? How often do you deworm your cats?

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Panic

Panic

Member Since 2019
I'm doing some research for a little kitten I may be getting since the passing of Panic, and I was reading about vaccines etc. Dr. Pierson talks about over-vaccinating but I'm curious where dewormer comes into the mix. Prior to joining I was getting the cats their vaccines every year and I think the vet said to get dewormer every six months. Now I'm a lot more hesitant to be giving vaccines all willy-nilly.

How often should dewormer actually be given? My kitties have outside access as well.
 
I use Revolution Plus for flea prevention, so my cat pretty much only gets wormed during the summer months when I apply it. None of my recent vets have even mentioned regular deworming I dont think, just staying on top of flea prevention. You may need to be more cautious with indoor/outdoor cats, but 6 months still seems pretty frequent to me. Growing up I had indoor/outdoor cats and we really only gave them dewormer if we actually noticed worms or if they had weight loss that may indicate worms
 
Revolution Plus is only for flea and tick prevention though right?

That's kinda the method we always took, they only got dewormed if I remembered or if someone was looking weirdly thin. Googling it says anywhere from 2-6 months frequency which seems a bit much.
 
He hasn’t been dewormed since he was a kitten 12 years ago. Maybe I’m irresponsible but he hasn’t has any shots since his kitten shots, He never goes outside .
At the last appointment they were pushing for a rabies vaccine but since it was a sick visit I said I’d rather wait until we know what’s going on with him. It did turn out t9 be his anal glands needed expressing and the next day his blood work was perfect. I’m afraid he will insist he gets his rabies shot the next time I bring him in.....I’m against vaccines for indoor cats after their kitten shots.
 
Kitty mom said:
He hasn’t been dewormed since he was a kitten 12 years ago. Maybe I’m irresponsible but he hasn’t has any shots since his kitten shots, He never goes outside .
At the last appointment they were pushing for a rabies vaccine but since it was a sick visit I said I’d rather wait until we know what’s going on with him. It did turn out t9 be his anal glands needed expressing and the next day his blood work was perfect. I’m afraid he will insist he gets his rabies shot the next time I bring him in.....I’m against vaccines for indoor cats after their kitten shots.
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You could request a titer instead maybe? After my tomcat tested positive for FIV I decided I'm going to hold off on his vaccines as long as humanly possible.
 
I am probably a minority but Dre has never had a vaccine in his 21 years. When the vet asks if he is up to date I say according to my schedule he sure is!:smuggrin:

Rico had 1 when he was 1 because I couldn't find a vet to neuter without it and he nearly died. Couldn't breathe let alone walk. He was in ER 2 days and none after that the 1 rabies. He passed at 21 about 8 months ago :(
 
Aw I'm so sorry about Rico, 21 years is a long time. Longer than having cars or furniture or houses for that matter. :eek: Curious, was it vaccine-related that put him in the ER or just a coincidence? I am thinking about just getting kitten shots and then none at all until I'm forced to give more.
 
Yes it was a few hours after the vaccine and treated with antihistamine and oxygen.

I adopted him at 11 months and I highly doubt they gave him any vaccines (it was a client not a rescue)
I see so many healthy animals get sick coming in for grooming it is so sad. That being said some do fine but it just makes no sense to me to blast the immune system yearly and then wonder why the pet has seizures or auto immune diseases. I think giving the core vaccines as a kitten is ok depending on your life style and you will be going for check ups and they need protection if they are ever hospitalized etc... there is evidence that a single vaccine can last a lifetime (you can titer test if your concerned)
If you have a holistic vet in your area they may give a smaller dose as you are just stimulating a response to build antibodies.

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2018/01/06/pet-vaccines.aspx
 
Good gravy that's horrible. I can't imagine D:

I re-read Dr. Pierson's stance on vaccines and she said she titered all her cats when they died at 18-20 after only having kitten shots and she found evidence that they were still protected. That's pretty substantial if you ask me. I was previously reading about state requirements too and there's several states that still don't allow titers to substitute for vaccines (ie rabies) even with medical exemption. It's never a problem if you live out in the country with lax laws but as soon as you need the cat taken to the clinic or boarding facility they have to be up to date on everything it seems. I think my dachshund has to have 3 different annual shots if I board her. :/
 
a holistic vet will generally give a weight dosed appropriate vaccine and yes it is only rabies they can insist on but if they are greedy they want to scare you into more of them and create a revenue generating pet-its sick and sad
 
I wanted to respond to this post because I am looking for information about Revolution - Carlito was given his second dose of Revolution 2 days ago and seems to be having a concerning allergic reaction to it. Nurse at vet recommended a month ago when he had a worm, and she also recommended he be de-wormed monthly (we live in a hookworm-laden area, according to her). I was happy to comply but this second dose has caused:

-all hair around spot where the medication contacted the skin has fallen out and a scabby mass has formed that seems very itchy
-he vomited and had really really liquid diarrhea the night that it was applied (I didn't know this could happen from Revolution as a side effect/allergic reaction). He has also vomited today.
-he has been extremely lethargic and sort of staggering around.
-his BG was high (600) this morning, but that is on the high end of "normal" for Carlito who is usually around 400-600 BG
-loss of appetite.

