have a house / barn cat that is really skinny - am hoping to give him something for worms but am never able to see where he goes - can someone advise me as what to give him - he has lost alot of weight since winter and is often seen throwing up - I'm wanting to try this first - something not too harsh please - thanks!!

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), July 31, 2000

Answers

My recommendation would be to keep the cat in a cage until you get a stool sample. Then take it and the cat into the vet.

-- Ken S. (scharabo@aol.com), July 31, 2000.

Also have him checked for feline lukemia (sp?).

Hopefully, its just worms or an otherwise benign illness.

j (who is cheerfully owned by seven cats...)

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), July 31, 2000.

We get cat worming meds from our vet. They aren't available over the counter. By all means, take a stool sample into your vet if you can. Is there a spay/neuter/vaccination place where you could take him to get some inexpensive shots, too? (Maybe next stage in your plan?) If you have more than one cat, I would say that would be really important, in case he has something contagious. Good luck to you and the cat.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), July 31, 2000.

First thing is you have to confine him in a small cage with food and a litter box so you can get your stool sample. Not a bad idea to do this with an animal that is obviously sick at any rate. Good luck with him.

-- Doreen (livinginskin@yahoo.com), July 31, 2000.

My pet store sell a product called Dr. Daniel's cat wormer. It took care of my cats worms. If when you cat throws up you see something that looks like spagetti, that is round worms. If in the stool you see something that looks like rice (I know, you can't find where he goes) that would be tape worm. They are usually gotten after ingesting fleas. I know my cat would go nuts if I tried to keep him caged.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), July 31, 2000.

Where do you live? When I lived in Phoenix it seemed that every summer cats would really thin down due to eating lizards. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), August 01, 2000.

that's not it - I live in Wisconsin

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), August 01, 2000.

Hi, Pat. We have a little 7 week old kitten that just walked out of the corn one day last week. He was pretty shabby looking, too. I called up the vet, and for 89 cents, they gave me a syringe of wormer. He has perked right up.

-- Rachel (rldk@hotmail.com), August 01, 2000.

Cat dewormer is available in feed stores and critter catalogs. But you'd be wise to have a vet diagnose first. It could be feline leukemia or something else. Many things mirror each other. The deworming paste could do damage to another condition that could be brewing.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), August 02, 2000.