My daughter has an 18 year old cat (Princess) that has been troubled with tape worms. She bought some of the diatomaceous earth and has been mixing this in her food for about 2 weeks. She says there are live worms in Princess's stool and I wondered if anyone can tell us how long it may take to rid her of these worms.
By cybergrannie from Ocala, FL
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No offense but home remedies do not always work for tape worms and Princess should be getting medication from a vet and especially because of her age and then the worms will be gone in a day or two that way! Princess isn't getting enough nutrition because the worms are eating it. :-(
Yes, diatomaceous earth does work on fleas and tape worms. I have been using it for years effectively, with my vets approval. Infact, I introduced the vet to it. It has also helped with heartworm in a dog I once fostered.
How often and how much do you give daily?
Editor's Note: Most vets strongly discourage giving cats and dogs garlic or onions. This is especially true in smaller animals. We are leaving this comment but recommend talking to your own veterinarian about this matter before starting this type of treatment.
I disagree with this answer. I have used garlic and a little raw hamburger to conquer worm infestation in my cats. It is an old remedy passed down from my great grandmother to my grandmother to my mother and now to me.
My cats won't eat it mixed with dry.. is it still effective when I mix it with water and pumpkin purée and oral syringe feed it to them?
Do NOT give your pets garlic please!! As someone looking out for the well being of all animals, I'm not sure why your vet would've given "the stamp of approval" when any vet should know garlic and anything in the onion family is toxic to cats and dogs. It's actually considered to be about 5X as potent as an onion. Since garlic is significantly more concentrated than an onion, an even smaller ingested amount will likely lead to toxicosis as little as one clove of garlic can lead to toxicity in dogs and cats.
Apparently you and your Vet need to become more educated. Garlic is toxic to both cats and dogs ans can kill them. Doesnt matter whos homemade recipe it is!
Garlic is classified as a species of the Allium family. Other species in the Allium family include onions, shallots, leeks, chives and rakkyo (otherwise known as the Chinese onion).
Unfortunately, dogs and cats cannot digest these particular plants as we can. The ingestion of Allium species in dogs and cats causes a condition called hemolytic anemia, which is characterized by the bursting of red blood cells circulating through your pets body.
Ingestion can also lead to gastroenteritis, also known as an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, causing stomach pain.
Please educate yourself before making family holistic recipes and giving to your animal. Also if your vet said it was okay to feed your animal garlic then you definitely need a new vet immediatly!!!
Don't do it! Garlic is poisonous to cats. Liver toxin to them
Actually, it is hard to find clinical evidence that garlic is bad for dogs. In 2000, a study at Hokkaido University was done in which four dogs were each given 1.25 ml of garlic extract per kg of body weight for seven straight days. So... if the dog weighed 50 pounds, he would be given somewhere around 25 large raw garlic cloves! (Honestly, no one in their right mind would give so much garlic to their dogs in REAL LIFE, right?)
Now, in that study, even with the ridiculously excessive amount of garlic given, none of the four dogs showed any signs of toxicity. And while the garlic did affect the dogs' red blood cells, none of the dogs developed anemia.
In fact, in a 2004 study conducted by some of the same researchers in the 2000 study, it was showed that the compound allicin was good for health, and that despite the high concentrations of garlic used during the study, no development of hemolytic anemia was found in the dogs.
This 2004 study has led the researchers to retract their earlier suggestion that garlic is bad for dogs. In fact, they concluded that this herb has "the potential to promote immune functions and prevent cardiovascular diseases."
The bottom line? Use common sense! The key to safe use of garlic on dogs is the dosage level and frequency of use. As shown in the 2000 study, for a dog to develop abnormality in his red blood cells, he would have to eat A LOT of garlic to even begin the oxidative process. A healthy 50-pound dog may have to eat a whole 5-oz onion, or over 20 cloves of garlic, to start the Heinz-body process. Since red blood cells are constantly regenerated from the bone marrow, a dog would likely need to ingest this much amount of onion or garlic on a repeated basis to cause permanent harm.
