# How often to worm an indoor cat



## EdArmstrong (Feb 15, 2015)

Hi - I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts here as I've been left a little confused by the advise given by the vet.

We have a fit and healthy 3 year old British Shorthair named Percival who weighs in at just under 4.4kg. In the past we had been advised to worm Percy once every six months. After his annual vaccinations on saturday however, we were advised that this should be done every month and he was prescribed 'Advocate' for large cats which came in at a pretty steep £35 for 3 months worth of medicine. 

I was hoping to find out if this is normal, and what other owners of indoor cats would normally do to protect their kitties from worms/fleas and the like.

I have no problem paying it if it is necessary I was just a little shocked that it was so much and we'd never had to do this previously (could it be an age thing?)

Any advice would be very much appreciated!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

I have always had indoor cats and never used flea treatment and only wormed them as kittens/young cats.
If I ever found fleas then I would treat them,but I am not a fan of using chemicals on animals unnecessarily,this is just my opinion on this though .


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## kategod (Feb 13, 2014)

My vet recommends worming an indoor cat only once a year. I do treat for fleas during the summer months because a previous indoor cat of mine caught them from the dog - my vet tells me it is fine to do this. He is quite keen not to over-medicate indoor cats if it isn't necessary and has advised that after the one-year booster vaccination I need only vaccinate every three years.


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## HeartofClass (Jan 2, 2012)

This seems a little excessive. I think for an indoor cat once per year is more than enough. But I also personally have similar beliefs as buffy.


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## Torin. (May 18, 2014)

My vet also recommends once a year defleaing/ deworming for indoor cats. I plan to push this somewhat.


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## Ali71 (Apr 27, 2014)

buffie said:


> I have always had indoor cats and never used flea treatment and only wormed them as kittens/young cats.
> If I ever found fleas then I would treat them,but I am not a fan of using chemicals on animals unnecessarily,this is just my opinion on this though .


I am of the same mindset however last week when I spoke to my vet nurse she recommended worming every 3 months if you are feeding any raw.


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## Pasuded (Feb 13, 2015)

EdArmstrong said:


> Hi - I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts here as I've been left a little confused by the advise given by the vet.
> 
> We have a fit and healthy 3 year old British Shorthair named Percival who weighs in at just under 4.4kg. In the past we had been advised to worm Percy once every six months. After his annual vaccinations on saturday however, we were advised that this should be done every month and he was prescribed 'Advocate' for large cats which came in at a pretty steep £35 for 3 months worth of medicine.
> 
> ...


Listen to your vet. They know best. Seriously. You should worm cats every month. This is what my mother does with her Bombay. Her cat is an indoor cat too. She has always done this since he was a kitten. It is better to be safe than sorry. He is given a general deworming and one for tapeworm every month. :thumbsup:


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

I spoke to my vet during their last annual check last July and she said there was little risk so no point in routinely treating and only treat if I find evidence of worms or fleas. 

Mine are indoor and raw fed.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

Pasuded said:


> Listen to your vet. They know best. Seriously. You should worm cats every month. This is what my mother does with her Bombay. Her cat is an indoor cat too. She has always done this since he was a kitten. It is better to be safe than sorry. He is given a general deworming and one for tapeworm every month. :thumbsup:


Sorry don't agree


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## felinenutritionawareness (Oct 11, 2014)

Pasuded said:


> Listen to your vet. They know best. Seriously. You should worm cats every month. This is what my mother does with her Bombay. Her cat is an indoor cat too. She has always done this since he was a kitten. It is better to be safe than sorry. He is given a general deworming and one for tapeworm every month. :thumbsup:


This is a bit extreme, worming cats monthly, you would be overdosing your cat on worming medication which can be dangerous. Manufacturers advice is to give worming medication once every 3 months.

I personally use worming medication on my cat once every 6 months as my cat is at little risk and I only use flea treatment whenever moving home or taking Missy on holiday, which isn't that that often.

She has never had worms or fleas the entire 6 nearly 7 years of her life so far and she is an indoor cat being fed raw food.


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## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Mia is mainly indoor and canned fed - she gets a worming tablet at her annual check up & booster - there is absolutely no way I could pill her myself and I can't even get a spot on onto her now 

She does venture outside sometimes but only for max 10 mins at a time & has never caught prey in her life 

However, if she ate raw, personally I'd have to try to come up with another plan as I do think they need done more often than yearly if that's what they're having (I'd probably go with every 3 months)


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

I worm the two neuter boys once a year, and the girls once a year unless they have kittens in which case they get a Milbemax in the last few days of pregnancy and get wormed along with the kittens. This is because roundworms encyst, there is no way to test for encysted worms and no way to kill them. They revive under the influence of pregnancy hormones and cross to the kittens in her milk.


