Worm, parasite etc.

[spoh]

Okay here goes, my daughter came down stairs last night with a tissue that she had just blown her nose on,in the tissue was this little white worm thing. She is freaking out, not knowing if it came out of her nose or if it was on the tissue beforehand etc. etc. She is going nuts thinking that she has worms. So I took it and showed my husband, he thought it looked like a tapeworm from Pickle (kitten) Pickle's litter box is in my daughters room and she is everywhere, on the bed etc so we thought well it was probably on her and while she was running around it fell on the bed or in the tissue box etc. So this morning I called the vet, they said to bring in the worm (yes, I saved it) and I could just pick up the meds. So I took it in and they said that it isn't a tapeworm and didn't look like any other kitten type worm, they said it looked more like a little inch worm or something.

It was white with a little spot on the one end, what in the heck was it and where did it come from? Please tell me that it wouldn't have come out of her nose!!!!! I checked all of the other tissues that were laying around and there was nothing and I'm sure she blew her nose a million more times last night and there was nothing.

I will admit that as much as I am sure it is nothing it is kind of freaking me out.

What do you think?

Joy

 

[Bassetluv]

Do you still have the worm? A quick trip the dr might be best to rule out any human infestation. Here's a link to a description of roundworm infestation in humans (in which they can emerge from the nose)...though note that there seem to be typical physical symptoms for this type of parasite:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00688.html

 

[spoh]

No, I don't still have it...I left it at the vets. From what I can see it wasn't a roundworm, it was tiny not even 1/4 inch. If it were summer I would brush it off thinking it came in on somebodies clothes or something but we are covered in snow so there aren't many bugs around right now.

 

[Leaf]

How old is your daughter? No matter really, but younger children are more suseptable to contracting what pets/other children may have.

Once the vet decides what it is, it may not be a bad idea to call your childs doctor to see if a follow-up is needed due to how the worm was found.

 

[nermal71]

Pinworm maybe? I dont remember much about them, but had a friend who had them as a child.

 

[spoh]

Leaf wrote:

How old is your daughter? No matter really, but younger children are more suseptable to contracting what pets/other children may have.

Once the vet decides what it is, it may not be a bad idea to call your childs doctor to see if a follow-up is needed due to how the worm was found.

She is 19 and a clean freak! Washes her hands a millions times a day and I've gotten so that I keep paper towel in her bathroom because she was getting a different hand towel out every time she washed her hands. If she washes her hands in the kitchen she ALWAYS gets a new towel out, she would never think to use something that is sitting on the counter.

If she had something wouldn't there be more than one?

 

[Bassetluv]

Having one worm emerge doesn't mean there isn't an infestation. However, this also doesn't mean your daughter does have any type of worm infestation. It could be an internal infestation where one showed up, or it could be a small parasite that managed to crawl onto the tissue from who knows where (little critters can get into anything, even in the cleanest of houses!). Given that the kitty litter box is in her room though, and she did see this worm on a tissue she'd just used to blow her nose, I'd suggest she go to the doctor to be checked, just to make sure.

 

[spoh]

Well the mystery is solved. I was in the bathroom by my daughters room today and noticed one of these little things on the wall, on closer inspection I noticed that they were also all over a little rug that I had sitting there for her to put her shoes on when she comes in (bathroom is by our back door) some were dead some we alive. Then it came to me that I had taken that rug out of the hall closet last week, upon checking the closet I found MOTHS and lots of moth larvie(sp). The one must have gotten on to one of her shoes and made it up it up her room, she hasn't seen anymore in her room and definitely none in her nose so hopefully I have gotten them all.

Does anybody know if cedar chips work for moths, I want to put something in that closet even though I have cleaned it good but I don't want to use moth balls. Aren't cedar chests made to keeps things safe from moths?

Anyway I am gad the mystery is solved!

Joy

 

[naturestee]

How big are the moths? Could they be pantry moths/Indian meal moths?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_meal_moth

If they are, clean out everything in the closet, including carpets. Throw out anything they might have come in that was there, mainly grains or seeds. I got them from bird seed. And get pantry moth traps to catch the adults. It takes a while to get rid of them because the traps only get males, and there will still be eggs that haven't hatched. They're really annoying.

 

[spoh]

Yep, I think that is what they are and I know where they came from. I had sent my husband to the store this summer to get a bag of Guinea Pig pellets, he came home with the wrong thing, had seeds and pieces of crap, it was a pain in the neck to take them back so I just threw the bag in the closet and forgot about it. When cleaning out the closet today I found it and there wereholes in that bag.

Where do I get pantry moth traps? It is a rather small closet and I took everything out of it, sprayed it with bug stuff, closed the door and left it for a bit. It doesn't look likethere is anything in there but I don't want them back so I would like to get the traps.



Thanks,

Joy

 

[naturestee]

I found mine at Fleet Farm. For some reason I couldn't find them at Walmart. I don't know if you have Fleet Farms in your area but maybe try other farm stores too? They were by the other insecticides and mouse traps. One of the websites said you can also use normal glue traps (you can get those at Walmart) and they tend to get stuck on those too, although I wouldn't think they would work as well without the scent lure. But since it's just in a closet, you could probably stick a bunch in, keep the door closed, and see if it helps.

 

[spoh]

We don't have a fleet farm but we do have a feed store, I will check there.

Thanks!

Joy