[marijun]

hello! i have 3 lovely cats that are recently having some problems. in may, i moved into a house with some people and one girl had a cat. her cat hated mine with a passion, so we had to keep them separated as much as possible. (nothing like having a 4 cat brawl going on under yr bed at 6 am! woo!) she had fleas though, and infested the house.

i constantly comb my cats with a flea comb simply because they love it, they haven't had fleas since they were kittens. but upon moving out of that house and into my own apartment, i started finding fleas. after a couple months, i had a total infestation on my hands! i live in a basement, so they're dying off quickly, and i comb the cats a lot and kill any i find. they're almost gone now, but they were here long enough to transmit tapeworms to all 3 cats. which brings me to my questions...

what is the best home tapeworm treatment? i can't find much on the net cept for a product called "tapeworm tabs". about 4 months ago, i fell and injured both my knees and i can still hardly walk, and i don't have a car, so taking them to the vet is kinda my last resort seeing as i understand tapeworms can be safely and effictively treated here at home.

2nd question...can tapeworms cause discomfort? my little one is licking/chewing/scratching her rear and her back so much, she's leaving scabs and bald spots. another one is licking/chewing his side and his hair is thinning out there quite a bit. the other seems to not be bothered at all. i need to know if this is caused by the worms or if perhaps they caught some sort of itchy skin disease from the fleas as well. i'm very concerned!

any info would be greatly appreciated!

lint, reeko, and woody thank you as well

 

[Zalensia]

Well i suspect that area will be itchy to them
is there a way you can get your vet to do a home visit? it might cost a little more £££££££££ but i think would be worth it. If i was you i would treat properly for fleas if they have only been combed, if available to you i would use stronghold as this treats both fleas and worms in one. If you didnt want to do that then i use panacur for worming and frontline for fleas (i got frontline free from my vets for getting my kitties innoculated there) but all of these are only avaialble from the vets. Ive never used any of the store baught flea/worming products so i cant really comment there.

the only other thing i just thought of is, is it posible for you to ring your vets and ask them to send you something in the post if you send them a cheque?

 

[marijun]

yeah, i called a few vets in town to get info and check prices for deworming and flea treatment, but they all wanted me to bring the cats in. i've yet to find one that'll come to my apartment. i didn't think to ask if they'd mail the meds to me, i'll have to try asking tomorrow!

the vets i talked to recommended frontline, from what i understand its pretty safe. if i can scrape up the cash for it, i'll surely grab a pack. money has been real tight since i hurt my knees! this couldn't have happened at worse time, but i think that's just how it works :wink:

 

[kitkat]

I heard Frontline and Advantage are good brands but not Hertz! I hope you can find a vet to do a home visit usually you can find one in the yellow pages but good luck with your kitties. I'm sure they are feeling very uncomfortable meanwhile with the fleas and such!

 

[Zalensia]

i would hope that maybe if you explain your situation they would send them. I can also understand thier catuousness since you can only buy these frm a vet, so they dont want ot be giving them out to who knows who!

 

[stormy]

i think tape worm medicine is best from a vet, i have heard bad things about over the counter wormers so i am afraid to use them.

your cats itchies could be a flea allergy. 2 of my cats have that. although we rarely have a flea problem the vet told me it only takes one flea bite to start a reaction. when the allergy starts the vet gives them a cortisone shot and that helps dry up those little scabs.

 

[marijun]

yay

today was the day! i couldn't find a vet to come to my house, and nobody would mail me the meds either. so i found a friend who was willing to run the cats and i out to a vet. lint gave the assistant so much trouble, i had to pry him out of the carrier and weigh him myself, ha! he bit me pretty good too, ack! then he wouldn't let the other cats back in the carrier, so i had to borrow one from the vet for the other cats lol! i got the tapeworm meds though, and some frontline. i already applied the frontline, but i'm waiting until they calm down a bit before i try to shove pills down their throats :wink: we'll see!

 

[Zalensia]

im glad it all worked out in the end