Perhaps one of the most common health problems in pets, particularly cats, is worms. If they are not treated for a long time, they become the cause of serious pathologies and chronic diseases in your pets.
Each attentive and caring owner needs to periodically treat their pets for helminths in order to exclude the development of parasites in the animal’s body and save all people living with it under the same roof from the risk of being infected with unpleasant “parasites”.
The anthelmintic agent popular in Russia, Cestal for cats, will help. Today we’ll talk about its effects on the animal’s body and the rules of use.
How does helminth infection occur in cats
Cats that do not go outside are usually infected with worms by eating raw fish (especially river fish) or meat. Flies, which are often hunted by domestic “predators” in the apartment, can become a rather serious source of infection. The risk of infection through dirty shoes or the owners ’outer clothing is no less high.
Due to the fact that the worm larvae are almost everywhere on the street, they can easily end up in the apartment and cause a lot of trouble for you and your furry miracle.
What is the “Cestal” preparation for cats?
If your pet stubbornly sticks booty on the carpet or floor, her appetite has deteriorated, and her coat has become dull, then the reason for this is most likely to be infected by worms.
In order not to treat the animal for each type of parasite (and there are more than eighty of them at present), the Cestal combination agent for cats was invented. Reviews from cat owners confirm its high efficiency.
Light yellow round tablets with a dividing strip in the middle have a wide spectrum of action, due to their components:
- praziquantel (50 mg) - a substance effective against tapeworms, cestodes, not only sexually mature individuals, but also larvae;
- pyrantel pamoate (144 mg) - active against nematodes and strongylatoses. (By the way, it must be added that the slow absorption of this substance causes its prolonged action, and this allows you to increase the effectiveness of the effect on the nematodes.)
For animals, this drug is low toxic and well tolerated in recommended doses.
The use of the drug "Cestal" for cats: instructions
The described tablets should be used both as a therapeutic agent, and with the goal of preventing helminthic invasion. In the latter case, this is done every three months.
Treatment with this tool can be started in kittens from the age of three weeks. Both babies and adults should take it twice in one day, then, after two weeks, two more tablets per day. Depending on the weight of the animal, the drug is prescribed in the following doses:
- up to 1 kg - 1/4 tablets;
- from 1 to 2 kg - 1/2 tablet,
- from 2 to 4 kg - 1 tablet;
- from 4 to 7 kg - 2 tablets.
How to make a cat swallow a medicine?
The drug is given to the cat in the morning along with a small amount of food or dissolved in water until a suspension is obtained and injected into the mouth with a pipette or syringe.
You can give a pill forcibly. To do this, fingers are poked between the teeth of the animal from the side of the cheeks, the mouth is opened, the tablet is placed on the root of the tongue, and then, holding the closed mouth of the cat with one hand, stroke it on the neck, from top to bottom, thus causing swallowing movement.
Contraindications
The drug is not used for kittens up to three weeks of age, Cestal tablets for cats are not recommended for use in conjunction with products containing piperazine.
In animals with hypersensitivity to the components of this medication, an allergic reaction may occur.
In what other cases is medication necessary?
Veterinarians recommend treating cats with an anthelmintic two weeks before vaccinations. The fact is that any routine vaccination is a microdose of the virus, which contributes to the development of the animal organism's resistance to it. This leads to a slight, but still weakening of the body, and if it is already weakened by parasites like worms, the results of the vaccination can be negative.
Before viscous (about ten days before her), your pet also needs to give a cure for worms. If the expectant mother is not treated on time, this can subsequently provoke a miscarriage.
How much is the drug
Cestal tablets for cats are best purchased in specialized veterinary pharmacies, as attempts to counterfeit the drug have been recorded. In order not to damage the health of your beloved purr, beware of unverified places to buy the drug. Moreover, do not take it from the hands of strangers.
For Cestal for cats, the price in the Russian Federation ranges from 40 to 80 rubles. For a package of 10 tablets, you will have to pay about 600 rubles.