Yes, indoor cats can still get parasites. One of the most common ways is through exposure to fleas, which can squeeze through screens and enter your home. Cats may also briefly venture outside without you realizing it, which can expose them to intestinal parasites.

Most cats get intestinal parasites through fecal-oral transmission, meaning they get exposed to fecal material containing eggs that are then ingested by your cat. Another way is through parasite transmission, such as a flea carrying a tapeworm larva. If your cat ingests that flea, the chances of getting an intestinal tapeworm are high.

Some parasites can be passed from a cat to a person, which is known as a zoonotic disease or zoonotic parasite. If your cat has a zoonotic parasite, your veterinarian will discuss the risks to you and your family. If you have any questions specifically about your cat's intestinal parasite risk or deworming your cat, consult your veterinarian or reach out to a local pet hospital for assistance.

Intestinal parasites can be prevented. There are effective preventatives on the market that can be administered to your cat either monthly or every three months to help prevent them from getting intestinal parasites.

Worms can live for a long time inside a cat, depending on the species of the parasite. They can live for months, if not years, in the intestinal tract. It's important to have your cat's fecal material screened annually as an adult cat, and more frequently for kittens, to ensure they are not harboring parasites.

Intestinal parasites are quite common, especially in kittens. Most kittens have some type of parasite when they join your family, so it's important to have them screened for worms and dewormed properly by a veterinarian.

Some of the most common symptoms of worms in cats include a bloated belly, vomiting, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. These symptoms are usually gastrointestinal. In severe cases, especially in young cats, they can even die from intestinal parasites.

Worms can be visible in your cat's stool. However, oftentimes they're not seen, so not seeing them does not mean that your cat does not have parasites. The most common parasite to be visible is the tapeworm, which appears as little rice-like segments on the outside of the stool.

Worms can be painful for cats. If a cat has a lot of intestinal parasites, it can cause intestinal wall thickening, bloating, and inflammation that can be uncomfortable.

Worms can be passed in several different ways. In kittens, the most common way is to be passed through the mother's uterus, meaning parasites are obtained in kittens before they're even born. Parasites can also migrate through milk and milk glands and be obtained while the kitten is nursing. Another common way is fecal-oral transmission, where eggs of parasites are passed through the fecal material of a cat and then ingested by the cat into the intestinal tract.