Can Humans Get Tapeworms from Cats?

Most people are shocked if they see small white worms wiggling in their kitten’s or cat’s stool or dried worm segments that look like seeds stuck around their cat’s back end. 

The most common type of cat worm with these classic characteristics is Dipylidium caninum, commonly known as the flea tapeworm. 

In addition to live worms in the stool and around the back end, cat tapeworm symptoms often include anal itching or scooting but generally no other signs of illness. 

You may be wondering if humans can get tapeworms from cats. The answer is yes. Because they can pose a health risk to people, treatment for tapeworms in cats is necessary. 

Tapeworms are one of the most common intestinal parasites or worms that infect kittens and cats, with infection rates as high as 52.7%, according to the Companion Animal Parasite Council.

Tapeworms are found everywhere in the United States, especially where there are fleas. 

The most common tapeworm in cats is D. caninum, wiggly white worms in the cat’s stool that look like grains of rice.

They can also look like seeds (dried tapeworm segments) stuck to the fur or where the cat has been sleeping. 

Fleas are the most common reason that cats get tapeworms, since cats can eat tapeworm-infected fleas or, less commonly, lice while grooming themselves. 

The infection starts when the cat grooms themselves and accidentally swallows a tapeworm-infected flea.

When the flea is digested, the tapeworm remains and grows in the cat’s digestive tract, maturing and shedding small pieces in their stool about two to three weeks after infection. 

Indoor and outdoor cats alike can become infested and continually reinfected with fleas.

Additionally, both indoor and outdoor cats who hunt and eat infected mice, rats, rodents, or other wildlife can contract other types of tapeworms, including Taenia and Echinococcus, both of which are also contagious to people, according to the CAPC. 

Yes. While not common, humans can get D. caninum tapeworms from cats if they accidentally eat infected fleas that their cats may carry.

This happens if a live flea gets into a person’s mouth, and the person swallows and digests the flea. Though rare, this can occur through cuddling or sleeping with a cat that has fleas.

It can also happen if you are eating off the floor and a flea jumps from the floor and onto your food.  

Human infections with cat tapeworms are considered rare, with at least 349 cases reported worldwide as of 2016, with most human cases reported in children.  

How Are Tapeworms Transmitted From Cat to Human?  

D. caninum tapeworms are spread from cat to human when a human accidentally eats an infected flea from their cat.  

Of the 349 reported cat tapeworm infections in people, more than 2/3 were in small children. 

The risk is highest in young children because of their close contact with flea-infested pets, eating on the floor where their food may become contaminated with a flea, and the tendency to put things in their mouths. 

When a person swallows a tapeworm-infected flea and the flea is digested inside the person’s digestive tract, the tapeworm remains and matures in the person’s digestive tract, causing the person to be infected with a tapeworm. 

Your vet will perform a complete examination and might ask you to bring in a photo as well as do fecal testing on your cat’s stool sample to correctly identify the worm. 

Medications for Your Cat 

Tapeworms in cats are usually treated with a highly effective deworming medication called praziquantel, available as an injection given by your vet and in prescription and over-the-counter formulations, depending on what you and your vet determine works best for your cat. 

Prescription options may include: 

• Internal and external parasite preventative that contains praziquantel in combination with other ingredients, like NexGard Combo, a topical medication used in cats that provides the broadest parasite protection of its kind, treating tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, fleas, two types of ticks, and heartworms.  

• A topical internal parasite preventative medication that contains praziquantel in combination with other medications that treats and controls intestinal worms (tapeworms, roundworms, and hookworms) is Profender.  

• Praziquantel injection, an injection of praziquantel given to your cat by your vet  

• Droncit tablets for cats, a prescription non flavored oral tablet containing praziquantel 

Over-the-counter options (without a prescription) include: 

Ensure You Clean Your House and Environment 

To keep your cat from becoming reinfected, you must completely get rid of fleas and tapeworm eggs in your home using these steps: 

Practice Good Hygiene (Especially for Kids) 

Also practice good personal hygiene and make sure to wash your hands after handling your cat or the litter box and always before meals. Children are at the highest risk of getting tapeworms from your cat. You can protect children using these guidelines: 

All cats and dogs in the house should be on strict flea preventative, since tapeworms are spread through fleas. 

1. Give them a flea preventative year-round. Keeping your cat on year-round flea medication is the best way to prevent tapeworm infections, since tapeworms are spread through fleas. 

2. Choose a prescription parasite preventative that contains praziquantel. A monthly parasite preventative such as NexGard Combo or Profender contains praziquantel to treat tapeworms.  

3. Prevent your cat from hunting. Cats can become infected with tapeworms through hunting and eating rodents and other wildlife infected with tapeworms.  

4. It is safest and best for a cat to live indoors with supervised outdoor time on a leash and harness. Living indoors protects your cat against the weather and extreme temperatures, parasites, escaping, poisoning, and harm caused by other animals.