Conference misery::feline_v1

1903.0. "worming medicine for a stray" by TALLIS::ROBBINS () Fri Oct 21 1988 18:08

My sister lives in apartment complex where they are not permitted
to have pets. Several (apparently ownerless) cats "hang out" around
the complex, and many of the residents leave food out for them,
much to the landlord's dismay!

This is in Gainesville, Florida, so the climate is not too much
of a problem for the cats (although some winter nights do get
pretty cold). However, a particular cat that my sister has befriended
is very thin, possibly due to worms. My sister is willing to take the
cat to the vet to be de-wormed, but wonders if there's any point
to it, since the cat would probably just get worms again.

Here's my question: Is there any kind of medication that she could
put in the cat's food on a daily basis to keep the cat from
being re-infested? If so, are these medications effetive even if
the cat doesn't finish its meal every day?

Thanks for any answers you can give me. 
--Debbie

PS. If she does take the cat to the vet to be de-wormed, I'll
have her spay/neuter it, too. ( And she'll have another reason to
hit me up for $$--as if being a poor college student wasn't
enough! :-) :-) )

It is really hard to keep an outdoor cat from getting worms, and sorrowfully,
it can be worse for the cat to medicate with the wrong medicine...after all,
the medicine is a toxin, that's why the worms die, and feeding that to a
cat every day is not a good idea.  The additional problem is that different
parasites require different medicines, it would not be possible to know
what kind of medicine is useful, and needed, unless the vet examined the cat
before each treatment.

    Still, I would take the cat into the vet for treatment.  At least
    the cat will be more comfortable for awhile.