Raw garlic can be toxic to your animals. Check "10 things to never give your pets".
Garlic was used in all commercial dog food in the old days before the 80's I think. Its always been a remedy for worms in both people and dogs for ages. I would not recommend cloves of garlic for you pet, but for you, it works great for worms and cholesterol lowering too.
Thankfully, natural DE is not a "poison", but a natural method of eliminating parasites by dehydrating them. Since parasites are a major cause of dis-ease in everyone - human, plants, and animals, as well as the other great benefits of feeding natural DE, we immediately feed DE to all rescues or client animals (infested or not, as most often they have parasite issues and the DE will help strengthen their immune systems, get them healthier more quickly, detox heavy metals, provide 15 minerals, and eliminate any worms they may have). Our DE feeding protocol for worm infestations can be given once or twice per day as follows:
Kittens - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
Cats - 2 teaspoons twice/day
Puppies less than 10 lbs. - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
Puppies 10 to 19 lbs. - 2 teaspoons
Dogs 20 to 50 lbs. - 1 to 1.5 tablespoons
Dogs 50 to 100 lbs. - 2 tablespoons
Dogs 100+ lbs. - 3 to 4 tablespoons
Cattle, Dairy Cows, & Hogs - 2% of dry feed ration & Free Choice
Chickens - 5% in feed & Free Choice
Goats & Sheep - 2-3 tbsps. per 100#'s of body weight & Free Choice
Horses - 1 to 2 cups in daily ration
*Humans - 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons daily (1 tbsp. AM, 1 tbsp. PM)
Thanks, in going to start putting it In my cats and dogs food . We started already giving it to our chickens .
should be just under a teaspoon-mixed properly with food
give food grade and not the more clay-like feed grade[multi-mite] as too much,not properly mixed,can cause intestinal blockage and kill cat
I just do a quarter cup in wet food diatomacious earth food grade should i do this for a week once a day or
That sounds like a lot of DE. I suppose it matters what brand you are using? The instructions in my bag said 1/2 to 1 tsp for small dogs and cats, and 1 tbsp for dogs over 55lbs. I always think its better to be safe than sorry. I think reading the direction to each brand might be the best idea.
I understand DE is safe, all natural remedy but I often wonder if it dries out an animals skin...what will too much do to their digestive system? Given the proper dosage, I def agree, its the way to go.
I have paid the vet twice for worm medication and it has not gotten rid of the worms..so going naturally may be the answer. Don't be afraid to go natural cause any medication that is FDA approved always has harmful side affwcrs5.
Two of my cats almost died after taking the flea pills given by the vet. He then told me that Persians are very sensitive and we should use something natural next time. Not all vets will admit this because they want you to have to come to them for the prescription.
Actually, too much "food grade" DE is not harmful to pets. Where's the proof behind your statement? There are 2 types of DE, one is "Food Grade" (recommended for consumption, & isnt harmful at all to humans, plants, and animals) while the other is harmful, very toxic if ingested since it contains chemicals. You must have researched the wrong one.
This is not at all true. Please fact-check your research before posting things that might scare other readers. Diatomaceous Earth does not cause intestinal blockage, and Garlic is toxic to small mammals. I don't care what your grandmother or your vet said. Veterinarians are like people doctors; they are human and can make mistakes...a five minute comprehensive search online will tell you everything you need to know about both of these items, or you can call multiple vets and get second and third opinions. Garlic = not safe, Diatomaceous earth in proper dosages such as a previous poster made available = perfectly safe, natural, and even beneficial.
www.healthline.com/
Someone should ban you from posting. Your statements are ludicrous and unfounded. Also...a whole garlic clove in butter shoved down your cat's throat? Someone should also ban you from owning pets. This is horrifying.
Yes my cats sometimes eat human food and garlic powder is in most of what we cook and my cats have no issues at all.
Natural remedies may take a little more than chemical filled garbage, but theyre infinitely better for the health of your pets. Dont tell people what they should or shouldnt do with their pets. If you want to take your pet to the vet so be it, but if someone wants to treat their pets naturally that is entirely up to them and you have no right to judge them.
