Worming your Cat

Deworming a cat is essential, even if he doesn’t leave the flat. This helps him to stay healthy and to prevent you and your family from becoming infected. Even kittens are likely to be infested. Deworming is an important preventative measure to fight your cat’s internal parasites. Worms can cause serious damage to internal organs and you may also become contaminated. Kittens must be wormed very early with suitable products and treatment must continue regularly throughout their lives.

Even if your cat never goes out, worming should be considered a vital part of their care. Worms can be responsible for very serious and sometimes irreversible lesions on different internal organs. Some parasites can be transferred to humans and can be very dangerous. Children, in particular, are vulnerable as they aren’t always as hygiene focused as they should be. You can bring home worms, eggs or larvae on your shoes or clothes so even if you live in a flat you cat can become infested. Once swallowed, the eggs or worms will settle and grow in the digestive tract. Larvae can severely damage some of your cat’s internal organs whilst feeding on blood and food. For a kitten, these parasites can present an even greater danger that could kill them.

Kittens need to be wormed very early. The contamination can occur whilst in their mother’s womb. If she is infected, she can transfer the worms to the kittens whilst she is pregnant. The young can also swallow worms whilst suckling. So it is essential to deworm the pregnant cat and the kittens.

Deworming helps to kill the worms that are present in the digestive tract. There are two types of worms that are the most common. Roundworms which are transferrable to humans and cestodes (flatworms). Cat dewormers are not preventative but only act as a cure. They will only kill the worms when they are taken meaning the cat will have to be dewormed regularly.

It’s quite difficult to tell if your cat is infested with worms. He can be full of parasites but still look healthy. There are some symptoms which you can look out for. If you see eggs or larvae in his faeces, if he vomits or has diarrhoea, if he is anaemic or if his coat is dull. Worms can lead to loss of weight and vitality. Excessive ballooning of the belly in kittens can also be a sign. Don’t wait for these symptoms to appear before you deworm you cat. It is recommended that you deworm you cat two to four times a year depending on his lifestyle. If your pet never goes out, two dewormers a year will be enough. If, however, he goes out a lot, you must deworm him four times a year, at each season change. There as special treatments adapted for kittens and they should be dewormed every two weeks for the first month, then every month until they are six months old. Pregnant cat should be treated a few days before mating, around the 45^th day of gestation and after giving birth.

What sort of dewormer should you choose?

Dewormers for cats are available as tablets or pipettes. It is important to choose the dewormer with the largest coverage, that is, one that is active on most digestive worms. Your cat will need to swallow the tablets, which can be difficult to get them to do! They can be presented in a treat if the cat will eat them. Others are in pipettes where the liquid needs to be put on the skin at the back of their neck where they can’t lick it off. Both forms of deworming are very effective.

A very relaxed Ziggy!

Daily Cleaning

Just because cats spend a lot of time washing themselves doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t worry about their hygiene. Baths, brushing and nail cutting should be part of the care we give them.

Even though long-haired cats need more care taken of them, such as daily brushing, all cats need their owners help to look after their fur, especially when they are moulting! The reasons are simple: our houses and flats are overheated compared to what they need and so they lose more hair than they would if they were wild. They can’t find the herbs they need to eat that will make them vomit when whey have swallowed too much fur. And finally, they don’t use their claws as much as they would in the wild.

Daily care

- Brushing: the minimum is once a week for a short-haired cat outside the moulting season (every two days, with a special cat brush, whilst they are moulting). But if you have a long-haired cat, you can’t escape daily brushing with a cat brush. Your cat’s health is at stake – if you don’t brush him he could swallow so much hair that it obstructs his digestive tract. In addition, the brushing stimulate his circulation and helps the regrowth of his beautiful fur.

- Clipping claws: If a cat lives indoors and doesn’t wear their claws down, it may be necessary to clip claws on the front paws. Hold the cat firmly against you (you may need some help!), take a paw, gently pressing on the knuckles to push the claws out one by one and cut only the translucent part with a claw cutter which you should be able to get from the vets or a pet shop. It is painless to the cat but if you really can’t do it, don’t get scratched, get your vet to do it or get them to show you how.

- Washing and shampooing: cats can need bathing for a variety of reasons, perhaps before a cat show, because of a skin disease, he may have rubbed against a freshly painted wall or been somewhere smelly. Start by brushing out the hair to detangle it. If his eyes need washing, clean them with a piece of gauze soaked in saline solution or veterinary eye wash. When the basin or sink is partly filled with warm water, put your cat in and wet him gently with a glove, taking care not to get water on his head. Wash him with a special cat shampoo (no other product is suitable) and rinse him thoroughly before drying with a towel. Give him one last brush and he is ready!