Normal for a cat to vomit a tapeworm vs the worm coming out in thestool?

We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

Cat Guy formulated on Saturday :
We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

I had a feral cat given me by mistake a few years ago. He did exactly
the same thing.

This cat had an appetite like a horse and would eat anything put in
front of him. I had to stop a neighbor from feeding him as he was
eating curry, chicken supreme and all manner of things humans eat. He
made a hell of a noise when he wanted food in the morning.

--
Count Baldoni

On Apr 12, 10:27*am, Cat Guy wrote:
We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

If you are seeing an actual worm when the cat regurgitates food, the
cat can ingest the worm while grooming. Tape worms look exactly like
rice. If it is a roundworm, which will be visible in vomit, its more
spaghetti-like. Before the cat is infested this bad with worms , your
pet will be obviously ill. It will be hard to actually see a tape
worm that has been ingested and comes back up in vomit. The likely way
your cat can actually do this with a tape worm, it will be ingested
and thrown up immediately. If this happens again. Take the worm to
your vet, they can identify under a microscope. You will have to do
this fairly soon, as the worm will dry up.

"balikitty" wrote in message
...
On Apr 12, 10:27 am, Cat Guy wrote:
We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

If you are seeing an actual worm when the cat regurgitates food, the
cat can ingest the worm while grooming. Tape worms look exactly like
rice. If it is a roundworm, which will be visible in vomit, its more
spaghetti-like. Before the cat is infested this bad with worms , your
pet will be obviously ill. It will be hard to actually see a tape
worm that has been ingested and comes back up in vomit. The likely way
your cat can actually do this with a tape worm, it will be ingested
and thrown up immediately. If this happens again. Take the worm to
your vet, they can identify under a microscope. You will have to do
this fairly soon, as the worm will dry up.

They won't need a microscope to identify the tape worm that the cat barfed
up. You'll never mistake one of them for round worms. I also have had a cat
barf up a tape worm. We took it to the vet where they confirmed the
identification and finally issued the meds that we had been requesting they
give us for weeks. The rice you've seen are tapeworm segments that are shed.
The cat cannot get a tapeworm from ingesting the segments. The cat must
ingest the intermediary host (flea or rodent) in order to acquire a tape
worm.

W

On Apr 14, 6:41*am, "Wendy" wrote:
"balikitty" wrote in message

...
On Apr 12, 10:27 am, Cat Guy wrote:

We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

If you are seeing an actual worm when the cat regurgitates food, the
cat can ingest the worm while grooming. Tape worms look exactly like
rice. If it is a roundworm, which will be visible in vomit, its more
spaghetti-like. Before the cat is infested this bad with worms , your
pet will be obviously ill. *It will be hard to actually see a tape
worm that has been ingested and comes back up in vomit. The likely way
your cat can actually do this with a tape worm, it will be ingested
and thrown up immediately. *If this happens again. Take the worm to
your vet, they can identify under a microscope. You will have to do
this fairly soon, as the worm will dry up.

They won't need a microscope to identify the tape worm that the cat barfed
up. You'll never mistake one of them for round worms. I also have had a cat
barf up a tape worm. We took it to the vet where they confirmed the
identification and finally issued the meds that we had been requesting they
give us for weeks. The rice you've seen are tapeworm segments that are shed.
The cat cannot get a tapeworm from ingesting the segments. The cat must
ingest the intermediary host (flea or rodent) in order to acquire a tape
worm.

W

Im not saying anyone will mistake it for a roundworm. i dont think
what she is seeing is a worm at all. I am a licensed vet tech for 18
years. Trust me on this. thanks.

balikitty wrote:

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

If you are seeing an actual worm when the cat regurgitates food,
the cat can ingest the worm while grooming.

Where would the worm come from that he would injest while grooming?

Let me recap the history he

We caught a stray cat on our front porch in a raccoon trap in
mid-January.

Cat was released in an unused spare room and kept there for a day or
two. Cat was very frantic in our presence, tried to climb the walls,
windows, etc. Have never seen that before in a captured adult cat
before. Managed to divert the cat into a cat carrier, took cat to the
vet.

Health record notes say this: 10.4 lbs, Neuter. Healthy. Very
Feral. Fleas and flea dirt seen. Revolution applied. Vaccines:
FVRCP, FeLv, rabies (Imrab 3).

I stressed to the vet that I wanted a worm pill administered by them
while the cat is still "controllable" or some-what sedated, especially
since this cat is unfamilliar to me. A drontal tablet appears on the
bill, and in the health record it also says that a drontal was
administered, along with the revolution and an FeLV / FIV test (test =
negative).

The negative test for FIV is some-what unexpected, as most of the
stray cats that we catch end up testing positive for FIV. But then
again, we go to 2 different vets, and most (or all) of the positive
tests seem to come from tests performed by the other vet.

