The Cadbury Kitty

I had just finished helping my colleague diagnose a case of the flea tapeworm in a dog when I got a frantic text from Gabe:

"Malcolm is leaving little yellow things him everywhere. I think they are eggs."

I came home that evening and sure enough, the couch, the chairs and Malcolm's cushion bed were all covered in little rice-grain tapeworm eggs. Fortunately, the tapeworms can only infect humans if their eggs are eaten by a flea and we purposely eat said flea. Mostly it's little kids that become infected as they are the only ones that inexplicably would put a little jumping insect in their mouths. Otherwise, the eggs are harmless.

I brought home a dose of dewormer and flea medication for Malcolm and all is well. I guess that explains his ravenous appetite and the Stinkiest Cat Poos of All Cat Poos.

The dewormer is supposed to kill the worm in the intestines so it can be digested and pooped out. After the dewormer, Mal took The Stinkiest of the Stinkiest Cat Poos of All Cat Poos and has since stopped laying tapeworm eggs.

Gabe, being the germ-phobe he is, has vacuumed, mopped, swept and re-vacuumed every nook and cranny in the apartment and refuses to let Malcolm anywhere near his room.