How long does it take Drontal to work?
On thursday my vet will be giving me the pill Drontal. I noticed that one of my cats had tape worms by the "rice" looking object on her butt fur. I have 3 cats total and have seen nothing on the other cats. I called my vet who has seen all my cats and although I KNOW what tape worms are, he suggested bringing her in for an exam anyways. Therefore thats why its gonna be Thursday. He had already mentioned that he would send her home with Drontal and also a pill for my other 2 cats. Question is, how long will this take to work? I hear about Diareah and loose stool and it concerns me because Saturday morning I am moving and my cats will be in the car all day. They will of course have their litter box but this is an 18 hour trip across 2 states. Should I wait until Sunday to administor the pills? I want them to be comfortable but also want this gotten rid of asap! They are on advantage so im still pondering how she got worms when they are all strictly indoor cats. any help is great!
Tagged with: asap • butt • drontal • fur • indoor cats • litter box • loose stool • pills • saturday morning • tape worms • vet
Hi.
Severe reactions to Drontal and similar products are (at least in my experience) not overly common, but it probably would be wise to hold off just in case. Some animals will occasionally have a wee bit of vomiting or diarrhoea- this usually resolves within 24-48 hours but it’s not going to be pleasant for them or you to have to deal with it on a long car trip! The medication should start working very quickly, so delaying treatment by a couple of days isn’t going to make that much difference to resolution time.
It is interesting that they have a tapeworm problem given that they are on Advantage. The type of tapeworm that causes the ‘rice’ bits has the flea as part of its lifecycle, so theoretically if you’re controlling fleas you should be controlling tapeworm. Despite using the Advantage, do you ever see fleas or flea dirt on any of the cats? In any case, using Advantage and Drontol should control the problem fully.
Good luck with your move and hopefully I’ve answered your question adequately.
Tape worms are transmitted by ingesting fleas. Not to say your cats are infested with fleas….but even 1 flea can infect them with tape worms. Also, if they don’t already have loose stools, the Drontal should NOT cause them to have loose stools. Vets sometimes recommend giving them drontal and then giving another dose in 1 month "just incase". I believe Drontal takes care of the problem within 24 hours, although segments may be seen in the stools for up to a week afterward.