Did you ever wonder, why a high percentage of young, weaned kittens develops a distended, gassy belly and suffers from feline diarrhoea and colic?

In a lot of cases round worms will cause these signs and you need to take action, the sooner the better and treat this parasitic disease properly.

Cat diarrhoea is a symptom that is correlated to gastrointestinal disorders. Enteritis is caused by many infectious agents, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and endoparasites. Especially weanling kittens will suffer from round worm infestation, if preventative worming of the cat mum and kittens did not take place or were not given according to a proper schedule.

Toxocara cati and Toxascaris leonina, two feline round worm species, infect the small intestines and are responsible for poor growth, loss of condition and debilitation in young cats. Common signs are gut motility problems that appear either in form of diarrhoea, constipation, vomiting or even more severely, as invagination of sections of the intestines. Colic is often present and so is the typical "worm belly", where intestines are gassy and distended.

Round worm larvae are being transmitted with the colostrum and milk of queens. Therefore it is very important to treat breeding cats at least before and after a pregnancy and her whole litter by the age of 4 weeks.
Weanling kittens should get worming treatment every fortnight, up to the age of 3 months. From then on they should receive regular treatment throughout their life. This helps to control worm counts in a cat's intestines and in the environment. Poor growth, weakness and a weak immune system can be avoided effectively this way.

Suitable cat dewormer for kittens and pregnant queens contain fenbendazole which eliminates adult round worms. Fully grown-up cats can be treated with anthelmintics that are effective against adult worms and their larval stages. There are many different cat worm medicines available that come in different forms, such as tablets, paste, granules, liquids or topical spot-ons. Especially spot-on products can be used conveniently and are easily administered onto the skin, so you can be sure that your cat got the whole dose.

Cat round worm infestation can be controlled well by using modern cat worm medicine that eliminates this kind of feline parasite safely.
Determining and following a regular treatment plan is crucial and will avoid serious health conditions and complications in young kittens effectively.
A healthy kitten will grow up and live a healthy adulthood that will last hopefully for at least nine lives!

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Dr. Ellen Schmidt is a veterinarian with a special interest in alternative pet medicine. If you found this article about round worms in cats helpful, visit her website and claim your free monthly e-zine "Pet Health Tip", available at => http://www.pet-health-pro.com