How did my indoor cat get tapeworms?

How did my indoor cat get tapeworms?

Indoor cats can become infected with tapeworm in a few different ways, but the most common is by eating infected fleas. Even though your cat may never set a paw outdoors, fleas can hitch a ride into your home on your clothes, on other pets or even on other visitors to your home.

How do common house cats get worms?

How Do Cats Get Worms? Cats most commonly contract worms after coming into contact with parasite eggs or infected feces. A cat may walk through an area with eggs or infected feces, and since cats are often such fastidious groomers, they will then ingest the eggs or fecal particles as they clean their fur and feet.

How common is tapeworm in cats?

Tapeworms are one of the most distressing, but also relatively uncommon. Tapeworms are long, flat worms that attach themselves to a host’s intestines, feeding off the host as they grow longer and more invasive. There’s a misconception that only kittens get worms. In fact, cats of any age can contract tapeworms!

How do adult cats get tapeworms?

How Do Cats Get Tapeworms? Cats don’t become infected by directly eating the tapeworm eggs released by proglottids. Instead, they get tapeworms by eating either infected small animals like mice, squirrels and rabbits, or infected fleas, Nichols says.

Do cat tapeworms go away on their own?

Tapeworms can live up to two years if untreated, but often do not cause great harm to their host. These worms can grow up to 20 inches long, however, they are usually smaller. Tapeworm infestations are fairly common in cats, and veterinary treatment is very effective at eradicating them.

How do you get tapeworms from a cat?

If the cat swallows a flea infested with a “baby tapeworm” while grooming, that worm will mature within the intestinal cat of the track with time. The other common way a cat becomes infected is through hunting small mammals such as mice. Once again, when the worm is in the intestinal tract, it can mature and infect kitty with the parasite.

How does a flea get infected with tapeworm?

First, tapeworm eggs must be ingested by flea larvae, an immature stage of the flea. Contact between flea larvae and tapeworm eggs are facilitated by contaminated bedding or carpet. Adult fleas do not participate in this part of the tapeworm lifecycle. The infected flea larvae will mature into adult fleas.

How long does it take for a tapeworm to grow?

At this point, it takes about four weeks to grow into a reproducing adult tapeworm, which can measure anywhere from 6 to 23 inches and produce the segmented egg packets. These segments contain up to 20 microscopic eggs and exit the cat’s body through their feces.

What kind of parasites do cats and dogs have?

Tapeworms are intestinal parasites of the cat and dog. They are classified as cestodes. As the flea is digested within the cat’s intestine, the tapeworm is released and it hatches and anchors itself to the intestinal lining.