Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens

1. 

   So I petted Jasmine recently and found a tiny white thing on my finger, like a grain of rice but thinner, and it was alive. Some kind of worm, obviously. I went to the vet nearest my home and told them my cats have worms.

   The receptionist gave me a tablet called Drontal Plus. She asked how much the cats weigh in kilos. I said I wasn't sure. She suggested I give 1/4 tablet to Kensho, who is only about 6-7 months old, and the rest to Jasmine, who is about a year and a half.

   That is how things are done here in Costa Rica. You don't always talk to the vet because the vet is busy and there aren't many vet techs around. She asks how many kilos your cats weigh and tells you how much to give them, charges you $3. Next customer. It is cheaper, but it's also random and haphazard.

   I didn't notice until I got home that the tablet was for dogs. I looked it up on the web and found the product, but could not find any tablet that exactly matches this dosage. It contains 50 mg. Praziquantel and 150 Febantel, and 144 mg Pyrantel embonate. But I found a page that indicated that some cats have problems with the Drontal Plus. So I brought the tablet back and said This is for dogs. Yo necessito una medicina para los gatos por favor.

   The receptionist talked to a couple of the vet techs or whoever they were that worked there, and they told her that they use this regularly for cats without any problems. One of the guys there suggested to me to give Kensho 1/4 tab, give Jasmine 1/2 tab, and then after two weeks give Kensho the other 1/4 tab.

   Has anyone used this medicine for worms? I decided tonight to try it, because worms are nothing to mess around with, but I gave both cats 1/4 tab. Both weigh 8 lbs. on my scale, and it doesn't make sense to me to give a double dose to Jasmine just because she's an adult. I suppose I will wait a couple weeks and give them each the other quarter tab.

   I very rarely treated Cloud & Salem for worms. I don't generally believe in preventative treatments, especially if they involve antibiotics. What is the informed view on this? Is one supposed to treat cats every 3 or 4 months for worms, regularly, as some suggest? Or should one just wait until there is evidence that they actually have worms?

   Geoff

   Posted 2 years ago by Mojo #

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   bump

   Posted 2 years ago by iliketea #

3. 

   Mojo, I wont call my opinion informed at all, I can only say what my experience has been. I've used Drontal in my cats, and as a product its fine, but there are better things on the market. If your cats each weigh the same, they should each get the same dosage. My guess would be that they receptionist at your vet probably just assumed that since one cat is still a kitten, and the other is an adult, the adult would be heavier. As far as the frequency of treatment goes, I myself dont believe in 'preventative' treatments. I worm my cats twice a year (adults, kittens get a lot more than that), or if I notice that they are losing a bit of weight, or the gloss on their coats goes dull. If you can physically see the worms, I would be a bit worried, for me that would indicate that the worm-infestation has been going on for a long time. Don't feel bad about it though, I foster cats all the time, even the shelters dont always notice that the cats have worms.

   I treat for worms as follows:
   Kittens get a dose of worm treatment every four weeks untill they are 12 weeks old. Reason: worms get passed on through the blood stream from mom, so they can be born with it, and it can really have a bad effect on their health. You also have to bear in mind that worms have a life-cycle, and that most wormers only kill adult worms in the intestine of the cat, not their eggs and larvae that is in the cats' blood stream. Thats why breeders always worm a momma-cat the week before she's due to give birth. There are specialised wormers for very young kittens, but I'm not gonna mention names, because in those cases its really important that the vet administers the right dosage - 1ml too much can be fatal.
   Adult cats initially get one dose, and then another dose 6 weeks later to kill of the worms that have been developing in the cat since the last treatment. From there on, I only treat twice a year, but it also depends on the cat. I have cats who would never eat anything like birds or bugs that they catch, even if their lives depended on it, so I dont worm them as much as I worm my one particular boy who catches & eats about 5 pigeons a day (yes, I do feed them, Sam just prefers factory-fresh). Also, if you have an existing worm issue, all your cats will have it, not just the one you found the worms on, so it would be best to treat them all at once, and then again 6 weeks later. Hope this helps!

   Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

4. 

   Thank you Skyron, that was very helpful. So it sounds like according to your protocol, I should wait six weeks, not two, before giving them each their remaining tab of dewormer.

   Posted 2 years ago by Mojo #

5. 

   I find that 6 weeks cover the breeding-scope/cycle of most worms. Some kinds of worms have eggs hatching every 2 weeks others 3 weeks . . . 6 to me just covers all of them.

   Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

6. 

   Mojo...I'm not sure if you have a Petsmart in Costa Rica & hope that doesn't sound lame. I lead quite an isolated life in my little town in California.I've dealt w/alot of ferals bringing some of them indoors as well as leaving ones outdoor. I've always taken care to watch for certain symptoms. It's much more difficult to get worm meds & biotics here on a person's word. The vets would never give worm meds out w/out exams first even tho I knew what I was dealing with. When the prices shot up to $10 for 1 tablet of Droncit I knew I had to find something else. Petsmart has A tapeworm med with the Praziquantel (23 miligrams per tablet). I give a half tablet for every 10 lbs. of weight percat.
   Sometimes I have to bury it in a pill pocket treat to fool them. I've had great results with just one treatment. It's a gentle but, thorough med & doesn't upset any of the kits tummies. As the others say...sometimes you have to give a second dose if they have worms really bad or have had them for along time. I've never had a bad experience w/that type of med at that dose. It can be abit pricey ($24.00 for 3 tablets) if you have the number of kits I have (11). But well worth the cost if you only have 1 or 2 kits.

   Posted 2 years ago by feral #

7. 

   Thanks for that Feral. That's one of the benefits of living in Costa Rica, is I could get this med for about 1,500 colones (about $3.00). i didn't need to have the cats examined either. Of course, one has to be more proactive as a kitty parent here too. Although I believe in doing that anyway because I have a very limited trust of vets, whether in the US or here. But your dose of about 11.5 mg. of Praziquantel to each cat is about what I've given my kitties. This tab has 50 mg. Praziquantel per tablet, and I've given a quarter tab to each cat, so they're getting about 12.5 mg. I will repeat in six weeks because it is possible they have had worms a long time.

   Posted 2 years ago by Mojo #

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