Drontal for cats without worms?

Hello. Question - Is Drontal safe to use if the cat does NOT have worms? Our cats have been exhibiting some symptoms of having them, but they're indoor only, so much lower risk and I can't tell if that's for sure the issue. Today is Thursday and the vet isn't available until Monday. Is it safe to try Drontal as opposed to doing nothing for another 4 days? Thank you in advance.

Hello - it is unlikely that household worms would seriously damage a healthy-seeming cat in four days, although they could certainly spread them around, so it is important to wash hands and even consider keeping your cat inside.  You do not say what signs you are seeing that suggest worms, so I cannot suggest what else might be going on, let alone offer a judgement as to whether it is safe to wait four days to be seen.  Losing weight and eating well is rarely a sign of worms in the cat, for example.  In any case, a member of the cats' own veterinary team should triage the case and decide that with you.  The veterinary profession is always changing as our knowledge evolves and new ideas come to light.  A few decades ago, vets were doling out antibiotics (as though they were Smarties at a children's party), for illnesses that mostly turned out not to be bacterial.  We now know that this culture has contributed to the ongoing problem of bacteria evolving that are resistant to the common antibiotics, making those antibiotics less useful.  But why am I talking about that here? - because the same sort of attitudes still exist in worming and common wormers.  Giving an anti-worm tablet periodically was very recently thought to be the epitome of good pet ownership; now practises are changing, because of long overdue insights that worms are also becoming resistant to anti-wormers and that excessive use of anti-wormers may cause long-term damage or delay owners seeking the correct treatment.  There are calls in the veterinary profession for worming treatments to be as well controlled as antibiotics, and their use better regulated.  So.  In answer to your question, there are certanly long-term disadvantages to 'just-in-case' worming and I can forsee that this will increasingly be discouraged by the veterinary profession, perhaps in favour of testing for worms.  For this reason, I would not want to encourage it without good reason, even though there is a long-standing culture of doing just that.  The book has to stop somewhere. The veterinary profession is changing and some vets are further ahead of the curve than others.  For this reason, we would seek your own vets' advice before worming your cat.

Further to this - and more important to your cat - your vet will know more about your cats' individual case and will be able to make reccommendations specifically relevant to the animal in front of them.

Whew!  That question opened a can of worms!