I have been finding small white worms on my cat’s fur near the rectum. I have seen some of them moving around on the fur. What are they and how can I get rid of them?

What you are seeing are tapeworm segments. These are actually pieces of a worm that is living in your cat’s intestinal tract. The ribbon-like worm lives in the intestine and sheds pieces or segments periodically which are passed out of the rectum with the stool.

Tapeworms of dogs and cats are most commonly either "flea tapeworms" or "rodent tapeworms." The segments that the animal shed in the stool are filled with eggs of the tapeworm. These segments containing the eggs are eaten by either fleas or rodents. The eggs develop inside the flea or rodent into larvae, which is the next life-stage of the parasite. These larvae enter the cat when he or she eats a flea by grooming, or eats a rodent after hunting. The larvae then develop into the adult tapeworm in the cat.

Now that you know what the segments are and how the cat may have been infected, what can be done about it? The segments can be evaluated by your veterinarian to determine whether they are due to flea or rodent ingestion. Most tapeworms veterinarians see are from fleas.

Regardless of the cause, the worms can be eradicated by medication from your veterinarian. To keep your cat from becoming reinfected with worms, use appropriate flea control products (your veterinarian can suggest several choices) and stop your cat from hunting rodents.

This information, prepared as a public service by the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, answers problems Rhode Island veterinarians currently are seeing in their practices, as well as new developments in animal care.