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## EdArmstrong (Feb 15, 2015)

Wow! Thank you for all your very helpful answers and advice 

I'm in agreement with most of you that I don't want to over medicate him.

I'm sure once every 3 months is more than enough.


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## amelie (Nov 13, 2014)

I would tend to agree with the once a year. 
I know there is a chance that worms and fleas could be brought in on clothes but it's a small chance. 
The flea treatments are horrible - it's advised not to get them near your skin but it's ok to put them directly onto cats skin? Hmmm

Also wormers wreak havoc with my cats system so I would tend to limit their use aswell.


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## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

We worm our indoor cats once or twice a year and we give the 6 month program injection for flea control.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

Lilylass said:


> However, if she ate raw, personally I'd have to try to come up with another plan as I do think they need done more often than yearly if that's what they're having (I'd probably go with every 3 months)


Can I ask why ?


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

amelie said:


> <snip>
> The flea treatments are horrible - it's advised not to get them near your skin but it's ok to put them directly onto cats skin? Hmmm
> <snip>.


That is standard advice for anything applied to the skin - wash hands after use etc. Advantage is a very safe product.



> In cats, no adverse clinical signs were produced using doses of five times the therapeutic level for eight consecutive weeks.


In other words 20 times the normal dose.



> Wash hands thoroughly after use.
> 
> Wash off any skin contamination with soap and water.
> 
> ...


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Never. If they came to me with parasites they were wormed. Otherwise there has never been any need to give my indoor (with fenced yard supervised access in summer) raw fed cats pesticides.



buffie said:


> I have always had indoor cats and never used flea treatment and only wormed them as kittens/young cats.
> If I ever found fleas then I would treat them,but I am not a fan of using chemicals on animals unnecessarily,this is just my opinion on this though .


Me too.


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## Kitchen Maid (Aug 1, 2014)

Blackie is very much an outdoor cat ... even in pouring rain, he'll insist on going out when the mood takes him. 

The vet has told me to put flea treatment on him every month ... and he seems to tolerate Advocate very well. The vet also recommended we use worm treatment every 3 months which was Profender but Blackie started getting skin inflammation so vet recommended Milbemax. He seems to tolerate this pretty well too.

I am going to speak to the vet about giving him the Program injection after I've used up the next 2 months supply of Advocate. I would rather do the treatments than not as long as Blackie tolerates them.


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Pasuded said:


> Listen to your vet. They know best. Seriously. You should worm cats every month. This is what my mother does with her Bombay. Her cat is an indoor cat too. She has always done this since he was a kitten. It is better to be safe than sorry. He is given a general deworming and one for tapeworm every month. :thumbsup:


A little excessive - only prolific hunters require monthly worming.

Indoor adult cats don't really need worming at all.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

I am firmly in the camp which believes in minimising use of strong pesticides. I hardly ever use either flea drops or wormers and have never had a problem.
It is possible to send a stool sample off to wormcount for a very reasonable fee to check if the cat does indeed have any worms.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Most vets worth their DVM degree ask to do a fecal float once a year.
If any eggs, cysts, or worms are visible, they then ID the species & treat appropriately.
If NO eggs, cysts, or worms are visible, & the cat has no symptoms of infestation, why worm a cat
who is apparently healthy, & free of parasites?... :blink:


Pasuded said:


> ...
> You should worm cats *every month.
> This is what my mother does...* Her cat is an indoor cat, too. She's... done this since he was a kitten.
> *It's better to be safe than sorry. He's given a general deworming & one for tapeworm every month.* :thumbsup:


No doubt Ur mother is a vet?... :skep:


Shoshannah said:


> A little excessive - only *prolific hunters* require monthly worming.
> Indoor adult cats don't really need worming at all.


Thanks, Shoshannah. :thumbsup:

Unfortunately, as many cats never trophy, it's hard to know which cats are actually 'prolific hunters'.
So some fraction of the roam-at-large cat popn does need to be wormed, but won't be - because the owner
doesn't know their cat is a very-active hunter, who kills lots of wildlife & eats at least some of them.


Paddypaws said:


> ...
> It's possible to send a stool sample off to WormCount for a very reasonable fee, to check if the cat does indeed
> have any worms.


Knowing how many [heavy or light infestation], & even more important, what KIND of worm, are key -
U shouldn't just throw some generic capsule or tablet into the cat, & hope U chose the right guess.

i don't know what the cost of WormCount might be, but if i had an ordinary well-pet visit, i think a fecal float
by the vet in addition to the exam, would probably be no more costly, especially if there's a shipping cost,
& could be much less than sending it off mail-order. Plus, the vet can write any needed Rx at the time; U can
order the meds on-line or fill the scrip at a local pharmacy, but U've got the prescription.

Does WormCount have a vet on staff, to write scrips as needed?
.
.


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## shortandfurry (Jan 30, 2013)

Shoshannah said:


> A little excessive - *only prolific hunters require monthly worming.*
> 
> Indoor adult cats don't really need worming at all.


