Worms. Parasites. Raw feeding.

Worms. Parasites. Raw feeding.

Worms. Parasites. Raw feeding.

These things get thrown into the same sentence a lot, usually with a fair bit of panic attached.

First, worms and parasites are not two separate issues. All worms are parasites, but not all parasites are worms.

A parasite is simply an organism that lives on or inside your cat and benefits at your cat’s expense.

When most people say “worms” they’re talking about roundworm, hookworm, tapeworm or heartworm. Those are the larger parasites. Most live in the intestines. Heartworm lives in the heart and lungs and is spread by mosquitoes, which we absolutely have in Australia.

Then there are other parasites that aren’t worms at all. Fleas, ticks and mites are parasites. Giardia, coccidia and toxoplasma are microscopic parasites. They are single-celled organisms and many standard worm tablets don’t even treat them.

So already you can see how oversimplified the conversation usually is.

Now, how do cats in Australia actually get worms and other parasites?

Exposure.
Hunting rodents and birds.
Swallowing fleas while grooming.
Contaminated soil.
Shared litter trays.
From their mother as kittens.
Mosquitoes in the case of heartworm.

They don’t get worms simply because they eat raw food.

Freezing meat at the correct temperature for the correct length of time inactivates parasite cysts. Depending on the meat type and the parasite involved, that timeframe can range from several days to several weeks. That is established food safety practice.

And worming tablets? They are treatment. They kill worms that are present at the time you give them. They do not prevent future exposure. Monthly worming schedules pushed by pharmaceutical companies are broad recommendations designed to cover higher-risk animals. That doesn’t automatically mean every indoor cat in suburban Australia needs chemicals every four weeks.

Risk matters.

An outdoor hunter in regional area catching mice weekly has a very different risk profile to an indoor cat in a suburban home with strict flea control and no prey access.

Raw feeding does not cause worms. Exposure causes worms. Freezing reduces meat-borne parasite risk. Most standard worming tablets do not treat microscopic internal parasites such as giardia or coccidia.

If you’re unsure, you don’t have to guess.

You can ask your vet for a faecal test. This is often called a faecal smear or faecal flotation. It involves taking a small sample of your cat’s stool and examining it under a microscope to look for parasite eggs, larvae or oocysts. It’s a direct way to check whether worms or certain microscopic parasites are present, rather than treating blindly.

It’s simple. It’s evidence-based. And it allows you to treat what is actually there.

Worm because there is exposure. Worm because there is infection. Not just because the calendar rolled over.

Use flea treatment when there’s actual flea risk, not just because the packet says “monthly”.

Flea products kill fleas that are on your cat or in the immediate environment. They don’t stop your cat being exposed again tomorrow. If there are fleas in the home, yard or coming in via other animals, reinfestation happens. If there are no fleas in the environment, dosing endlessly “just in case” isn’t automatically logical.

Outdoor access?
Other pets going in and out?
Wildlife in the yard?
Warm, humid climate where fleas thrive year round?
That’s higher risk.

And just like worms, you don’t have to guess.

You can ask your vet to check for flea dirt. Flea dirt is flea faeces. It looks like tiny black specks in the coat. When placed on damp cotton wool it turns reddish brown because it contains digested blood. That’s evidence of an active flea problem.

Tapeworm in cats is most commonly linked to swallowing fleas during grooming. No fleas, no tapeworm transmission through that route.

This isn’t about never treating. It’s about treating based on real exposure and real evidence.

Parasite control should be strategic, not automatic.
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