“I had taken in a stray cat who was deathly I’ll”, starts Darlene in her submission regarding the white worm-like critter pictured below. “Actually the vet advised me not to but I thought I could save her. The cat threw up a pile of worms. Some looked smooth, like wet spaghetti with no lines in them, but some looked segmented so I assumed tapeworm and treated her with over the counter medication. The good part of this story is the cat is fully recovered and is magnificent. Loving and adorable. The bad part is, my home and my car are filled with these stringy looking things everywhere, and my family has some strange symptoms we didn’t have before this cat. So my question is, can flatworms and tapeworms be free living? Like hitching a ride in my car? These are in my car. These photos are from my cell and magnified two or three times.”
Darlene poses a very interesting question, which we will get to, but to start with we want to address some key points. Firstly, we are not qualified or legally able to identify organisms which negatively impact the health of humans or pets, as we are not medical professionals, so we will not be able to confirm if these are tapeworms. Of course, that is not what Darlene asks, but we thought it pertinent to mention this either way. Secondly, we want to commend Darlene on successfully rescuing this cat, and we are happy to hear it is doing well. Next, when it comes to these organisms infesting her home and car, the best advice we can give is to deep clean these areas: sanitizing and vacuuming. If the infestation is too big to tackle, it might be worth contacting a professional. Likewise, Darlene mentions that her family has developed symptoms as a result of rescuing this cat. For this, we advise that she and her family seek the consultation of a medical parasitologist: whereas primary care physicians typically do not receive training in this field and will unfortunately turn away a lot of patients in need of care, medical parasitologists specialize in this area.
To find a medical parasitologist or other health care provider who can actually help, Darlene can do one or more of the following:
– Visit our parasite care resources page here: https://www.allaboutworms.com/get-medical-attention-and-tests-for-parasites
– Search for a medical parasitologist in her area using this directory of medical parasitology consultants: https://www.astmh.org/for-astmh-members/clinical-consultants-directory.
– Search for a local parasitologist by doing a Google search for “medical parasitologist (name of the closest big city)” or “tropical medicine specialist (name of the closest big city)”.
Now, to answer Darlene’s question, tapeworms can not be free living, but flatworms can. With that said, the latter part of our answer is an oversimplification, because ‘flatworms’ describes an entire an entire phylum of worms with more than 20,000 species; there are flatworms that live on land, water, and parasitic ones (like the tapeworm). We assume that Darlene is specifically asking about parasitic flatworms, and whether or not they can be free living. According to James Desmond Smyth’s “article on flatworms“, 80% of flatworm species are actually parasitic, so we should probably amend our statement to reflect the majority of flatworms: flatworms, generally speaking, are not free living. The tapeworm is the most commonly contracted parasitic flatworm, and, as we said, they cannot live outside the body of the host, which is true of most parasites: they cannot live outside the body of the host as they need to live off the nutrients of another to survive.
In conclusion, tapeworms cannot be free living, and neither can parasitic flatworms. Given Darlene’s concerns for her family, we recommend they consult medical parasitologists to help them on this front, as we are not able to. We hope nonetheless that the information we have been able to provide proves helpful, and we wish Darlene, her family, and the cat all the best!
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I think I have these !! In my body!! I’m calling the infectious disease specialist as soon as they open Monday can these things eat your brain?? Internal organs? Eyes? Heart ? OMG I’m so nervous about this!! Help
So naturally I would tend to agree with the parasites unable to survive without a host… however I am confused on how the tapeworm larvae can exist outside of the body for some crazy amount of time (5 years I think, fact check that one before running with it) so I read on researchgate that the larvae lie in a dormant type state awaiting that special host and then when Mr. Right comes along they awaken and do their thing. Which to me I’m already so confused about these things. They seem to be akin to shapeshifters it seems whatever their gooey little body dries or attaches on to that gets commandeered as an extension of them forever more. They don’t have eyeballs, ears, a circulatory system, a brain, basically a nervous system is all they need to thrive. Yet they are millions of years older than dinosaurs and clearly very intelligent in some weird way. I don’t get it. I’m beyond fascinated by them. And forget about finding any information beyond the very limited generic info that which unfortunately the vet doesn’t have much knowledge beyond that either. I would love to learn how they can shapeshifter and survive for years without sustenance. And I also have those white hairs all over. That move. And it drives me crazy.
To Darlene,
I’m going through this very thing now. I’m at my wits evd trying to get a handle on it. They are all in my car and everywhere I look in my house. I volunteer with a ferral cat rescue and have two of my own but they’re always treated. I can’t for the life of me figure out what thet are and it’s beginning to feel like it’s to much to get under control.
If in fact this is the same “delusion” (that more than one person shares), that I have been consumed by, this information has been the saving grace for my mind to wrap around. I will try this and thank you so much.
Has there been anyone that gave bright pink and teal molecules found in their clothing, carpet and on skin? Makes me dehydrated
Y’all I received an answer from a real life parasitologist. These are in fact pin worms. I get all the same creepy symptoms. Clean with Hypochlorous acid. Get it on Amazon or eyewash section of pharmacy. Or wound spray for horses. Kills worms and eggs instantly. Get a company to fog your home and car with chloric oxide. They’ve grown comfortable ectopic. Stay safe friends
Really? Did pathologists say how long they can get. I have read that pin worm and threadworms can be used interchangeable in some articles and other articles state otherwise. I believe the only real difference is that pinworms usually only get to be the size of a staple and that threadworms can get very long, many centimeters.
How did you actually find a professional? Did you physically take samples with you?
Thank you so very much, and I have believed these to be pinworms or threadworms for years.
It seems more and more people are coming to this site for answers. I also believe there has been an outbreak in the US for quite some time now.
They sell pinworm medication over the counter, but like many have written: these damn things seem to be just about everywhere. They can really cause some a terrible amount of anxiety and a feeling of down right doom, gloom and disgust.
Thank you for your helpful answer and advice.
No way! This coincides with when my symptoms started and it was after my then 5 year old had pinworms and she slept with us so we had to be treated! I’ve often wondered if there was a correlation! God BLESS YOU Watkins!! This needs to be posted in Heidi’s alleged cure believing this is from a Helminth midge parasite. I didn’t agree. I’ve spent thousands of hours researching and have suffered for 2+ years. Incredible! Thank you for telling us how to not only kill them on and in us but our environment as well. You deserve a guardian angel medal! I’m going to share your message with all the other entries about these insidious creatures on this website!, thank you so much again
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