Intestinal Worms in cats and dogs

Ugh! What a great topic to start off on for a Monday! I hope you don't mind if I skip the picture today.

I thought about worms when Lily, our young and spritely cat, caught a mouse on the weekend and ate most of it during the night. I was wondering if I should be concerned about her catching worms from the mouse. [as an aside, we have since caught 12 mice in our house and there's more to come so Lily and Barnes have not been doing their jobs!]

So, here are some interesting things I found out about worms today:

General Info

There are four types of intestinal worms

1. Roundworms: can be seen with the naked eye and are long, tubular, spaghetti shaped and are white when fresh and yellowish when old and dead
2. Tapeworms: can also be seen with the naked eye and are long, flat and segmented. The segments break off and can be seen on the fur around the rectum. The segments most commonly resemble dried rice. Tapeworm eggs are not easily detectable under the microscope.
3. Hookworms: can only be seen microscopically and feed on blood. They are are more common in dogs than cats. 
4. Whipworms: also can only be seen microscopically.

How cats and dogs "catch" worms

• Roundworms can be transferred to a puppy or kitten through the mothers tissue and the mothers milk, or through eating feces from an infested animal (bad dog!), or through eating infested soil (such as licking paws after being outside).
• Hookworms can be transferred to a puppy or kitten through the uterus or through the mother's milk or through eating an infested stool or contaminated soil
• Tapeworms can be passed by eating fleas (fleas feed on tapeworm eggs) or rodents and wildlife infested with tapeworms or fleas.
• Whipworms are contracted by eating the eggs that are picked up from infected soil.

Symptoms of a worm infestation

• Diarrhea: stools may have blood in them
• Weight loss
• Dry hair coat
• Poor overall appearance
• Vomiting: you might even find worms in the vomit
• Pot-bellied appearance (roundworms)
• Anemia from hookworms feeding on blood. This can even cause death in severe cases
• Progressive weakness
• Stool that has a covering of mucous
• Scooting

How you can tell if it's worms?

The only way is to get a stool sample but only a teaspoonful is necessary. The vet mixes a sample with a special solution and sets aside for 10 minutes. Worm eggs float to the top and are collected on a slide and viewed under a microscope. It is possible to have multiple worms in one infestation (poor thing!)

Treatment

You can get different worming medications from your veterinarian or over-the-counter. Over-the-counter may not be as effective as prescription.

Note that different worming medications treat different worms so it is important to identify the types of worms your dog or cat has. Most worming medications only work on the adult worms in the intestinal tract and not on the encysted larvae in body tissues so you might have to give the medication again later to get the larvae.

How to prevent worms in the first place

The biggest ways are to avoid contact with feces (keep your yard clean and keep your dog away from feces on walks), use flea prevention, and get rid of all the mice in your house!

As with any of your pet’s health conditions, if you are worried about your pet, talk to your vet.

Thanks to Chris for helping me pull this together. Information was obtained from ThePetCenter.com, Wipikedia.com and Merriam-Webster online.