How to Prevent Roundworms in Cats

Cats, like other animals, get infested with parasitic worms easily. Cats commonly acquire roundworms, which affect the cats health -- sometimes mildly, other times seriously. As with most parasitic infestations, it's easier on your cat's health to simply prevent this, rather than have to treat it. The infestation itself puts a strain on a cat and the treatment, which requires toxins, puts an additional strain. You can prevent roundworm in cats by taking several specific measures.

Things You'll Need

De-wormer

Instructions

- 1
  Keep your cats indoors always, if possible. This safeguards cats from two common means of contracting roundworm: cats contacting infested soil and cats eating infested prey.
- 2
  De-worm new cat additions to your home before exposing them to your resident cats. If this is not possible, keep the new cat confined to one area of the home until you have established through a vet checkup that the cat is worm-free.
- 3
  Bring cats in, along with a sample of the stool, to a veterinarian for a fecal check. If your cat has been wormed, stays indoors, and never consumes wild rodents and birds then its chances of having parasites is small. Nevertheless, a routine fecal examination may detect problems before serious symptoms occur.
- 4
  Use a preventative wormer on cats that go outdoors. Ask your veterinarian which wormer he or she recommends for your cat. Mar Vista Animal Medical Center advises that some products containing flea and heartworm medicines also control worms.
- 5
  Treat infestations thoroughly. Due to the roundworms' life cycle, Mar Vista Animal Medical Center says that cats usually have to be treated more than once. The worm medicines affect only those present in the intestines. Therefore, worms that are in different stages and that are migrating elsewhere in the body will not be affected at that time. These parasites will end up in the intestine a few weeks later, and that is when you must worm again.