seed?

Question
my husband and three kids just adopted two cats from petsmart, and one come from new orleans after the storm, and the other just a kitten. well my question is about the older cat max...he doesnt have good hygien (sorry im a bad speller) and we have to wipe his back side alot! gross huh! well we feed them AUTHORITY for indoor cats and as i was wiping he backside it looked like he had seed on his bottom! like seeds on a hambuger bun...hes been deworm and so has the little one and im just a little scared because i  have kids and i am worry they might caught something...i have seen them on his bed as well as mine and anywhere he sits!! can you help!!!

Answer
Hi Chrys.  How wonderful of your family to adopt a pair of kitties in such need!

What your seeing are, unfortunately, tapeworm segments.  Your kitty has a tapeworm anchored in his gastrointestinal tract.  They feed off the food your cat eats.  Mature tapeworms shed segments off their "tail", which are emptied through the anus.  These segments contain eggs.  When fresh, the segments are moist and are able to move and appear as an individual worm, although this is deceiving.  After a couple hours, the segments begin to dry up.  Once dry, they become brittle and break open, releasing eggs into the environment.  

Flea larvae (an immature stage) eat the tapeworm eggs.  The flea larva develops into an adult flea, eventually, which is now infected with the tapeworm.  The flea jumps on the cat, and while grooming, the cat swallows the flea.  This is how the cat becomes infected with a tapeworm.  That means your children cannot become infected with tapeworms from the cat.  They would need to swallow a flea to become infected.

There are less common species of tapeworms that cats can get if they hunt and eat rodents.  Again, these are no threat to your children.  They must eat raw meat to become infected.

There are medications to get rid of roundworms (the most common type of worms cats get), and there are medications to get rid of tapeworms.  There is not one medication that will kill both.

So one of three things has happened - your kitty was treated with only medication to kill roundworms and not tapeworms; your kitty required a second treatment that he was not given (some serious infestations do require a second treatment two weeks after the first); or your kitty had fleas after he was treated with the tapeworm medication.

What you need to do now is get praziquantel from your vet (or it's available online without a prescription under the brand name Tapeworm Tabs).  This kills tapeworms.  It's a good idea to repeat the dose in two weeks.

You'll also need to make sure your kitty doesn't have fleas.  I suggest applying Advantage or Frontline to them both, once a month.  Those are available at pet stores.  Or, you can use Revolution, which is by prescription only.  Please don't use ANYTHING with permethrin or pyrethrin or phenothrin in the ingredients, which are all toxic to cats (Hartz products included).

If your kitties go outside and hunt, then this may be a constant problem, since they can get some species of tapeworms from eating prey.  You would have to worm them on a regular basis.  Most vets recommend every two months for cats who go outdoors.