My cat has diarrhea. Is a second deworming dose still needed?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are different dewormers and which one is used depends on which worm is affecting the patient. I recommend that you have Dusty evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They may choose to check for parasites and to start medications for diarrhea depending on the results. Good luck! Hoping for a speedy recovery!

You are not giving the correct medication. If you are seeing tapeworms, small flat worms or rice like segments near the anus, then you need a prescription dewormer from your veterinarian. I recommend taking a fecal sample in and have them look for parasite eggs under the microscope. Then they can make sure they give you the proper medication. Once Smokey gets rid of the intestinal parasites probably the diarrhea will stop. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Smokey.

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! His diarrhea will most likely resolve once the worms are gone. Just like your veterinarian suggested, this may take a few to even several days. For that reason, if it has not resolved, I would not be too concerned yet. If the worms are the only thing causing his diarrhea, this should resolve shortly. That will really be the best indicator of when the worms have resolved. Good luck!

Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. In this case, if follow-up fecal testing isn't possible/practical, I recommend repeating the treatment 2 weeks later. However, I would encourage you to call your primary vet and talk about your options. If your outdoor cats have tapeworms, they very likely have roundworms and/or hookworms as well, so ideally the cats should be treated with something a bit more broad-spectrum. You're right that vets certainly prefer doing an exam on each animal prior to dispensing medication (we are legally required to have a "doctor/patient relationship" to dispense medication).....but depending on your relationship with your vet, some vets may make exceptions when it comes to deworming outdoor/feral cats. It's worth asking what they recommend in this case! Hope this helps - it's great that you're caring for these outdoor cats!

I would recommend rechecking a stool sample. Parasites are not consistent shedders so he may also had a different intestinal parasites that the dewormer didn't cover and may need something else. I would recommend another visit to your veterinarian to have them perform a stool sample. I would also recommend a prescription bland diet. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

No need to apologize for posting again, we are here to help :-) Even though Misty has been dewormed once, it will take more than one deworming treatment to kill all the worms. The first deworming treatment kills all the adult worms, but it doesn't kill the eggs. That's why you need to give a second deworming treatment two weeks after the first. This second treatment will kill the worms that had not yet hatched at the time of the first treatment. I would give her another deworming treatment in a week, and then if that still doesn't clear up the diarrhea, have her seen by a vet. You are correct her kittens can get worms from her, and they should be dewormed as well. I hope this helps!

Sometimes the worms die and just come out like mucus in the stool, not full worms. If you gave the proper dose I’m sure it was effective. You can repeat the deworming in two to three weeks to be sure and follow the directions on the package. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your cat.