Dealing with Tapeworms in Cats

Cat tapeworms are long, flat, white worms. They have hook-like mouths that anchor onto the wall of your cat's small intestine. They feed on nutrients that pass through your cat. They can grow as long as 20 inches, though most are about 8 inches when they're fully grown. As the tapeworm matures, it starts shedding segments of itself—scientists call the segments proglottids. The proglottids, about the size of a grain of rice, break off from the main body of the tapeworm and pass into the cat's feces.

Cats can get tapeworms in several ways. The most common way is through fleas. Tiny flea larvae can be infected with tapeworms. If your cat digests an infected flea while grooming itself, that flea can transmit a tiny tapeworm into your cat which will grow into a full-sized adult worm. Cats can also get tapeworms by eating small animals like squirrels and mice.

Vomiting up pieces of worm that is still alive is a good indicator, of course. Other signs your cat might be suffering from a tapeworm infestation include unexplained weight loss, though the most common sign your cat is infested with tapeworms are the proglottids. You're likely to see those rice-sized, egg-filled tapeworm segments in either your cat's feces or crawling near her anus. You might witness your cat "scooting" across the floor if the segment is irritating her skin, but this behavior is much more common in dogs.

Luckily, treatment for cat tapeworms is pretty easy and effective. If your cat is infested, your vet will give you a tapeworm medicine called a dewormer. Typically, dewormers are oral medications, though they can also be given through an injection.

The deworming medication causes the tapeworm to dissolve in the intestines. Since the worm has been digested, you shouldn't expect to see evidence of it in the litter box. The deworming medication should not cause your cat any adverse side effects, like vomiting or diarrhea.

The best-case scenario is to keep your cat from getting infected in the first place. You can greatly reduce your cat's risk of ever getting tapeworms by using flea control treatments regularly and keeping your cat inside. Tapeworms are not contagious, like a cold, per se, but they are transmittable — through fleas — from animal to animal and in rare cases to humans. Just like your cat, if your dog eats an infected flea while chewing his skin, he can get tapeworms. If you or your child accidentally ingests a flea, you could get tapeworm, too.

There are two types of tapeworm. The most common, and the one discussed throughout this article, is known scientifically as dipylidium caninum, explains the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The other type — which is far more dangerous and far more rare — is called Echinococcus. According to the CDC, cystic echinococcosis (or CE) is caused by infection with the larval stage of a tapeworm called hydatid worm, or Echinococcus granulosus, which is found in dogs, sheep, cattle, goats, and pigs.

"Although most infections in humans are asymptomatic, CE causes harmful, slowly enlarging cysts in the liver, lungs, and other organs that often grow unnoticed and neglected for years," the CDC reports.