OK, I know I'm being lazy, but I have to ask because you guys KNOW stuff.

I need to worm my house cat, and I can't remember ever worming a cat before. Pinworms, if she was a people. Please tell me something that tastes good so I won't get scratched to pieces! She's not very friendly on a good day.

Also, since my silly goose is laying eggs and I don't have the means to try to hatch them for her (or even know if they'd be fertile this time of year), how many chicken eggs does a goose egg equal? I use duck eggs all the time, but goose eggs are BIG.

Thanks in anticipation of good answers.

-- Teresa in TN (otgonz@bellsouth.net), November 22, 2000

Answers

I'm told you shouldn't worm your cat unless it has worms, so scoop up a little turd and put it in a baggie and take it to the vet's office and the vet can look at under a microscope and tell what kind of worms your kitty has, if any. Then for only a couple of dolalrs he'll sell you some stuff to get rid of the worms.

-- Shooter (jcole@apha.com), November 22, 2000.

Probably the best way to compare the goose egg to a chicken egg is to weigh one of each (minus the shells). Joy of Cooking says a large egg weighs about two ounces -- doesn't say if that is with or without the shell. It also says that the yolk of a large egg measures about one tablespoon plus one teaspoon, while the white measures about two tablespoons. So that gives you another means of comparison. The book also says that aged duck eggs often carry dangerous bacteria (can be destroyed by boiling the eggs for ten minutes or baking them in something for an hour), so to be sure you use them fresh. I don't know if this also might apply to goose eggs. We've used both without any problems.

As far as the cat is concerned, if you can afford it, probably the best thing to do since this is your first time worming a cat, and you said she's not very nice, would be to take her to the vet. A vet can show you how to restrain her and safely give whatever medication she may need, and will recommend the appropriate wormer. You could get your own after that from one of the vet supply catalogs.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 22, 2000.

This reminds me of a cat we had when my husband and I first got married. "Felix" had attitude to spare (he'd been mine when I lived alone in an apartment in Toronto and was spoiled senseless). He had a thing for chewing on my hairbrush (DON'T ask!!) and, sure enough, managed to swallow one of the bristles.

Well, he had to have it taken out, and was then put on antibiotics (tablets, of course!). The vet showed me how to restrain him, pop the pill in and rub his throat until he swallowed. I might note here, Felix was a Norwegian Forest Cat -- and very large and muscular.

Well, the cat decided he wasn't going to have anything to do with the pills. It would take AGES to catch him and then try and force his jaws open enough to pop the pill in. Then, I swear, the cat would look at you from the corner of his eye, swallow, and wait to be let down. When you let him go, he'd walk off a few feet, turn and look at you, and spit the pill out!!! Then, of course, he'd run and hide.

My husband said that having a $500 cat was against his principles (that was the vet bill after all of this), and the next time the stupid cat chose to eat hairbrush bristles he could suffer the consequences.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), November 22, 2000.

Hi Teresa,

Cat: Once you determine if she really needs worming and what kind, there are a couple of things you can do to make the job easier. Crush pill(s) and mix them with about a tablespoon of canned cat food ( the only time our cats get it so it's a treat). Then wrap the cat securely in a towel with only her head sticking out. When she's calmed down a little start feeding the mix.

Goose eggs: crack one in a measuring cup and compare to hen's eggs also cracked into a separate cup.

-- Peg (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), November 22, 2000.

I used a wormer sold in the pet store as Dr Daniel for cats. It was a liquid and smelled and looked like caramel. Now the thing to mention is that it took care of round and tape worms, only. Tape worm looks like pieces of rice in the stool. Round worm looks like spagetti when they throw up. How do you know the cat has pinworms?

I keep forgetting that, in the country, you can drop off stool and then receive the right wormer. I didn't know that they will give you syringes for shots either. When I lived in the city, the vet wanted to see the animals.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 22, 2000.

Our 15 lb bad-attitude cat had to be wormed every three months for tapeworms. They would be crawling out of his hiney by then. Anyway, the pills are easier to get down if you coat them with butter first, they slide down the hatch easier and get spit out less. We eventually just gave him shots for the worms as he would still rip us up when we used the pills. You might want to shove him down into a boot and lace him up with just his head sticking out, it might help.

-- Julie (julieamc@excite.com), November 22, 2000.

Tracy,

I have a Norwegian Forest Cat, too and he also loves to chew. I wonder if this is a trait of the breed.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), November 22, 2000.

Thanks. I feel so stupid for not thinking of measuring the eggs! I've just been looking at them sitting there. As far as the cat, she has little white wormies around her rear now and then. Like pinworms in people. Guess I'll have to try to decipher my Merck. It's really not worth a 3 hour round trip to the vet.

-- Teresa in TN (otgonz@bellsouth.net), November 23, 2000.

Teresa, I forgot to tell you that my cat accidentally got some Diamatacious Earth when some got into his bowl and my son didn't clean it before he fed. The cat gained some weight after that but I don't know if it would work on pinworms. It might.

Also, if you blow on the nose of a cat while holding it's mouth closed, it will swallow. Neat trick to know.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 24, 2000.

Tapeworms segments can look similar to grains of rice. You probably are best off having a fecal sample examined, so that your wormer will be specific to whatever your cat has.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 24, 2000.

Teresa, the easy way to worm a cat for pinworms is to use liquid Strongid, cats usually will lap it right up willingly.
The Strongid tastes good so the kitty "should" clean it up on her own.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), November 24, 2000.

R -- Possibly. Felix chewed everything -- but he loved my brush and comb best. The vet said it was the hair products I used, and not to let him do it (duh!). The vet didn't know what a Norwegian Forest Cat was, though. I had to tell him about the breed.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), November 26, 2000.