My cat has tapeworms after deworming. Is it too soon for praziquantel?

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Cats should be treated with an initial dose (based on the label instructions) and then again after 3 weeks. DO NOT give multiple doses in a day. Cats get tapeworms by ingested fleas that are infected with the tapeworm larvae so be sure to get the fleas under control.

This will depend on the type of tape worm medication. You should use only a proper tape worm medication containing praziquantel or one prescribed by your veterinarian. If your cat regurgitates the praziquantel wormer you can give her another dose the next day. If she only took part of it, give her the rest of the dose preferably 1/2 hour later.

The Praziquantel should kill the tapeworm within a few hours. The tapeworm will be eliminated with all its segments (proglottids) with the feces. I would think this happens within 2 days at the longest.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Maeve. Praziquantel is a pretty safe drug and if you aren't sure she ate it, you can give her another dose now. Just make sure she does eat it. I hope this helps!

Hello. There have been some reports of drug resistance with tapeworms. I would talk to your vet about either upping the dose of the praziquantel or trying an alternate drug called epsiprantal. And make sure your vet sees a stool sample containing the tapeworm segments just to make sure there is not something else going on. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

From the picture these look to be tapeworm segments. Often you will see them dried on the rear end too. Pyrantel is a great broad spectrum dewormer, but it doesn’t kill tapeworm. Droncit ( praziquantel) kills tapeworm. I always recommend a full fecal exam looking for microscopic eggs as animals who have parasites often have more than one kind. Tapeworm can cause gastrointestinal signs if she has a high enough worm burden. Best of luck and I hope she improves soon! Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Due to the lifecycle of tapeworms, more than one treatment is needed to kill all the worms. At least two treatments need to be given two weeks apart. The first kills the adult present, while the second kills the adults that had not yet hatched at the time of the first treatment. You need to take your kittens back into the vet.