So there's no true prevention. In a lot of ways, there's no one way just to say, "My cat's never going to get parasites." But regular deworming can prevent them from becoming a problem.

The best thing to do to prevent tapeworm is to prevent fleas. Even for indoor cats, I recommend a regular topical application of a product like Revolution Plus. And the nice thing about Revolution Plus is it protects against fleas and ticks and therefore prevents flea infestations. But it also deworms for at least roundworms and hookworms each month, which will keep us at a good baseline.

They can because fleas get in the house. They can potentially get tapeworms from getting fleas. But just like I said earlier, the dirt on your shoes from coming inside could bring in roundworm or hookworm eggs that could then expose your cat.

The most common types of parasites - roundworms and hookworms - are pretty ubiquitous in the environment. You can find them almost anywhere. And their eggs are super hardy. There have actually been a couple of crazy people that have seeded yards with roundworm eggs and then used a flamethrower to completely destroy the yard, and the roundworm eggs were still viable at that point, so that gives you an idea of how hardy they are. You can find them everywhere. Walking around outside or even being exposed to the dirt on your shoes can cause potential exposure to these sorts of parasites.

Other worms, like tapeworms, are only transmitted through flea infestations. When your cat is grooming themselves and ingests a flea that has tapeworm larvae, that's how that they would potentially become infected there. Other less common intestinal parasites like Giardia or coccidia are typically transmitted pet to pet or through contaminated water sources. And one thing to think about with kittens specifically is that hookworms and roundworms can be passed through the placenta while they're in the womb or can even be transmitted through milk. That’s why it’s vital to do regular deworming of queens as well as kittens.

That's a tough question. Yes and no. For the most part, if we are cautious about our deworming protocols and exposure, then I would say we can prevent it in almost all cases. That being said, cats are cats. They get into things. They don't always follow the rules. And so there are going to be situations where they catch a mouse that we're not aware of or drink out of something outside that we're not aware of, and they could come up with intestinal parasites.

I don't know that I could tell you how long one worm on its own would last. I'm sure there is a parasitologist that's shaking their head at me because I don't remember that anymore. But really, they continue to reproduce over time. You're probably not going to have one worm that dies off and never becomes an issue. You're going to have this worm that, generation after generation, is reproducing and continuing to cause problems, not only for your cat but also in the environment your cat is in. They're going to be spreading eggs and potential intestinal parasites to everybody around, including us and other pets.

They're quite common. It's more common in cats that go outside because they have a higher exposure risk, but we see indoor-only cats with worms because of some of the reasons we talked about before—the potential exposure to dirt on your shoes. Up here in Maine, we have many old houses, and little mice can find their way in. Thankfully, cats are usually pretty good at catching those mice before they cause a problem, but with that also comes potential exposure to parasites.