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Cat with round worms but no symptoms?

We just brought in our cat for a regular checkup, and the vet told us she has round worms.

The thing is, she's an indoor cat (and we don't have other pets), and except for a half pound weight loss over the past year, she is otherwise perfectly healthy - both according to the vet and according to what we see.

So how could she have caught them, and why isn't she having the typical symptoms I found online for round worms (vomiting, diarrhea, dull coat, etc.)?

Update:

Thanks for the answers so far... we have no evidence that there have ever been mice or other critters in the house. The cat is 16 years old and has had annual vet visits. All we can think of is that some feces from another cat (the neighbors have several outside cats) got tracked in on someone's shoes. Would that do it?

7 Answers

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  • J C
    Lv 7
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    A 'minor' case of worms will produce no symptoms at all - it's only when they get a good dose of them that you'll see the symptoms you mentioned. Because you're a responsible person who actually takes their cat to the vet for checkups, the worms were detected before they became a big issue for your cat.

    Yes, I'd suspect that you brought in roundworm eggs on your shoes. They can be transmitted through feces, or from contaminated soil (as when the cat digs in your garden and poops in there) so it's easy enough to do. Mice and other eaten critters are another source, but you'd probably see evidence of that. If you're really concerned about roundworms, or if it happens again, then discuss Revolution with your vet. It's a monthly flea treatment, but it also kills roundworms (and earmites, and mosquitoes, and so on). I'd also disinfect her litterbox in case there are worm eggs in there. Dump the litter, scrub the box with bleach (get under the rim as well), rinse, and fill with clean litter. This way she cannot reinfect herself from a stray egg or worm hiding in the litter.

    Source(s): many years of cat rescue (
  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    She could've gotten them by eating and animal that had it. Like if you had mice in your house or a squirrel got in or something and your cat ate it and the animal had round worms then that's how she could've gotten them. Look in her poop and see if she is pooping out little white worms. That's a sign or if she's throwing up and there are little white worms in it. She could've just gotten it so you may have not noticed any symptoms yet. Just keep your eyes opens and check her poop when you scope it.

    EDIT: Yes. If your cat came in contact with the feces and the feces had worms on them then the worms could've gotten on your cat and went into her systems.

  • 9 years ago

    Most dogs & cats are born with rounds. The mothers pass them through the placenta & also through the milk. Even if the mom has been wormed prior to pregnancy, the treatment does not kill the dormant ones. Pregnancy wakes up everything.

    By the time the cat is showing any symptoms they have a dangerously heavy load of parasites.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    go to your local herb shop, they have herbs in the tincture form you can give her to get rid of them

    i believe it is wormwood and black walnut tincture...maybe 12$ for it, its a combo bottle

    jean

  • 9 years ago

    definitely sounds like something she got from outside, though doesn't mean she went outside. critters have a way of finding an opening. if your vet thinks she has it, then treat her for it.

    EDIT: yes, that would do it. you probably have alot of cat traffic around your doors because they smell your cat.

  • Anonymous
    9 years ago

    You need a high parasite load to get those symptoms. They are probably something she has always had but her immune system has been able to keep in check for the most part. I am assuming he diagnosed them off of a fecal sample. There is a chance that they may have mixed up the fecal samples, but it would probably be easier and cheaper just to treat than to repeat the test and then treat.

  • DAR76
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    Could she have gotten a rodent or bird into her system? Hope she is feeling better.

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