Is my dewormed kitten with tapeworms safe around family and pets?

Oh no. Well he good news is that Tapeworms are only infective if they are alive and wiggling around. Once that are dead they are no longer infective. Good hygiene practices (washing hands) is generally enough to avoid being infected with them because they have to be digested for transmission.

Tapeworms need to go into a secondary host to spread. That means that cats get them from eating rodents and fleas, and you, your family and the other cats and dogs can't get them from being exposed to the segments. Please get Mr. Kitty treated for tapeworms and use a flea prevention product on all the animals to prevent them getting tapeworms from eating fleas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

Unfortunately there is no way to stop cats from shedding the tapeworm segments. You don't have to keep her quarantined if you don't want to . I understand the segments are gross and you have a toddler but the segments are not harmful. The only way your toddler would get tapeworms would be from ingesting an infected flea. I would be more worried about getting the fleas under control. So, if Yuki had fleas, they are definitely in your house so you should treat the house for fleas as well. I recommend this product: https://www.allivet.com/p-1389-knockout-es-area-treatment.aspx?SearchTerm=knockout+Auto

1. The only concern for human beings is the transmission of certain tapeworms. These are transmitted by fleas and incidental ingestion of the flea can cause infection. I would not be worried about roundworm, but fleas need to be treated as well as gastrointestinal worms. Normal hygiene precautions must be followed though (wash your hands). 2. You can pet him without problems. 3. Eggs can be present of course and usually bleach is enough to disinfect the area appropriately.

Oh no. This is a nuisance to deal with for sure. Tapeworms are contagious to people, but it would require ingesting (eating) a live worm to become infective. As long as you clean up the feces and use good hygiene (washing your hands and avoid putting hands in the mouth after touching your pet or any live worms), then you are less likely to infest yourself. Clean up the poop quickly and don’t let your pet around other dogs or cats to avoid transmission until you can get Coco treated. Best wishes and don’t forget to also get Coco on a good flea preventative (ie Bravecto, Nexgard, Simparica, Vectra etc) at your vet to avoid further infection with tapeworms. Take care.

Hello, and thank you for your question. The tapeworm segments consist of tapeworm eggs, that can be ingested by fleas. I would ensure that Milton has (and continues to be) on monthly flea control, and that he received an appropriate deworming treatment for tapeworms. As long as the fleas are well controlled, the tapeworms should die away and not recur. The only way that humans can get infected by tapeworms is to ingest an infected flea, so it is safe to say the risk is low! I hope this helps, and that Milton is doing well!

The only way you (or your cat or other dog) could get tapeworms is if you ingested the fleas that transmitted the tapeworms to Dakota in the first place. Your vet may recommend deworming the other pets too, just to be safe, since if Dakota had fleas (and thus tapeworms) the other pets could too. But the chances of you getting tapeworms is almost 0.