Why do I need to worm my cat?
All cats need regular worming to ensure control of roundworm, hookworm and tapeworm. These three worm types live in the stomach or intestines and can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, though more commonly they lead to general poor condition and in kittens a poor growth rate. It is important to treat for worms preventatively rather than after you think your cat has become infested with them. Kittens need treatment more often than adult cats.
There are several options available for treating your cat for worms. Worm tablets or worming paste need to be given every 2 weeks until your kitten reaches 12 weeks of age. From then on treat every 3 months for life. For the first 12 weeks you need only treat for roundworm and hookworm but from 12 weeks onwards it is important to treat for tapeworm too.
We recommend Drontal Allwormer for cats or Profender pour-on which effectively treat all three worm types.
There are also available pour on treatments, (Revolution and Advocate) that control both roundworms and fleas and are an ideal way to treat those cats that are difficult to give tablets to. They are applied monthly and are very effective and easy to apply. They also control ear mites. They do not however directly control tapeworms. However tapeworms are transmitted by fleas and by effectively controlling fleas, Revolution or Advocate reduces the need for tapeworm control. We recommend giving cats on Revolution or Advocate a tapeworm tablet once a year (we can do this during their annual health check!).
An alternative to worm tablets is the new pour-on Profender. Profender treats round worm, hookworm AND tapeworm. Profender however, does not treat fleas. For more information see our article about Profender.