Mine _are_ prolific hunters  so they're getting wormed every 1-2 months.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

leashedForLife said:


> *Most vets worth their DVM degree ask to do a fecal float once a year.*
> If any eggs, cysts, or worms are visible, they then ID the species & treat appropriately.
> If NO eggs, cysts, or worms are visible, & the cat has no symptoms of infestation, why worm a cat
> who is apparently healthy, & free of parasites?... :blink:
> ...


This certainly not common practice in uk....well not with any of the vets that I have visited over the last 30 years anyway.
I agree totally that it would be crazy to medicate 'just in case' and that if eggs are found then a targetted drug would be best....but again, i have never heard of this with a uk vet.
wormcount is £12 I think, and don't think they have a vet to offer scrips....but any owner could buy a broad spectrum wormer cheaply online without, or approach vet for a prescription item


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Paddypaws said:


> [An annual fecal-float is] certainly not common practice in the UK - [at least], not with any of the vets
> that I've visited over the last 30 years...


Wow! - color me astonished. hmy: I had no idea, a fecal float once a year is standard for any dog or cat,
IME in the U-S. It didn't matter if my dog or cat was indoor-only, roamed at will, or lived outside; any annual
wellness check included a fecal float.

If the vet saw nothing in the float, but the pet was symptomatic [diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain,
excessive mucous in the stool, blood in the stool, staring coat, skin issues, etc], then there might be a fresh
slide done, with a stain to contrast any critters.


Paddypaws said:


> I agree totally that it's crazy to medicate 'just in case', & that if eggs are found, then *a targeted drug
> would be best... but again, i've never heard of this with a UK vet.*


now i'm really confused.  UK vets don't use species-specific wormers?
they only use broad-spectrum vermifuges?

that really speeds up the evolution of resistant forms.  It's not a good idea.
Could someone explain, please? 
.
.


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## Britt (May 18, 2014)

Shoshannah said:


> A little excessive - only prolific hunters require monthly worming.


The vet told me to use Stronghold on Pooh every month now that he is an outdoor cat. Do you think it's too often?


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

Britt said:


> The vet told me to use Stronghold on Pooh every month now that he is an outdoor cat. Do you think it's too often?


Stronghold covers fleas as well, so is this why monthly has been recommended?


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## Ceiling Kitty (Mar 7, 2010)

leashedForLife said:


> now i'm really confused.  UK vets don't use species-specific wormers?
> they only use broad-spectrum vermifuges?
> 
> that really speeds up the evolution of resistant forms.  It's not a good idea.
> ...


Do you mean species specific with regards to the parasites, or the pet?

In equine husbandry, it is currently recommended to rotate wormers regularly and use a different one each time, to minimise resistance. I've often wondered why we don't make the same recommendation in small animals. :blink:


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

What speeds up evolution of resistant forms is not using effective wormers or not using the correct dose.

Maybe you have some nastier worms in the US, and I've heard that Milbemax which is a very efficient and easy to administer pill isn't available in the US.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Britt said:


> The vet told me to use Stronghold on Pooh every month now that he is an outdoor cat. Do you think it's too often?


Stronghold protects against fleas, roundworm, hookworm, earmites and heartworm. It does not protect against tapeworm so Pooh will need to be treated for tapeworm (droncit, usually) periodically.

Anyone using Stronghold (Revolution in the USA) or one of the other flea spot ons that protect against hookworm and roundworm, should not be worming with a broad spectrum wormer also, as that is overdosing the cat. A product killing tapeworm should be the only wormer being used.

Most vets in the USA will ask for a stool sample to be brought in at any routine visit. My vet always asks. I don't know how many people actually do it though. If a cat happens to leave me a sample at a time I am on my way to the vet anyway, I'll bring it with me, even if it isn't the same cat's poop. Since they share litter boxes, one sample is as good as another as far as parasites. However in all the years of living with cats, I've never had a positive float.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

OrientalSlave said:


> What speeds up evolution of resistant forms is [using INeffective] wormers, or not using the correct dose.


Actually, even if the drug U use is highly-effective, *&* given in the correct dose, *&* given per instructions
[with / without food, hours or days or weeks between doses, whatever], *resistance is inevitable*. :cryin:
The Borg were wrong. [Star Trek reference, sorry.]

Microbes reproduce so fast, & in such numbers, that they can evolve in hours; plus, they can trade
adaptive genetic material directly, which is incredibly fast & effective - no breeding, just trade DNA bits.
Thankfully, parasites are not able to just swap DNA-packets, but they can & do breed with incredible speed,
even after being knocked down - & the survivors are hardened; after all, the drug didn't kill them. Their progeny
will be at least as resilient as the parents were.

