Stray kitten has worms. How to identify and prevent spread in my home?

It looks like it could be a roundworm. You would need to submit the worms or a stool sample to a veterinarian for confirmation. Roundworms can be transmitted to humans, so an exam with your physician would be recommended. Wash your hands after petting the cat and don't kiss it anymore.

All kittens have worms. Get some kitten wormer today and worm them. Tell your children to wash their hands after handling the kittens and they should be fine. It only takes a few hours to get rid of the worms. However you will need to worm them again on about two weeks to kill the worms that have hatched from eggs present. If your children are very young and not able to comprehend that they will have to wash their hands, then it may be a good idea to separate them from the kittens for the next 2-3 weeks until the kittens have had their two doses of wormer.

If those are worms, those are likely intestinal parasites. If they aren't really worms, they could be foreign objects that your cat previously ingested. If you were to collect them, you could take them to your family vetetinarian for an acccurate identification and after a physical examination, the veterinarian may prescribe a deworming medication. Many intestinal parasites are passed through the feces so spread of them amongst groups of pets is commo . It would be good to have your kittens checked out by a veterinarian and it may be recommended to have them dewormed as well.

While there are different types of deworming medications available over the counter you would need to know what type of intestinal parasites your kitten has to choose the appropriate one, and that would most likely require a fecal analysis with your veterinarian. If your kitten is eating and drinking normally and seems active I would wait until your appointment. Your kitten has probably had the worms since birth! Most intestinal parasites are transmitted through stool so you should isolate the new kitten from the adult cat and give them separate litter pans.

It sounds like Eli might have tapeworms - these usually look like small rice granules and can be seen around the anus or on top of the stool. Tapeworms are usually spread through fleas and cannot go directly from one cat to another, so if your other cats are on flea preventative there may not be a concern. Roundworms are longer and look more like spaghetti inside the stool and can be transmitted through stool from cat to cat. I would recommend keeping Eli separated from the other cats with a separate litter box until you can see a veterinarian - you can bring a stool sample with you so they can determine what type of worms are present and prescribe medication to treat them. It's also fairly common for cats who were dewormed at the shelter to still have some intestinal parasites - it can take several doses of dewormer and not all deworming medications cover all parasites.

Yes, this is certainly possible - certain types of worms, such as roundworms and hookworms, can be passed from cats to humans through contact with infected feces (poop). I would recommend taking a fecal sample to your veterinarian to confirm what type of worms are present, so that you can treat Buddy with an appropriate medication to get rid of them. In the meantime, make sure to wash your hands after cleaning his litter box, and ask your physician if you have any health concerns about yourself.

(sorry about that - I accidentally hit submit before I was done!) They may require you to bring Mystique in for an exam prior to giving you any prescription medication if you haven't been there with her recently. They may also recommend that you deworm your kitten prophylactically. Good luck, and I hope that you successfully get rid of those pesky tapeworms!