I am sooo grossed out! Help! serious question.

[AJandElijahsmommy]

Ok, I am so grossed out at the thought of this, but is it possible that my 2 year old can get tapeworms from the cat? We just found out that the cat has tapeworm due to eating an infected mouse outside.  The cat has two favorite sleeping spots in the house; the back of the couch and in my sons bed! I found out about the worms when the cat was behind me on the back of the couch and I saw flat rice-like worms around his butt and on the couch. UHHH yuk! so of course I immediatly ran in the bedroom where my son was sleeping in his bed and yanked the poor baby out of sleep to check his bed for worms. I didn't find any, but 3 days after we find out about the cats worms now ds has pugnant diarreah(sp?) and his anus is so swollen and sore. Is it possible he got tapeworm from the cat? please tell me no, please please tell me no. Puke! what can I do?

[mbravebird]

It is definitely possible, and be glad you caught it early. A lot of the traditional herbs for parasites are not OK for babies and young children. 2 years old might be OK, but I'd look into it first. The traditional herbs are black walnut, wormwood, and cloves. The first two kill the adults, the cloves dissolve the eggs. It's the black walnut and the wormwood that you need to be careful with when giving to children, if you choose to give it to them at all. How much does your son weigh? You might want to consult the Hulda Clark website for dosing instructions for children if you choose to use those herbs. There is also a site called Huma-worm that has an anti-parasitic mix made just for children. I think they have to be at least two.

I have recently had to learn a bunch about parasites, and discovered that papaya seeds are a very very effective anti-parasitic. As or more effective than the de-worming poisons, according to the study I read. You can buy papayas at most grocery stores.

Food-grade Diatomaceous Earth will also kill parasites. I am sometimes hesitant about it, though, because it does have an elevated aluminum content. However, people claim that because of the nature of the DE, it is not absorbed by the body. You might want to research it some more before giving it to a 2 year old. I'd definitely start giving it to your cat right away, though. If you give the cat FGDE with every meal, it will not get worms again. The food-grade version of DE is what you want, not the swimming pool version. You can get the food-grade DE at livestock feed stores in large amounts, or on Ebay in smaller amounts, or from many online sellers. You want the Perma-guard brand.

Good luck! Remember that most folks have parasites -- 85% of Americans, according to most studies. You're in good company, and at least you know about it!

[AJandElijahsmommy]

thanks so much for the info!!  This really creeps me out. gag!  do you think I should wait to see if it is something else or go ahead and treat him for it just in case? He did also have some fast food recently which I rarely give him. So far the only symptom is the diarrrea. It is mucosy, but I don't see worms in it.  He is not complaining of tummy ach or anything but like I said his anus is swollen and painful. He is 35 lbs Btw. 

[BellinghamCrunchie]

He can't actually get them from the cat. The only way he can get them is from accidentally ingesting a flea (or a mouse!) that has the tapeworm eggs. Check the cat for flea dirt by combing the cat with a flea comb. If there are no fleas on your cat, it is extremely unlikely he has tapeworms. Extremely. And even if your cat does have fleas, its pretty unlikely that he would have eaten a flea.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Actually, I take that back. The tapeworms from eating rodents (Taenia) are different from the tapeworms in fleas (Dipylidium). So the only way he could get a tapeworm is by eating a rodent. He can't get it from touching the cat or even accidentally ingesting the cats feces or tapeworm segments.