Penicillin knocked Tb flat when it was 1st used; within months, it was no longer useful. It then had to be
combined with streptomycin, plus at least one other antibiotic, to actually bring a patient to remission or cure.


OrientalSlave said:


> ... I've heard that Milbemax, a very efficient and easy to administer pill, isn't available in the US.


I've no idea, sorry. 
It's also very possible that it's sold under another name, or under its chemical name / generic label.

Is it a broad-spectrum / generic parasite-killer, or specific to one species or a family?
.
.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Shoshannah said:


> Do you mean species specific re the parasites, or the pet?


vermifuges that target the specific worm-species - but of course, at the same time,
it MUST be safe & apropos for the pet-patient's species. U can't give dog-safe wormers to a cat,
as a general rule. Stuff that's safe for horses may be UNsafe for dogs; when i wormed my horse or pony,
i picked-up every stool until the little blue-bits were no longer seen, then for another 24-hours thereafter.

Otherwise my dog might eat the vermifuge-laced feces, & even if it was safe in a specific dose, that's not assurance
that the amount expelled by my 1200# stud-colt was a 'safe dose'! - No way to know.


Shoshannah said:


> In equine husbandry, it's... recommended to rotate wormers regularly and use a different one each time,
> to minimise resistance. I've often wondered why we don't make the same recommendation in small animals. :blink:


do we have enuf drugs in the small-animal armamentarium to rotate vermifuges?...

I don't know.
.
.


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## lorilu (Sep 6, 2009)

Looked them up:

Milbemax (not sold in the USA) made by Novartis

It contains praziquantel and milbemycin oxime

http://ah.novartis.com.au/pethealth_products/milbemax_cat.html/section/473

Drontal (made by Bayer)

Available in both USA and UK, contains praziquantel and pyrantel pamoate

Drontal Tablets

Both are for broad spectrum. Both contain praziquantel, but each has other active ingredients for the hook/round worms that differ.

Droncit, which is praziquantel only, is the one that is for tapeworm only.

Droncit (praziquantel) Tablets


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## Pasuded (Feb 13, 2015)

My sisters cat hunts outdoors. She uses Sentry once a month. It gets rid of roundworms. Roundworms are the most common types of worms in cats here. Its very effective.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

leashedForLife said:


> Actually, even if the drug U use is highly-effective, *&* given in the correct dose, *&* given per instructions
> [with / without food, hours or days or weeks between doses, whatever], *resistance is inevitable*. :cryin:
> <snip>


Got a reference for that? Drontal has been in use in the UK for over 20 years and is still highly effective, assuming you can actually get it down the cat.


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

OrientalSlave said:


> assuming you can actually get it down the cat.


Drontal manufacturers are definitely missing a trick with the size of those tablets


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## Britt (May 18, 2014)

Shoshannah said:


> Stronghold covers fleas as well, so is this why monthly has been recommended?


Maybe, he didn't tell me


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

OrientalSlave said:


> ...
> Drontal has been in use in the UK for over 20 years & is still highly effective, assuming
> *you can actually get it down the cat*.





gskinner123 said:


> Drontal manufacturers are definitely missing a trick with *the size of those tablets*.


i'd visit a compounding pharmacist & ask for something flavoured in a liquid form -
salmon, sardine, chicken, beef, ___ .

Compounding is a Godsend for 'foul-tasting' or 'enormous capsule' or whatever the problem -
having meds they will EAT is far-less stress & struggle for everyone involved. :thumbup:
.
.


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## Befuddled (Sep 12, 2014)

I have my vet give Morse his flea and worm treatments when I take him for his annual injection/check up. He's an indoor cat.


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## SummerPoppy (Jan 20, 2015)

Befuddled said:


> I have my vet give Morse his flea and worm treatments when I take him for his annual injection/check up. He's an indoor cat.


same here, mine indoor cats and they have annual worm treatment during annual exam and jabs x


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Compounding is uncommon in the UK and expensive. It's probably cheaper to go to the vet to get Milbemax which is a small and easily given pill than get something compounded. If they have the cat and it's weight on record there isn't a need for a vet check & consultation fee.

I have to buy a compounded medicine for Max and a small bottle is £30. Thankfully he has about .5ml per day so it lasts a fair while, but they didn't last long when he was on 2.4ml / day.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

OrientalSlave said:


> Compounding is uncommon in the UK and expensive.
> It's probably cheaper to go to the vet to get Milbemax... a small & easily-given pill - than get something compounded.
> If they have the cat & [her/his] weight on record, there's no need for a vet check & consultation fee.
> 
> I have to buy a compounded medicine for Max and a small bottle is £30. Thankfully he has about 0.5ml per day so it lasts a fair while, but they didn't last long when he was on 2.4ml / day.


Ah! - bummer.  Didn't realize it was so costly, nor that UK compounding pharmacies are rare.
It's made life easier for me & various patients [human & non-] a number of times.
.
.


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