Put a could teaspoons of diatomaceous earth on their food everyday. Thatll help control the worms without making Princess sick
If you do not properly clean and disinfect the entire area (every surface hard or soft) your pet can easily be re-infected as the worm eggs are everywhere from when he had the worms, its not that its not killing his worms its that he keeps getting new ones
The vet has treated my four cats twice with shots and the shots did NOT get rid of the worms but one of my cats started jerking and salivating both times the shots were given
My question is if DE doesn't work when it's wet how does it expel
the worms inside your body?
Do not give garllic or onion of any small quantity (none)or form or leftovers, to cats particularly. Or dogs.Will give Heiinz Body anaemia, which continually de-brides red blood cells like a banana. Rapid decline, no cure. Nor treatment to return to health. Vets are correct. It can't be given.
I think because it doesn't blend with water or dissolve in water it still does whatever it does to expel parasites. I personally don't care how it works as long as it is a safe remedy that works.
Garlic is bad for all animal's. You can order Bayer Tapeworm pills from Tractor Supply. Or you can go to atlanticpetproducts.com and order stuff. I've been getting all my dog & cat flea and heartworm (never give to dog's unless they test NEG) for year's and have never had any issue's.
If you have given your cat/s any small quantity of garlic or onion, even once, your cats are heading for sudden incurable, fatal Heinz Body Anaemia. If lucky can save them with expensive blood transfusion. At best your cats MUST be showing symptoms. Eg. sitting looking forlorn, depressed, head down. Every medical Vet would say Avoid garlic/onion because they know fatal Heinz Body. As cats don't have the enzyme to process garl/onoon like us. I would avoid for dogs, horses etc. also.Unfortunately I know garlic kills as I WAS STUPID & cat was fatal statistic immediately symptoms showed. Do not believe anyone like holistic vet, they would be numb-skull murderers. Just buy All-wormers for pets
cat&dog. If can't pull pop, crush small bits in food or Profender pipette on top of neck.
Have you ever read the ingredients on that mixture? It is basically ground glass
It does slightly dry out the animals skin, too. However, after spending a fortune on chemical products for fleas
and other pests, I have found that DE is more effective and cheaper than chemical products for pest control. Fleas and ticks are becoming immune to the active ingredients in flea and tick
Control products. My cats dont seem to mind it all all. Ive started using it as a wormer as well. Its so cheap for the amount of product that you get compared to other products. My cats are just a little static-y after application. I absolutely love DE! If its safe for chickens, which are sensitive to respiratory issues, its safe for a cat. That was my main concern at first. If you think about it, cats like to roll around in dirt anyways.
what was the answere to how much to give cats to treat tape worms?
One of the other comments shares this information:
Kittens - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
Cats - 2 teaspoons twice/day
Puppies less than 10 lbs. - 1/2 to 1 teaspoon
Puppies 10 to 19 lbs. - 2 teaspoons
Dogs 20 to 50 lbs. - 1 to 1.5 tablespoons
Dogs 50 to 100 lbs. - 2 tablespoons
Dogs 100+ lbs. - 3 to 4 tablespoons
Cattle, Dairy Cows, & Hogs - 2% of dry feed ration & Free Choice
Chickens - 5% in feed & Free Choice
Goats & Sheep - 2-3 tbsps. per 100#'s of body weight & Free Choice
Horses - 1 to 2 cups in daily ration
*Humans - 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons daily (1 tbsp. AM, 1 tbsp. PM)
I must have missed the post where you said what you were feeding and if mixed with dry food or canned. if cats on canned food, that is way too much. I have been mixing DE in my cats wet food for many years. Dosage fepends on age and weight of thr cat. Right now my 3yr 10# ginger gets 1 heaping teaspoon in his breakfast and dinner shreds. My big 13# ginger is 11 months, but he gets the same dosage. I hive for 2 weeks then none for two weeks. I do the routine for 2 months. On off weeks, they get DE rubbed into their fur. Then brushed. Over 15 yrs using pet grade DE. No fleas, ticks, worms.