I called the vet (and spoke to the nurse) to report this as I was very concerned after reading online some of the side effects of cats that are allergic to Revolution, and she wasn't very concerned and just said we should not give him Revolution anymore.

Has anyone dealt with long-term side effects from this medication?? I am shocked that I was not informed of the potential side effects, esp as Carlito is diabetic and already has compromised health.

Thank you to anyone who has information about this.
 
If your cat goes outside at all, deworming is important. I personally love Revolution Plus, especially for my feral cats outside (I always try to tame them, so eventually they usually let me treat them monthly with a topical). There are a lot of good alternatives if your cat has a reaction to Revolution; for topical deworming, there's Profender or Advantage Multi; for oral deworming, Pyrantel pamoate is dirt cheap and effective--but has to be given once every 2 weeks until exposure or infection has resolved. This being said, the only cat in my house who gets treated with Revolution Plus is Cinnamon, who I take outside on a leash and harness during nice weather. The other 5 only get treated if there's an issue.

For vaccines, I will chime in and say FVRCP vaccine is really important for any cats that are ever exposed to cats living outside your home or if you volunteer at a rescue/shelter or do any kind of cat fostering. Panleukopenia is an awful, awful disease that can be fatal and extremely contagious; and FVRCP is extremely effective at preventing it. FVRCP also helps protect against common viral cold-like infections in cats, such as herpes. Of my 6 cats, all of them get FVRCP every 3 years except for Emily, who has autoimmune issues and the vet said she shouldn't get it. Having the other 5 stay current helps reduce her chance of infection too. And with a group larger than 4, there's always a chance of infections going around--even if they're not exposed to any cats outside the home.

My experience overseeing feline medical at a cat rescue--including several diabetics at the facility--taught me that preventing infections is usually much, much easier than treating an outbreak.
 
THH said:
If your cat goes outside at all, deworming is important. I personally love Revolution Plus, especially for my feral cats outside (I always try to tame them, so eventually they usually let me treat them monthly with a topical). There are a lot of good alternatives if your cat has a reaction to Revolution; for topical deworming, there's Profender or Advantage Multi; for oral deworming, Pyrantel pamoate is dirt cheap and effective--but has to be given once every 2 weeks until exposure or infection has resolved. This being said, the only cat in my house who gets treated with Revolution Plus is Cinnamon, who I take outside on a leash and harness during nice weather. The other 5 only get treated if there's an issue.

For vaccines, I will chime in and say FVRCP vaccine is really important for any cats that are ever exposed to cats living outside your home or if you volunteer at a rescue/shelter or do any kind of cat fostering. Panleukopenia is an awful, awful disease that can be fatal and extremely contagious; and FVRCP is extremely effective at preventing it. FVRCP also helps protect against common viral cold-like infections in cats, such as herpes. Of my 6 cats, all of them get FVRCP every 3 years except for Emily, who has autoimmune issues and the vet said she shouldn't get it. Having the other 5 stay current helps reduce her chance of infection too. And with a group larger than 4, there's always a chance of infections going around--even if they're not exposed to any cats outside the home.

My experience overseeing feline medical at a cat rescue--including several diabetics at the facility--taught me that preventing infections is usually much, much easier than treating an outbreak.
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Thank you so much for your thoughts and I very much appreciate your insights! You clearly have very relevant experience with this. I personally will not be using any Revolution products anymore after this experience, though I do understand the importance of keeping them healthy. I have a neighbor who insists on leaving plates of wet cat food outside and my cats (among many other kitties in the neighborhood) wind up there, which I know is a breeding ground for all sorts of viruses and such. It's tough to figure out something that works. When I moved my kitties out here to the Big Island, I had them on Bravecto which didn't seem to bother them, which is just for fleas I believe and doesn't deal with hookworm/roundworm. I may go back to that, but Carlito is still recovering today from the Revolution poisoning.
 
Bravecto Plus came out recently. It's Bravecto with some intestinal parasite protection comparable to Revolution. It may be a good option for you.

If your cats are sharing food with stray and feral cats, I would definitely recommend keeping them current on FVRCP and asking your vet about the FeLV vaccine also. FeLV is very contagious and can be fatal.
 
THH said:
Bravecto Plus came out recently. It's Bravecto with some intestinal parasite protection comparable to Revolution. It may be a good option for you.

If your cats are sharing food with stray and feral cats, I would definitely recommend keeping them current on FVRCP and asking your vet about the FeLV vaccine also. FeLV is very contagious and can be fatal.
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@ THH Thank you!!! This is very helpful information for me. I want to keep them as safe as possible. I have a vet appointment next week and will bring it up. That is a great tip about the Bravecto Plus as well. Appreciate it!
 
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