
If your cat has worms and you’ve got some dog dewormer left over from your other pet you might wonder if it would be effective. But often the positive effects of a drug gets lost in translation between two species, and can also do harm in some cases.
It’s been said that some dewormers are effective for both cats and dogs, but there are others that aren’t. Therefore it would depend on which dewormer you used for your dog, and what kind of worms your cat has. Worms left untreated can become a serious health risk to your cat, so you don’t want to take any chances on something that might not work on them.
And since it’s not very easy to determine if your cat has heartworms and other intestinal parasites, you’ll want to bring them in for a vet visit to see just how widespread their worm problem is, and what the best course of treatment is. The good news is that once you get this problem under control it’s relatively easy to keep it that way with annual check-ups to see how they’re doing.
Can I Give My Cat Dog Dewormer? Answer: Not Recommended
When your cat has worms you can immediately assume that they’re not living life in optimal health. This is because the worms and other parasites live up to the name, they’re parasitic and they feed off of your cat in one way or another, by robbing them of nutrients or otherwise interfering with healthy functioning of their intestines and other organs. And since this isn’t a problem that is likely to go away on its own, and only gets worse with time, you’ll want to take quick and effective action to help your cat out.
Cats and Worms
Worms are a pretty typical problem with cats, and therefore many owners have had to deal with them, and many vets have written prescriptions to handle the problem. This is actually good news since they won’t need to reinvent the wheel to treat your cat. The method for identifying and then eradicating the worms is well established, and it’s just a matter of putting your cat through the tests and getting them the medications that they need to get back to their normal happy selves.
Effective Treatments
Cat dewormers are the best way to make sure that you’re using medicine that was intended for feline use. Since dogs and cats are different species they have different antibodies present, and are therefore susceptible to different types of worms. After much research we were unable to find any effective home remedies, so this is something that must be escalated to your vet, as it can put a serious damper on your pet’s health, and lead to other health problems over time, diminishing the number of good years you get to spend with them.
Going to the Vet
Seeing your cat’s vet for this problem is the best bet because they’ll not only be able to get rid of the worms that you’ve noticed, but also the ones that you haven’t noticed. A lot of the worms that plague a cat’s system don’t see the light of day and stay nestled in their intestines. That’s why you’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg if you are only noticing them in your cat’s feces. The benefit of taking this problem to the vet is that they will give you a dewormer that will knock out all of the different worms your cat has, and do a full diagnosis to make sure that they get them all.
In this tough economy we’re all trying to save money wherever we can, but giving your cat a dog dewormer isn’t the way to go on this one. It may sound tempting, and you may think that because they’re both mammals and share a lot of the same parts and organs that they might be able to be fixed with the same medicine. But there are some genetic differences and some physiological differences that make this a no-go, so be sure to get your cat checked out and get them on their own dewormer regimen. You’ll be glad you did and your cat would thank you if they could.
What are the signs of worms in cats?
How can I tell if my cat got worms from my boyfriend’s dog?
They often start losing weight. They can also bloat after eating and lick their bottoms more than usual (which is due to the worms crawling out).