worms

[red and lulu]

i took our cat — who spends 95% of his time outdoors, only coming in at night to eat and maybe cuddle for a few minutes before he's off again — to the vet a couple weeks ago for his shots and b/c we thought he might have worms. b/c he is always outside and doesn't use the litterbox, there was no way to ascertain he had worms, so the vet just treated him. sometime last night he vomited on the front porch and there was a disgustingly large tapeworm in it (maybe 2 feet long, by dp's estimations). my question is this: was the tapeworm dead b/c of the treatment and so we're in the clear? or should i take him back to the vet for another treatment?

[lonegirl]

Hi there! I can't count the number of fecals I have done in my line of work. Vomiting up the worm after treatment is completely normal....he may even poo out more. What was he given for treatment, do you recall? Generally the treatment is a one time thing...some places will retreat in 3 weeks just in case.

OK plus.....one type of tapeworm is transmitted from eating rodents
(taenia-taenia)
another transmitted from fleas (Dipylidium)-therefore you need flea treatment as well.
If you bring bring the worm in they can identify the egg packets contained in the segments (microscopically)-most will do a 2 min check in house to identify.
Plus.....it may have actually been a round worm rather than a tape worm (looks like a big piece of spaghetti). So personally, I would recommend bringing it in to be identified.