While cat was at the vet, we cleaned the room, laundered the canvas
floor covering and all blankets, bedding, etc. Cat was released into
the room, was immediately less frantic and very quickly was calm when
we came into the room to feed him. Could pet his head, behind his
ears, etc, but he usually initially gave a hiss and stiffened up.

After about 7 weeks, we noticed a reddish streak on the canvas floor
covering, and a new streak almost every day for 2 weeks afterwards.
Stool always appeared normal (no diarhea), always ate all the food,
drank water, etc. Reddish streaking stopped, but he becomes more
resistant to being approached and petted. We cleaned the room at this
point, laundered the canvas floor covering and all blankets, sheets
and bedding.

Two weeks later, I see large vomit pile (did not examine it closely,
but nothing "wormy-looking" was obvious). Also see dried tape worm
segments in bedding. He absolutely refuses to be petted. Backs into
a corner when petting is attempted, hisses, etc. The next morning I
place small milbemax pill in with a small amount of soft food. He
eats all food, no sign that he spat out the pill. I go to work.

Come home from work, find new vomit pile. See what on first glance
looks like a rubber band. Closer inspection shows that it's a worm.
Flat (not round) about 1/4" wide. Ridged or segmented (not smooth).
Divert cat into cat carrier, take him out of room, clean room, launder
everything again.

It's been 3 or 4 days now, cat is again approachable, can be petted.

Not sure what to do at this point, except maybe try to apply
revolution and give him another milbemax in 3 weeks.

Again I stress that this worm was flat, not round. Looked like one of
those large (wide) rubber bands (not like a piece of spaghetti).

Cat really never gave any outward appearance of being ill. Was always
alert (when we were in the room scooping his litter or feeding him).

i dont think what he is seeing is a worm at all. I am a licensed
vet tech for 18 years. Trust me on this. thanks.

I've seen a lot of different vomits from our various cats over the
years. Trust me - this was a worm, not a noodle that somehow found
it's way into his room and eaten by him and then was upchucked and
somehow came out completely intact.

Did kitty have a fecal sample done?

No - no fecal samples have yet been done.

On Apr 14, 3:54 am, balikitty wrote:
On Apr 12, 10:27 am, Cat Guy wrote:

We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

If you are seeing an actual worm when the cat regurgitates food, the
cat can ingest the worm while grooming. Tape worms look exactly like
rice. If it is a roundworm, which will be visible in vomit, its more
spaghetti-like. Before the cat is infested this bad with worms , your
pet will be obviously ill. It will be hard to actually see a tape
worm that has been ingested and comes back up in vomit. The likely way
your cat can actually do this with a tape worm, it will be ingested
and thrown up immediately. If this happens again. Take the worm to
your vet, they can identify under a microscope. You will have to do
this fairly soon, as the worm will dry up.

Tapeworms MUST go through an intermediate host before developing to an
adult in the small intestine. Usually in household situations, flea
larvae are the culprit. Control your fleas and you control your
tapeworms. There is absolutely no way that an animal who ingests one
of the rice looking packets will develop adults from it.
Also, you can keep the worm in a ziplock with a tiny bit of saline
solution to preserve it long enough for the vet to check it out.
Roundworms will cause a general ill look to an animal with them, but
tapeworms often do not present with any signs aside from the detached
proglottids (the rice things) in the stool.
Be very careful handling the tapeworm segments, there are some species
out there (though the likelihood is extremely low) that it could be a
type that the human is the intermediate host, which can be very
dangerous.
Just be sure to wash your hands very well.

On Apr 12, 10:27 am, Cat Guy wrote:
We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

On Apr 12, 10:27 am, Cat Guy wrote:
We recently gave one of our cats a deworming pill (milbemax) and later
found a worm (sorta looked like a tan-colored rubber band) in a pile
of vomit.

I thought that tape worms reside or attach to the intestinal wall (and
not the stomach wall) and therefore when the worm leaves the cat it's
by way of the stool.

So is it normal, or unusual, for the worm to be vomited out?

It's not common, but it's normal. I had a large gray cat named Purr
Baby. He' throw up tape worms from time to time when he got older.
He passed last month.

Our vet said a tape worm had to be pretty long to get barfed up. They
looked like large rubber bands covered in bile.

If you cat is older, consider checking him for other parasites.
Consider giving him a B-12 shot since tape worms deplete B-12. It
helped Purr Baby a lot.

--Wayne

wrote:

I had a large gray cat named Purr Baby. He' throw up tape worms
from time to time when he got older. He passed last month.

Why not give him a flea treatment like revolution instead of seeing
him infested with worms?

Consider giving him a B-12 shot since tape worms deplete B-12.
It helped Purr Baby a lot.

Wouln't a flea treatment help even more (to prevent worms) ?