Diatomaceous Earth is the shells of Diatoms. It doesn't "dissolve". The tiny shells slice the skin on parasites.
Just mix it into their food daily? for how long about? Humans can take it to by mixing into or into to something? How long? Just curious
Yes the food grade DE works on worms and fleas. I have been using it for 10 years now for my cats and dogs. I also use it for myself once a year. Best directions is from Harris DE.
Hello and thanks for the advice.
Perhaps a little background info would be helpful. Princess is one of 3 sisters born to a "stray" in May of 1992. My family loves animals and cannot stand to see anyone go hungry. We feed strays and try to find homes but if not possible, we drive 40 miles to another county that has a "no kill" shelter (and they are who gets our generous donations).
The 3 sisters have been in our family since 1992 and are very well loved and cared for. We lost one sister (Pumpkin) to cancer at the age of 16 and we still miss her today.
One sister (Bootowful) belongs to my son and is in excellent health. She has not seen a vet since she was 2 years old and is still going strong. My son sees that she has everything she needs and much, much more. He is 56 yrs old and still single and she is his favorite companion. It was love at first sight and has lasted through the years with no regrets I am sure. We do use "home" remedies but indoor kiddies do not generally have many problems if cared for properly.
Pumpkin was the homely one but loved me and was my constant companion. She was an "attack" cat where I was concerned. Very protective. It was a very sad 6 months (and 800+ dollars) that we had to watch as she deteriorated with no cure in site. She was in no pain and I hand fed her with an eye dropper for the last 2 months. She was still chipper and still loving when she could no longer swallow her food. Letting her go was one of the hardest things I have had to do in 75 years on this earth. I still miss her today.
Princess is in excellent health and sees a vet on a regular basis. Usually for no reason except it has been a while and my daughter wants to be sure there is nothing wrong that she cannot see. Her vet gave her medication for worm treatment and Princess had a very bad reaction and was very sick. The vet is the one who told us to start using the diatomaceous earth. My daughter has called the vet since I asked this question and she says it will take a couple more weeks to be sure. If there is no sign of improvement then we will take another route.
We have several other pets and love them all. Other pets have come and gone over the years, all loved and appreciated.
I really appreciate all the responders on this site as I have found many "home" remedies that have helped me solve lots of problems. Not everyone can agree and that is a good thing because it keeps us on our toes and searching for better answers.
The tapeworm meds sold now do not always kill the tapeworm.
They only dissolve the segments from the head..Then they grow again an again..Takes several weeks for them to grow an drop off.
Vets used to use a pill that vibrated the intestine a dislodge the head..They no longer use it.. If the head isn't removed, it's a loosing battle,at 25.00 a pop..I am now using diatamasious earth With good results. Hope this helps.
can you tell me how much (powder form) do i put in 3 cups of food and a can of wet food for the mama stray. I have been taking care of them since the mother was killed. Now there are 3 adults (all related) and 4 kittens. I feed a big flat bowl of food with one can of wet. I just need to know how to use this powder.
I use 2 heaping tablespoons mixed with water and one can of wet food..Looks like soup and the cats love it ..
Look on line for Veternary secrets. Dr Jones . he says it wil take several weeks to kill all the worms as it does not kill eggs.
3 to 4 weeks before all eggs hatch and worms are killed
I gave my cats diatomaceous earth twice to help with worms and about a week later one of my cats was severely dehydrated and ended up passing away. Apparently she was diabetic and I did not know so the DE could have just exasperated the health situation but I think it's funny that a week after feeding th this stuff she was severely dehydrated and that is how DE kills parasites. You see a lot of pages saying how safe it is but I have found a few that say otherwise. On one a vet told a woman that this stuff is toxic to cats, on another it says that you should not continuously give it to your cats and on others in regards to human consumption it says that it can be very dehydrating. If you do decide to chance it and feed it to your cats please be very careful and keep a close eye on them so you don't end up in a situation like me. I have had the most awful week and it was heart breaking to not only lose my cat but to know may have been the one to cause her the problem and I don't want it to happen to anybody else or their pet. God Bless.
