What Medication Is Used to Deworm a Cat?

Several medications can be used to deworm a cat.

There are several kinds of medicines used to deworm cats. Some medicines treat only a particular kind of worm, such as tapeworm or roundworm, while others treat several kinds at once. Before worming a cat, you should determine if only one kind of worm or several kinds have infested the cat.

Types

The most popular prescription wormers are Drontal, Revolution and Cestex. There are also nonprescription wormers available to treat either tapeworm or roundworm in cats.

Features

If you need to worm your cat for several kinds of worms, you should use a prescription medicine such as Drontal. Drontal tablets contain praziquantel and pyrantel pamoate. You can purchase this online, but you must have a prescription from a licensed veterinarian. This wormer is effective against hookworms, tapeworms and roundworms, which are the most common cat worms. You only have to dose the cat once and you can use Drontal to worm kittens as young as 4 weeks.
If your cat only has tapeworms, you can use Cestex, which contains epsiprantel, or Droncit, which contains praziquantel.
You can also buy praziquantel under other brand names, such as Trade Winds, without a prescription. Usually a one-time dose, followed by cleaning the pet's bedding and environment, is all that you need to get rid of tapeworms.
Piperazine is available without a prescription to treat roundworms in kittens and cats. It is usually sold as a liquid and the dose is mixed with food.
Revolution and Advantage Multi are topical medicines that treat fleas, heartworm and intestinal worms. Revolution contains selemectin and Advantage multi contains imidacloprid and moxidectin. Revolution and Advantage Multi require a prescription.

Identification

Worm infestations are sometimes easy to spot. Cats will vomit live worms in bad roundworm infestations. Otherwise, you may see the worms in the stool or not at all.
Tapeworm segments may be noticeable on the cat's hind end near the rectum or on her bedding. These look like small pale seeds when dry. If freshly appearing on the rectum, owners may notice the segment moving.
Hookworms are not as noticeable as roundworms or tapeworms. Cat owners should suspect hookworm infestation in lethargic cats with dull coats. Only a veterinarian can determine if hookworms are the culprit, however.

Warning

All worming medicines are poisons. You should always ask your veterinarian for advice before treating ill or pregnant cats. Some medicines, such as Advantage Multi, should not be used on pregnant cats.

Considerations

Cats may have one kind of worm or several kinds. Because all worm medicines can have side effects, if your cat only has one type of worm, it is better to treat for just that worm.
Your veterinarian can test your cat's stool to help determine what kind of worms your cat may have.
You should make sure the cat consumes the proper dose of the deworming medicine or it will not work.

Resources

• Doctors Foster and Smith: Nonprescription Cat Wormers
• 1800PetMeds: Prescription Cat Wormers