Can a human get worms from a cat by letting the cat l**k them?

Question

i have 4 cats. the oldest is just about a year and the 3 other ones are brothers & sister and are all about 7 months.

the younger ones are very lovable and like to l**k me... i found no harm in this so i let them. (i know that was stupid of me)

the cats do have fleas and im working on getting rid of them (saving up money to buy the advantage;already have the bombs.)

just yesterday i found about a 1/4 inch worm (not sure what kind because before i could "inspect" it, it went back into my cats butt.

i gave all 4 cats a liquid wormer for roundworms but didnt find anything in the litter pan and all the cats just went to sleep after giving them the 1/4 tsp dosage.

im very concerned for my health,as well as my husbands and my cats.

can anyone tell me if humans can get the worms too? and if so is there any statistics? is it rare or common?what are the symptoms of an infected human with worms? please help im scared. thanks so much any advice is highly appreciated!

Answer 1

You can theoretically get worms from your cats if they have licked their bottoms and then licked your face, or if they l**k your fingers and you put your fingers in your mouth without washing your hands.

Some worms can infect you through the skin, but you will only develop larval migrans (itchy red areas where the worm larvae are) and these will go away because they're adapted to cats, not humans.

It's not often reported because it's not life threatening, only itchy, and most common in kids that eat p**p or don't wash their hands after handilg animals (dogs are much the same).

Answer 2

roundworms are common in cats and yes you can

Answer 3

I've never heard of it happening to anyone .  Just make sure you treat it a.s.a.p, and wash your hands and face often and on a regular basis.

  *make sure you take him and the others for all their vacc. shots!!!!!

Answer 4

only if you french kiss its back side and swallow... cant imagine any other way (not a doctor)

Answer 5

l*****g you should not be a problem. Wash your hands after handling your cats and before putting your hands on food or near your mouth and the same after cleaning the litter box and make sure the cats are properly wormed.  If that is done, there is really nothing to worry about.  You don't get worms from cat saliva.

Answer 6

Some kinds of worms can be transferred to humans But not from l*****g.  Some worms are caused from the cat swallowing a flea that had swallowed a parasite.  You will need to get meds from a vet to get rid of some forms of worms. The meds are not expensive.  Good luck 2u.    

Answer 7

When I bought both my kitties they came with fleas thrown in free. And then worms (from eating the fleas). I took them to the vet and asked the same question:

"Can humans get worms from cats?"

The vet said he has been a vet for a long time (he just recently retired in fact) and he had never heard of it.

So I agree with the answers above: wash your hands after playing with them, don't l**k their butts (pretty easy I am sure) and get a prescription from a vet for a dewormer.

And for the fleas I got a tablet from the vet that affects the fleas nervous system and they jump off. That together with some frontline knocked them out and I haven't seen any fleas since.

Also you might want to get a carpet spray that seals any eggs so that when they hatch they will die. Spray it on any furniture the cats use too.

Hope that helps and good luck :)

Answer 8

You can't get them if kitten licks you but if you l**k kitten you could.  Kittens can also sleep w/ you and you're safe.  Do keep infected ones away from kitties who don't have worms.  OTC dewormers aren't effective against all the different worms that a cat can have so best to get them to vet for prescription product.  And try to bring a fecal sample w/ you or one unlucky kitten will get an anal probe.  My kitten had coccidia which doesn't always show up on fecal test but causes yellow, very pungent smelling poo.  That's treated w/ a sulfa drug.  You can expect to see worm segments in poo while treating.  Advantage and Frontline aren't recommended for use on kittens under 5 lb, my vet gave me Revolution.  I'm experimenting w/ an all natural flea, tick, mosquito killer that says it's safe for small kittens and children but don't know if it works yet.  You can wash the kittens w/ dawn dishwahing soap (regular formula) to kill fleas, have something handy to grab fleas that flee to kittens' face but actually very effective.  Of course, wash hands, vacuum and wash all bedding kittens use.   Worms suck, thank goodness for modern medicine!

Answer 9

What you are describing is a tapeworm section.  They are spread by fleas.  The cat would have to ingest the flea to get the tapeworm.  (as would you to catch the tapeworm.)  Cats l**k themselves and can accidentally eat a flea if fleas are present.

Unfortunately, common dewormers will not affect the tapeworm.  You need Praziquantel, (Droncit is one trade name)  It is by prescription only.

Advantage is good for fleas, Frontline is better.  Don't waste your money on over the counter stuff.  It is not as safe and also not very effective as the stuff your vet can supply.

Answer 10

Okay, I rescue cats and here's the deal:  if you get the Advantage you won't need the bombs, so take them back where you bought them and use the money to get the biggest tube of Advantage you can get from the vet.  This will be the 4ml tube used for big dogs.  I pop the tube open and pour it into a clean empty pill bottle.  I take a 1 cc syringe and extract .4 cc to use on cats under 8 lbs. and .8 cc to use on cats more than 8 lbs.  The last tube I bought was $15 at Banfield (Petsmart) so that is much cheaper than buying all those little tubes.  I can do up to ten cats/kittens on one large dog tube.  This is perfectly safe as the formulation is exactly the same - you just use more for the bigger animals.  In fact, my vet told me about this.

As for the existing worms, if, after deworming you saw what looked like linquini in the p**p after using the litter box, then the cats had roundworms and the dewormer worked.  However, if the worms you saw coming out of the but were white, flat and elastic looking, or if you saw what looked like pieces of rice around their bottoms, then these are tapeworms and the dewormer you used will not work.  Tapeworms are caused by ingesting fleas (so that means you can't get them) and you need to get a product specifically designed for tapes, either Droncit or Drontal (the latter kills rounworms and tapes.)  There is a product called Tradewinds that you can buy over-the-counter which contains the same ingredient as the other two, but cheaper.

Having said all this, please get your cats spayed and neutered ASAP or you will end up with spraying toms and a pregnant female.  If money is a problem, then check with your local shelter to see what low-cost or free spay/neuter options are available.  At seven months old, these kids are old enough to be having babies.

Answer 11

You can not get worms from your cat l*****g you. Humans can get parasites but they usually come from food.