I am going through a similar situation and feel the same guilt knowing I caused it. I used it on my cat and from the ingesting of it has caused blockages. I am hoping she can be helped. She goes to the vet tomorrow. Please people be careful. It is an awful feeling to know that you did not truly understand there is a risk using it.
Extreme elevated blood sugar causes ketoacidosis. My blood sugar was 801 when diagnosed and this is what happened to me. You have extreme hunger and thirst. I would wake up urinating five times at night and slamming water. This is what caused your cats dehydration and death.
I'm so sorry. I know the I feeling. I have my wee one some Cap star in a different name from Wal Mart and only half a tab 2 days later anther half and it turned her skin like leather and killed get. Brooke my heart. The worm medicine at Wall Mart will kill them also if u give the dose they say. I took like 2 doses and mixed it in 5 little cans of food for about 10 outdoor cats and that was plenty. Please just go to vet. If u can't give them all the live you can because I think God understands. Too me at least they had true love before they go to Gods animals paradise
I'm so sorry. I know the I feeling. I have my wee one some Cap star in a different name from Wal Mart and only half a tab 2 days later anther half and it turned her skin like leather and killed get. Brooke my heart. The worm medicine at Wall Mart will kill them also if u give the dose they say. I took like 2 doses and mixed it in 5 little cans of food for about 10 outdoor cats and that was plenty. Please just go to vet. If u can't give them all the live you can because I think God understands. Too me at least they had true love before they go to Gods animals paradise
Actually DE is a mineral and kills by tearing bugs apart. I have never heard of it dehydrating anything.
Diatomaceous Earth, DE, does not tear bugs apart.
Think of DE as a microscopic ball of absorptive glass shards; DE is fossil remains of diatom exoskeletons, so when say an aphid gets DE on it, the shards scratches the aphids shell or skin and gets embedded, then the fluids from the aphid are absorbed by the DE, thus dehydrating and dehabilitating the aphid.
The DE acts also in a physical manner by getting caught in the moving parts of an insect, say between their legs and body segments, or mouthparts, limiting mobility or feeding.
It is unclear to me how DE can be very effective as a dehydrant in a creatures gut, where it is moist, but I can see physical scratching still happening for intestinal worms.
DE can also be thought of an irritant for worms rather than an insecticide; that is, the worms get irritated when they encounter or ingest the DE and will seek to exit the animal live to get away from it.
Remember that DE is broad spectrum, meaning it can harm most insects, inclusing beneficial wasps and honeybees, so use only in a focused manner.
Also, you do not want to breathe DE dust, which can lead to silicosis in your lung lining.
1/2 to 1tsp sounds like a lot for a cat; I would use only a gel-capsule full at one feeding, with free access to water.
Alternately, add a bit to wet food so theres no lump of DE traveling through the intestines to clog the gut.
So sorry .. but was wondering if you used "food" grade DE as there are different grades one is for the garden and one for consumption in food .. Please check .. it would be marked mine is .. again so sorry
Just so you dont feel guilty. De actually cuts up parasites on a molecular level rather than dehydrating them.
DE education by microscope; DE is not sharp or spikey at all, the food grade that we feed out pets. Only the marine DE, fragile, or pool filter DE, calcined, which is toxic is sharp. Fresh water DE is barrel shaped and porous, rather like Chex cereal, and that is what we feed for deworming. See photo www.earthworkshealth.com/
Clearly you gave the cat too much DE. It's very important that you dont over dose a cat with a powder substance like food grade DE, because it can possibly cause severe dehydration or intestinal blockage and the cat can die. Even when humans take DE with some water to get rid of parasites etc, they must drink plenty of water with it, and through out the day.
Give them the proper dosage! If you had theres no way your cat would've died from blockages, dehydration. It is a powder substance after all, that can absorb liquid. This is how it kills bugs/insects, worms, and other parasites.
