Question:
My sweet new kitten has me puzzled. She's been wormed and vaccinated, but sometimes when she's lying down, I've seen some white things. They are about the size of a grain of rice, and they seem to move. Is it my imagination or is my cat infested with maggots or something?
W.F.P., Winston-Salem, NC Oct 03, 2011
Answer:
You are probably seeing segments of a tapeworm, which look like grains of rice and can actually wriggle out of an animal's rear end. These segments contain eggs that are eaten by flea larvae on the ground. When the infected larvae mature into adult fleas that hop onto your cat, the tapeworm cysts inside the fleas complete their life cycle. The cat catches and swallows the fleas, and once inside, the parasites attach themselves with hooks and suckers to the inner lining of the cat's intestines.
Getting rid of the tapeworms will take two things:
- Worming medication to rid the cat of the parasite;
- Thorough flea eradication, which means using safe chemicals and other treatments on your cats and in your home. For details, check my website.
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