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Can cats get maggots? I have been finding maggots and the ...
Sent to Cat Experts September 11 11:27 PM

Can cats get maggots? I have been finding maggots and the eggs in the litter. My can shows not signs of feeling ill and she just had kittens 4 days ago. I never had this problem until buying tidy cat cat litter recently. I change her cat litter every 5 days and still have this problem. And its like infested, like if it was coming out of her she should be dead... i think. Please help...thank you

 

Optional Information:
Age: 1; Female

Already Tried:
nothing yet thought thats maybe it was the flys. until i got rid of everything and they still came back..except the cat litter

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
September 11 11:42 PM (14 minutes and 51 seconds later)
         
REPLIEDCheck Mark

Do you have a lot of flies around the litter box? Maggots would only be present if the flies are laying eggs on your cat's fresh stool.

Maggots can infest the skin of cats/dogs also. If there is a wound in the skin, or feces on the fur, the flies will lay eggs there, and the maggots can then start eating through the skin. It is very gross, and can kill an animal if not treated right away. If there is any afterbirth mess still on her fur, this can attract flies.

One thing that some people confuse with maggots are tapeworms. Tapeworms are small, white worms that you can see on fresh feces, and sometimes crawling around the fur around the anus. The tapeworms are smooth, while maggots have a more rough appearance. Tapeworms move slow, while maggots tend to move very fast. Tapeworms can be caught from the cat eating fleas, or also if they eat rodents or rabbits, which carry the tapeworms. The tapeworms will dry up, and then they look like small sesame seeds, and you can find these on the cats fur or on their bedding.

This website has a picture of the tapeworms in stool and the dried segments on the fur. They have a dog in the pictures, but they look the same in cats. http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html Scroll down to the last section.

Do you think that it might be tapeworms you are seeing vs. maggots? Please reply to discuss further!

Reply
September 12 12:02 AM (20 minutes and 35 seconds later)
         
Reply to Dr. Vicky Lamb's Post: By the pictures they do not look like tapeworms, but the shell does look like sesame seeds a little dark though. She also had fleas back in july, because she left the house. I bought her a flea comb to take them out. she was pregnant and i didnt want to danger the kittens. So everyday i combed her until there was no sign of fleas. Looking at the pictures i would of been able to see the shell or worm on the comb. Do tapeworms grow to that size if not treated? There were like 2 or 3 flys and then there was an army when she gave birth.
Answer
September 12 12:14 AM (11 minutes and 58 seconds later)
         
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