Diatomite did NOT kill anyone's cat. The worms did. Worms themselves often cause diarrhoea. Which dehydrates cats. Especially kittens. I've got 60 cats, all raised from birth right on my property. Outdoors. Diatomaceous Earth is not provably for deworming via ingestion, though some swear by it. I keep it around because, by keeping it mixed in my cats' fur, it keeps fleas somewhat under control, which stops worms from becoming so abundant that my cats have no way to fight for their health (long enough to become big from lots of solid food). Tapeworms kill. And fleas facilitate worms. Tapeworms can stay afloat only if fleas go unchecked. Else, they will lose the battle for your cats' lives. Get rid of tapeworms with praziquantel (contained in Droncit & Drontal). For roundworms, use pyrantel palmoate. Both are available over the counter. Drontal is pricey. It's worth it if you're rich.
(Pictured: Darrell is 1 year old. DE keeps him healthy. 3 of his sibs died from worms before I first used it. He gets his fur powdered. I don't feed it to him, really. Used to. But no evidence it deworms, despite the hype. The significance is, it fights fleas.
No fleas? No worms. Eventually.)
From my research, tapeworms take the longest amount of time to be treated with diotamacious earth. Atleast 30 days is recommended.
Well, cybergrannie, since the vet says to go ahead and do it because she had problems with the regular meds then you have no choice. Is DE also being sprinkled in her litter box and on her favorite sleeping areas? Let us know the outcome, okay?
Hello again and thanks for your response. Yes we do use DE in several areas but since the vet says she has no fleas (Princess has a bath every week with Dawn) her biggest concern is cleaning up the worms.
Undoubtedly Princess got a flea or two from somewhere or she would not have the worms. She is a house cat but does love our enclosed patio which does have some grass and we do occasionally visit neighbors with dogs and cats of their own. Fleas love to latch on to a "new" body so I believe this is the case. Princess is due at the vet's on September 10 so I hope she will be okay. Her age is always a concern.
Thanks again.
Fleas will jump on peoples pant legs to get in the house. Ive had indoor cats that would be covered in fleas when I bathe them. So don't ever think indoor cats or dogs can't have fleas on them because they can
[Often, one may notice fragments from tapeworms in a cat's stool. This isn't necessarily a sign that anything is killing the worms since this happens anyway as a tapeworm grows and produces eggs (which are inside the tapeworm segments that break off and pass into the stool.)]
brewers yeast for fleas in the cat's food, fleas don't like the taste in the blood.
I have one cat out of 7 that consistently comes down with worms every two months.The vet says I will need to treat all of them in order to eliminate the problem. He is the only one that is a house cat. Very frustrating
it takes about a month for it to work 1 teaspoon to 1 can wet food Earthworks who sells DE has a number you can call they are great at answering questions about it the number is 800-228-5836 ask them for the correct dosage
I have 13 Cats. An of them loves the outdoor which infected my 12 home cats with worms well I ordered diatomaceous earth food grade because I heard the wonders of it and I have to say its helped a lot you just Gotta make sure you get the right dosage and make sure you give them lots of water and I do not let them share the litter boxes the larvae from the worms could stay in the litter box Its a lot of work but I dont put that much cat litter in the box but I change it every time they poop in there and in about three weeks I actually watch them poop and its such a reward to see the poop come out so nice and clean with no worms I feel like I won the battle and diatomaceous earth help to me but you have to make sure you keep your surroundings clean wear gloves so you dont get anything in your hands and accidentally and fast yourself but I love my animals so much I went for the battle and it feels good to win
you tell us to get the right dosage, but then you dont tell us what dosage you use?
I'm a cat rescuer and use earth powder to treat tapeworms. It's a 1/4 teaspoon once a day for 7 days. If she still has worms then you want to consider that 1) it's an advanced infection that requires 1 droncit or 2) she still has fleas. Fleas eat the eggs and then the cats eat the fleas completing the life cycle. Cats can not get tapeworms from ingesting tapeworm eggs. Fleas are needed. Revolution Plus is great for fleas.
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