Help! I just found several tapeworm segments in my cats stool! It's too late to call a vet and I'm concerned for myself and 3 children. Should I quarantine him until I can get to a vet and can these affect us?
by 
A goober
ANSWERS: 1
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No, your cat and your family are not in any danger. Don't panic. Look at the various vetonline sites for more info. I found this info at vetinfo4cats: The most common form of tapeworm is transmitted when a flea eats the egg of the tapeworm, allowing it to "hatch" and then the flea is eaten by the dog or cat. Humans occasionally get these tapeworms by ingesting a flea, too. If we didn't have hands we'd probably have a lot more tapeworm problems but since we pick fleas off rather than lick them off we are spared this parasite in most cases. The eggs are not directly infective. They do last a while in the environment (possibly as long as 15 months) so vacuuming well and throwing out the vacuum cleaner bag each time for a couple of times might be a good idea. Controlling the fleas in the house and on the pets will eliminate the spread of tapeworms.
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