tape worms in Dp's cat & I am pregnant

[corysmilk]

Oh my, Dp's cat has tapeworms. we found the dried sesame seed looking things on the bed after he sleeps. My ds is almost 7 and I think he may have them too!! his bum has been itchy and he is coughing alot, which I read can be a sign of them. Dp has had stomach problems for years and is always tired and coughs too, so much sometimes I am scared he is going to vomit.
I am 26 weeks pregnant and really scared. I relize that it is rare for us to have the tapeworms from the cat but, the house is inested with fleas and dp won't let me get flea bombs because he has a water dragon and several fish. I don't know what to do??? please help us!!

[Sam*]

Is there anyway to get the water dragon out and cover the fish? You will keep having problems with tape worm if you can not control the fleas. You also need to treat the cat with a good flea treatment. There are many availible at the vet. If you want to do a more natural approach there is one that smells like clove that is moderately effective, but I would probably only use that once you got the infestation under control. The vet will also have a good tape worm med for the cat.

[lonegirl]

Tapeworms are transmitted by a secondary host. The cat will have eaten an infected flea or rodent (2 types of tapeworms). Is the cat being treated for fleas? Revolution is great and very safe....it will help control the infestation in the house as well....you can also get really good premise sprays at your vets' that can help...Vacuum well and add a flea collar to the bag and promptly toss.
Bring in the fecal sample with the speciman and it can be checked to confirm the type of tapeworm.

[Ola_]

I agree that the fleas are the key to this - otherwise the cat wouldn't have been infected with tapes. Fortunately they are not that hard to get rid of as far as worms go, when we adopted one of our dogs he had tapes and some appropriate dewormer took care of them quickly. But the fleas will keep reinfecting him so you'd need to be deworming regularly.

I don't know if tapeworms in the cat are dangerous to you, but either way living in a house full of fleas must be icky. At the very least I'd be getting some diatomaceous earth to sprinkle around, getting the kitty on flea preventatives and dewormer, and vacuuming and washing everything washable in hot water, often, until you get this under control.

[slb1107]

None of my pets have fleas...but one of my dogs got tapeworms a month ago..and one of my cats got it yesterday! As long as they don't eat another infected flea the tapeworms will be gone in 24 hours with the pill from the vet. All they need is the pets weight to get the right dosage. We talked to a friend who works at a pet store and he said to go to the vet instead of buying the ones that stores sell. Since you do have fleas you will need to get rid of them. Get all your pets on Revolution. It works! I never bombed or anything..just took a month for all fleas to be truly gone. (that's back when I just had 1 cat and lived in an apartment though) But if they are on Revolution..the fleas have no where to live. And they will all eventually die. So if you don't mind waiting you can go that way...if not you'll have to hire an exterminator if it's really bad. If not..get the bombs and go on vacation.