“Can my cat give me worms?” I asked this question after discovering that one of my Siamese cats got infected with worms. My vet gave a straightforward affirmative response. She told me the importance of routine wellness checks to ensure that my cats are worm-free.
Siamese cats can infect their owners with worms. Feline parasites can spread to humans in some cases. Tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms are cat parasites that can transfer to humans.
You can catch worms from your cat if you come into direct physical contact with his feces or soil with worm eggs. You can get worm infections if you often walk bare feet through contaminated ground. You can also catch worms from your cat if you often garden without wearing gloves.
How Likely Is It For Humans To Get Worms From Cats?
It is unlikely that cats will spread worms to people in significant numbers. You can get infected through direct physical contact with cat feces. This incident is only a remote possibility.
The risk of contracting feline worms is low. This slim chance, though, does not rule out the possibility that we can get worms from our cats.
Good hygiene is a must if you want to avoid getting worms from your cat. Routine veterinary checkups are also crucial. Your vet can detect worms during health visits. He can then provide appropriate treatment without delay.
Cat parents who don’t take their kitties to the vet risk becoming infected.
Can Humans Get Parasitic Worms From Cats?
Humans can get parasitic worms from cats. We get these worms from being in direct contact with infected cat feces or soil.
A few types of worms can transfer from cats to humans. These worms are tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms.
1. Tapeworms
Cats are vulnerable to parasitic worm infections, like tapeworm infection.
Tapeworms are long, flat, and resemble a tape measure in shape. They usually settle in a cat’s small intestine.
Your Siamese cat might not show any signs of tapeworms if he has them. There may be no outward sign because tapeworm infection has few apparent symptoms. You may notice worm segments that look like white grains on and around your cat’s anus or in his feces.
I took Robyn, my Siamese cat, to the vet when I observed she had a lot of white grains surrounding her anus. Our vet prescribed a useful dewormer to remove the parasites.
Siamese cats cannot pass tapeworms to other cats but can give them to people.
Tapeworms transfer from cat to person through close physical contact. The transmission will likely happen when your Siamese cat licks you.
Tapeworm transmission is possible when you let your cat sleep in your bed. Being close to him for a long time may lead to unintentional tapeworm egg ingestion.
Tapeworm infections can cause one or more of the following symptoms:
2. Roundworms
Roundworms are round, spaghetti-like worms that can live in your cat’s small intestine. They spread among cats in the same way that hookworms do. They are also transmissible to humans.
Roundworms are far more common than we expect. People ingest roundworm larvae or eggs from touching the infected feces. They can enter directly through the skin. The eggs then begin to hatch within the body.
Roundworm infections are common in people who do not practice good hygiene. They are also prevalent among residents of tropical and underdeveloped regions.
Humans are not the sole host of roundworms. Roundworms do not have any particular target inside the body when transmitted to humans.They wander inside the body, which can harm the internal organs of the infected person.
Roundworms can cause ocular larval migrans or visceral larval migrans. The seriousness of the infection depends on where they settle. Roundworms start causing visceral larval migrans if they migrate through the internal organs. Roundworms also cause ocular larval migrans if they enter the eye. It can have serious outcomes, such as blindness.
People who experience roundworm infection may experience any of these signs and symptoms:
3. Hookworms
Hookworms are short, growing to two inches in length. They prefer to make their homes in your cat’s small intestine.
They can cling to a cat’s intestinal wall and ingest blood with the help of their hook-shaped teeth.
Hookworms are zoonotic and contagious. They can infect both humans and animals.
Hookworms stay in a cat’s body, but the eggs come out in his stool. The eggs are small and invisible to the naked eye.
Most hookworm infections start when we often walk bare feet and come into contact with cat feces. They usually begin with a skin infection that causes redness and severe itching. Other symptoms depend on the severity of the infection.
Infected people may display some or all these symptoms:
How Do I Know If I Got Worms From My Cat?
You will need a lab test or imaging to confirm if you got a worm infection from your cat.
People get intestinal or invasive infections from parasitic worms. These infections are treatable with the help of medical professionals. They are easy to treat and cure if caught and treated early.
These are the typical symptoms that could indicate if you got worms from your cat:
These symptoms suggest which areas of the body got infected by parasites.
Talk to a healthcare expert, so he can tell you what to do next if you think you have any symptoms related to parasitism. Do not delay seeing a doctor if you are experiencing persistent or severe symptoms. You can often avoid further complications with early treatment.
There are many parasitic worms ready to invade your Siamese cat out there. The best effort to make is to ensure your cat receives routine deworming medications. Keep them indoors most of the time, too. This active response will reduce the chances of your cat transmitting worms to you. Thank you for reading! I hope this post is helpful to you.
We gathered all the health tips tailored towards maintaining your Siamese cat’s optimal well-being. Check it out here: Siamese Cat Health: A Complete Guide