What Are the Treatments for Worms in Feral Cats?

Feral cats are difficult to treat for worms because of their very nature. These are cats that are not fully domesticated. In some cases, they might not be domesticated at all. Therefore, there are a limited number of ways that the cat can be treated, and it might require more than one technique in order to achieve the desired results..

  1. Diagnosis

    • Diagnosis for feral cats is difficult, unless the cat is able to be captured and examined by a vet. Most times, vets will routinely treat a feral cat for worms, even without testing for the parasites. They assume that cats living in the wild will have been exposed for the worms and will treat it accordingly.

    Symptoms

    • Most times, the symptoms for a worm infestation in a feral cat are visible. If the cat seems to be losing a great deal of hair, if the cat has stopped grooming itself, if the cats seems to be losing weight, even though it’s eating regularly, there is a good chance the cat has a problem with worms. If symptoms are spotted that appear to be linked to parasitic worms, the feral cat should be taken to a qualified veterinarian for diagnosis.

    Medications

    • There are some over-the-counter medications that can be given to a feral cat. However, in order to administer that medication, it usually will have to be placed in the cat’s food. Most times, hiding the medication in fresh canned cat food and leaving the immediate area will allow the cat to relax enough to get the medication into its system. Prescription wormer medication can be administered the same way as over-the-counter medication, and in many cases, this medication is simply a more powerful dose of an OTC wormer. Most times, using a prescription-strength wormer is recommended, since feral cats tend to have high degrees of parasitic worms. Certain worms can be treated by receiving an injection that is administered by a veterinarian. This usually is the simplest way to treat the feral cat, although it also will lead to the cat maintaining a distance from whoever brought it to the veterinarian.

    Prevention

    • With feral cats, there really is no way to prevent them from either picking up worms or from getting infected again. Ideally, if the feral cat can be confined to a location that can be monitored and maintained, the chance of getting worms is diminished. If the feral cat uses a litter box, the litter should be cleaned daily, changed twice a week and disinfected with bleach once a week.