Should I quarantine my cat with tapeworms
Tapeworms are highly contagious between animals, and it is advisable to quarantine a cat with tapeworm.
The infected cat should be treated with deworming medication, and flea treatment used to kill host fleas.
Your cat’s environment needs to be cleaned thoroughly after the cat has been treated because there are still tapeworm segments in the cat poop.
Thus, your cat may become reinfected with worms if the environment is not sanitised.
Should I Quarantine my Cat with Tapeworms?
Limit Spreading
Placing the cat in quarantine limits the spread of tapeworm segments and eggs. Ideally, leave the cat in a small room to limit cleaning and the area of transmission.
In a household with cats and dogs, isolation also avoids transmission to other animals which could spread the worm infection.
Humans can get tapeworms but it is very rare, therefore there is not that much risk that you are becoming a spreader, nevertheless, take your precautions.
How Long Should My Cat Stay in Quarantine?
The recommended period of quarantine depends on the length of time for the deworming medication to work.
This depends on the precise medication and the mechanism of action and can be between 1 day for commercial wormers or a few weeks for homemade wormers.
If there is a single cat in the household, the quarantine period should be a minimum of a few days.
Multiple Pets
Households with multiple cats or dogs should quarantine for longer to ensure that the tapeworm infestation has been completely eliminated.
The affected cat should be left with food and water, a clean litter tray, toys and a scratching post to provide familiar comforts.
Regular visits are recommended to help the cat adjust to the solitude, with thorough hand washing afterwards.
Quarantine Room
The quarantine room should be kept very clean and the litter tray cleaned daily. This helps to break the chain when tapeworm eggs are eliminated in faeces.
In severe tapeworm infections, a follow-up dose might be required after 3-4 weeks. It is not necessary to keep the cat in isolation for the entire 3-4 weeks. In the interim period, keep the cat indoors and limit contact with other pets.
But please keep thinking quarantine my cat as long as possible or better keep it in the room until the tapeworms are gone.
Medication
Deworming medications are purely treatments and not preventatives. Subsequent to treatment, a cat can become re-infected. It will take three months for the new tapeworms to mature and be of any threat to the cat’s health. At this point, the cat needs to be dewormed again.
Quarantine My Cat
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