Cat riddled with round-worm?

Shambler

Hi all,


our cat has had nasal sounding breathing ever since we got her from a rescue place, at first it was hardly noticeable but got worse after a few weeks. We have had her for around 6 months now and she's had worming treatment 3 monthly.


On several trips to the local vetinary clinic we see different vets, one says it's an upper airway problem but they don't want to treat it because she also has diarrhoea and a course of antibiotics is given for that instead.


A week later she coughs up round worm, panacur is given for 7 days to kill the worms.


Still breathing is noisy.


Another visit another vet, this time it's fluid on the lungs and different antibiotic is given.


Still noisy breathing.


Another visit another vet, this week a nasal swab was taken to detect any viral infection.


Yesterday she coughs up another load of round worm!


I'm picking up a tablet tomorrow for worming but I'm really worried we aren't doing enough and I'm losing confidence that our vets know what they are doing.


Should she be on some regimen of worming over the next few weeks or is just another tablet enough?

Sagz_2

Is she re-infecting herself? If she goes out she may be hunting and picking up worms that way.

There are spot on treatments that could be used, regularly, to keep her free from worms.

Hope she is soon better.

Shambler

She's an indoor cat so I don't think she is reinfecting.


I read on google that I might need to give her worm treatment 2-3 times each one 2-3 weeks apart in order to ensure all the worms get killed but I'm just not getting this sort of info from the vet.

SensibleSarah

How old is she?
What treatment are you giving her every 3 months?

KxMx

Is there another Vet practice you can take her to?

If you're not happy with the care & lack of advice I would certainly try another practice.

chez22

I had similar with a cat that had been a stray for a long time, my vet advised worming every month for 3 months, then every 3 months with a vet strength product (I use Milbemax). I can't remember the exact reason why but it was something to do with if they have a heavy worm burden the worm eggs can migrate into the tissues and the wormer doesn't kill them but repeating the dose monthly should get any residual eggs.

Shambler

SensibleSarah wrote: »

How old is she?
What treatment are you giving her every 3 months?

She's 1 year old and I was either going to use Drontal or whatever type my vet uses.

Shambler

chez22 wrote: »

I had similar with a cat that had been a stray for a long time, my vet advised worming every month for 3 months, then every 3 months with a vet strength product (I use Milbemax). I can't remember the exact reason why but it was something to do with if they have a heavy worm burden the worm eggs can migrate into the tissues and the wormer doesn't kill them but repeating the dose monthly should get any residual eggs.

Thanks Chez that sounds very similar to what I read online.

The worms can only be killed when they are at a certain stage in their life-cycle and since there may be many worms at different stages you have keep repeating the treatment regularly.

SensibleSarah

Yes Shambler, it's definitely a matter of repeated treatment over a few months until it's solved in order to break the life cycle. It's why kittens should be wormed monthly until 6 months old. Milbemax or Drontal should both be fine to use. Speak to your vet about repeating treatment more regularly & see what they say. Unfortunately many vets don't actually receive much training on this so if not very experienced they tend to just follow manufacturers guidelines.

splishsplash

Your cat may well have picked up worms in utero or while nursing from her mother. As others have said, you have to treat regularly to break the cycle.
I find Advocate is the best for fleas and worms. It also helps lungworm - could that be a possibility for your cat? I do the rounds with mine every month for at least a year and I continue every couple of months for those that have had infections.

teddysmum

splishsplash wrote: »

Your cat may well have picked up worms in utero or while nursing from her mother. As others have said, you have to treat regularly to break the cycle.
I find Advocate is the best for fleas and worms. It also helps lungworm - could that be a possibility for your cat? I do the rounds with mine every month for at least a year and I continue every couple of months for those that have had infections.

I was thinking about the possibility of heart/lung worm too, as they need specialist wormer.


Have the vets actually seen samples of the worms to definitely identify them as roundworm ?