Cat Health & Care

Other Internal Parasites

Cat Care > Cat Parasites > Internal Parasites > Other Internal Parasites

A number of other worm parasites can affect cats, but fortunately these tend to be fairly uncommon.

Two types of hookworm can occur in cats and both feed on blood. Uncinaria stenocephali is uncommon in pet cats in Britain but is encountered from time to time. If present in large numbers, these parasites may cause loss of appetite and weight and failure to thrive, anemia and diarrhea with bleeding. The worms are less than one centimeter long but can cause considerable ill health. Ancyclostoma hookworms are not found in the UK but occur in parts of the USA and Australia. They may be ingested as eggs but are also capable of burrowing through the skin, traveling in the blood circulation to the intestine. Each then develops into an adult. If present in large numbers, they can cause serious debility and anemia.

Lungworm, Aelurostrongylus abstrusus, is an uncommon parasite that inhabits the air spaces of the lungs. The adult worms resemble lengths of dark thread and lay their eggs in the lungs, which develop into larvae. The larvae are coughed up into the mouth and then swallowed, passing through the digestive tract to be eliminated in the faeces. These larvae then burrow into the flesh of a slug or snail, which in its turn is eaten by a mouse or rat. If the rodent is killed and eaten by a cat, the lungworm is able to complete its life cycle and develop into an adult worm in the lungs. A severe infestation causes breathing difficulties, wasting and coughing and can make the cat quite ill.

Another worm, Capillaria aerophila, lives in the windpipe, or tracheae, but does not penetrate as far as the lungs. It causes coughing and breathing difficulties. Larvae are coughed up and swallowed and pass through the digestive tract to be eliminated in faeces. The cycle begins again if the larvae are swallowed by another cat.

Some other internal parasites affect cats in different parts of the world but not in Europe or the United Kingdom.