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My cat has white rice-like worms. Are they tapeworms? Vet or OTC?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 6 lbs

My cat has these worms coming out of her rear end. They are white in color, and are small and look like grains of rice. What are they, and can they be treated with OTC meds? Or does this require a trip to my vet.

4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 24th, 2018

These are proglottids of a tapeworm. Those proglottids can move , they contain a lot of tapeworm eggs and the tapeworm sheds them as the eggs mature. The head (scolex) and body of the worm stays attached to the intestine. You will need to hret a cat wormer containing praziquantel, such as Drontal for cats. You should be able to get this from your vet, or a petshop or over the internet.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 14th, 2016

    If they looked like pieces of rice then your cat has tapeworms. Pets get tapeworms from eating fleas so your cat probably has a flea problem, as well. Your other pets can get tapeworms from ingesting fleas, too. Your pets will need to be treated for tapeworms and fleas. Call your vet and see if he/she can prescribe a dewormer for tapeworms. I recommend using a monthly flea prevention, like Revolution or Frontline on your cats and NexGard for your dog. if you swallowed an infected flea, you are at risk too.

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    Answered By Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology)

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 27th, 2018

    Intestinal parasites are certainly a shock to find. There are several types of parasites/worms and some can be seen with the eye and some can not. If possible i would recommend taking a sample of the worm to your veterinarian to confirm what type it is as a different dewormer may be recommended. Common tapeworms come from fleas but other types such as roundworms do not. The hard thing about kitties is that they are just such excellent groomers so they often don't have a flea on them very long before they groom it off. And in certain parts of the country no matter what you do some rogue fleas can hitch a ride inside your house. If this is a tapeworm the good news is that they are transmitted by flea ingestion so not so readily passed to people. But, other types of parasites can be more readily transmitted to people. This is typically via eggs or larvae from animal feces. It sounds like you are taking appropriate precautions for your little one by limiting access to pet waste/the litterbox. It would be perfectly appropriate to do a general vacuming of the house, wash animal bedding, and if confirmed to be a tapeworm treat your kitty with medication from your vet, treat all the pets in your house with flea prevention, and monitor the stools of your other pets. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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    Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 18th, 2017

    Hello, sorry to hear about Raven. It sounds like Raven may have tape worms. These are a kind of parasite that is transmitted most commonly after an ingestion of a flea. That is, at some point or currently, Raven had/has fleas on her. Tape worms infections are treated with deworming medications that you may only get at your veterinarian, that means, you'll have to pay an office visit. Some clinics may offer vaccination and deworming without having to pay for a full visit, but you may have to call the vet hospitals in your area to find out more about this information. You should definitely consider treating Raven for fleas as well. Best of luck and hope this helps.

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