at two weeks of age, until they are eight weeks old. A kitten worming syrup or suspension is usually sufficient for this. Between two to six months, kittens should be wormed every month. After this they can be treated every three months for the rest of their life. Use a broad-spectrum intestinal wormer that covers all worms including tapeworm. Female cats that are pregnant should be wormed a week before they give birth and then when the kittens are two and four weeks old.

Heartworm
Heartworm is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. It is potentially fatal as adult worms can interfere with the action of the heart. We have known about the infection of dogs with heartworm for many years but it has only recently been recognized as a dangerous threat to cats. The incidence of infection of cats with heartworm is increasing, so it is recommended that cats be given a preventative if they live in high-risk areas. Like dogs, cats will often show no signs of having heartworm until the disease is established and significant damage to the heart has occurred.

There are some areas of Australia where heartworm is not a problem, but wherever there are mosquitoes the potential for infection exists. Your veterinarian can advise you if the area in which you live is a high risk area for heartworm. Remember if you travel with your pet you may be going from a low risk to a high-risk area. Heartworm poses no risk to people.Heartworm prevention can be started from six to eight weeks of age. Whichever method you choose to use to prevent heartworm, you must give it consistently through your cat's life.

Common sense steps
A few simple common sense steps can help to decrease the exposure of you and your cat to intestinal worms:

1. Follow a regular worming program using an effective worming product and worm all pets in the household on the same day. Weigh your pet prior to worming to ensure that the correct dose is given.
2. Empty your cat's litter tray daily to remove worm eggs from the environment before they have time to become infective. Try to have a couple of litter trays if you have more than one cat.
3. Always use gloves when gardening where cats may be going to the toilet. If possible, remove droppings from these areas.
4. Cover sandpits every night and during the day when not in use.
5. Bury, burn or dispose of manure out of reach of animals and children.
6. Control fleas on pets and in their environment to prevent spread of tapeworms.
7. Always wash your hands after emptying litter trays or handling your cat.

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