Can worms cause booty pain?

Hi all! Recently I treated 3 of my semi-wild kitties with Strongid-T wormer because they were having the "rice looking" things on their booties. I gave them each 5mg ( i think? Its a liquid from the vet) on January 13. These three cats were born and raised outside. I started to take care of them about 2 years ago (two of them were in their momma's tummy when she found me) because they were abandoned in my neighborhood. They spend most of their days outside and I manipulate them into my room (small travel trailer) at night and during harsh weather to keep them safe and warm. They are half wild. Regis (3 year old male) and Evie (2 year old female) seem to be doing great after the treatment, but Stryper (Evies sister) does not seem to feel good, and still has lots of the "rice things" on her bottom. Last night and today she seems somewhat lethargic, and like she is in pain in her booty area. She is half wild, so it is difficult for me to examine her as well as I'd like, but I did go over her, touching her all over to try to find a source of pain, and it definitely seems to be her booty that's bothering her. The bottle says to treat again after 10 days. That would be this coming Saturday. I got her to eat a little bit of canned food and about 10 Temptations treats, and she went pee. I am unsure, however, if she has had a bowel movement, as I have three cats in here. I do know, though, that Evie sometimes will attack Stryper if she tries to use the box. *sigh* I am so frustrated and I am getting worried. I am wondering if worms normally cause this, and if her bottom is sore because of them. I haven't found any diahhrea in the box.

Any advice or sharing of experiences similar to this would be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, I cannot get her to the vet because I don't have the money and I also doubt I could get her into a carrier as she is pretty wild, especially when scared.

Thanks for listening and please send prayers for my little girl.

~ Bobbi ~

 

A Google search showed that "Strongid T is a suspension of pyrantel pamoate in a palatable caramel-flavored vehicle. Each mL contains 50 mg of pyrantel base as pyrantel pamoate." Pyrantel pamoate is effective against round, hooks, and pinworms. However, the rice-looking things you described are tape worms and pyrantel pamoate is not effective against those.

 

Great. :sad: :cry:

 

Also, are your cats getting any kind of flea preventative, or are they too wild for that? Tapeworms are transmitted via fleas. Though since they're outside and semi-wild it's probably not a bad thing that you treated them for other worms... it's possible they could have had those too without you knowing it, particularly if you've never treated them before. Tapeworms aren't as harmful to cats as roundworms, hookworms, etc. but if she has a really bad infestation I can see that it's possible she's not feeling too great.

You can get generic tapeworm tabs OTC in most pet stores. I've gotten them at Petsmart. It sounds like pilling them may be an issue but you can try feeding them in Pill Pockets. My cats all love those things.

If you *can* get close enough to administer a flea preventative, Revolution also prevents worm reinfestation. But it will only prevent them from coming back, not take care of an active infestation.

 

Bridget, I do not fully understand the last paragraph since most flea preventatives (e.g, Frontline, Advantage) are spot-on-the-back-of-the-neck like Revolution is.

 

Thanks for the responses, guys. They were treated for fleas twice in the last 5 months or so, but unfortunately, I have too many cats in my colony to afford to treat them all on a regular basis when the treatment is $30-40 to treat 3 cats. I can touch her when I have her inside, but I doubt I could pill her now. I pilled her twice when she was between 5months and a year old with Drontal, but now she'd probably tear me up and I have no way of getting my hands on any Drontal now anyway. I am so bummed to find out that the meds I have won't work for the worms she has. *sigh* We don't have any pet stores here. Please send prayers for her. I have no idea what to do. :YMSIGH:

 

Yes, Revolution is a spot on, but it also protects against roundworms, hookworms, ear mites and heartworms. It doesn't treat worms but does prevent them from coming back. I thought it also protected against tapeworms but I just went to their website and it doesn't. But I guess it does indirectly because no fleas=no tapeworms. That's the main reason why I use it because here in Louisiana even indoor-only pets can get heartworm and other parasites really easily. Fleas are really, really bad here.

Trixtersmommy, you can find generic Drontal online for a whole lot cheaper than in the pet stores. The pills are pretty small so you might could use Pill Pockets like I did. I treated our semi-socialized ferals that way--I normally can't pill them. And the only way I can afford to treat all my cats for fleas is by splitting up the larger dog doses. (BTW, I'm doing this under my vet's supervision--it's normally NOT recommended. So I'm telling you how I'm doing this but this doesn't at all replace a vet's advice) The only flea preventatives that you can do that with are Advantage and Revolution because the drugs in both are the same for dogs and cats. It is NOT safe to do with the dog-only flea products like Advantage Plus, etc. since the drugs are different. Revolution is twice as concentrated in the larger dog vials so I give my cats half as much using a syringe to measure based on the cat's weight. My vet told me how much to measure out for each cat. Advantage is the same concentration for cats and dogs. It's a little bit of a pain and again I don't recommend doing it unless you consult with a vet like I did, but it's MUCH, MUCH cheaper when you are caring for a lot of cats.

 

Any farm supply stores?

If so, you can also use "safeguard" or panacur to treat for tapeworms, it is sold in the farm supply store for horses and goats. I used it all the time for my farm cats. Fenbendazole generally is not effective as a one-time dose, so it is recommended that fenbendazole be given once a day for several consecutive days. The usual dosage for dogs and cats, is 25 mg per pound (50 mg/kg) daily for three consecutive days. I was able to easily mix the paste into canned food.

 

Hi again, everyone. Sorry I didn't reply again last night. I am thinking now that something else is going on with her besides the tapeworms. Because of the storms we've been getting, I have had the cats locked up in here for a few days straight. The other night when i was asleep (about 3 nights ago) I heard the girls get into a little spat. I am thinking maybe Stryper is in pain from their fight, and maybe that is what's going on with her. This morning she seems to be doing a little better. She has gotten up and down from the bed, and she has eaten and had some water. She still is moving slowly, though, like she is hurting. I won't be surprised if she doesn't form an abscess on one of her back legs soon, but she won't let me examine her well enough to see if I can find a wound. I will keep you guys updated. Thank you so much for your advice. Please keep her in your thoughts today. Love you all!

~ Bobbi ~

 

Re: Any farm supply stores?

We do have a farm supply store. I will check on that today! Thank you!

 

http://www.lisaviolet.com/cathouse/advantage.html

 

Thanks, Connie!

Last night Stryper took some very positive steps forward. For about 3 days she did little more than lay in the same spot. I was having to coax her to eat and syringe water into her. She had not pottied. However, last night she very carefull and slowly made her way to the litter box, being very cautious when jumping down from the bed, and she went #1 and #2. THEN she proceeded to the food bowl and ate on her own, and came over to rub against my leg. I was so relieved! Today she is just laying around again so far, but I feel confident that she is getting better, not worse. I am wondering if when she and Evie had their little spat the other night, maybe she tweaked a leg or her hips and that's why she's in pain. I can't see anything out of the ordinary as of yet, no swelling, etc, but she still won't let me get a good look or feel. I cleaned the "rice things" off of her and they are not back yet, even after she pooped.

I will keep you guys updated! Please send healing vibes and prayers for my Stryper. I was so scared for her, but now I have more hope and I think she will recover from whatever is going on. These wild kitties can be so frustrating, but I'm doing the best I can for them under the circumstances.

Lots of love!

~ Bobbi ~