Garden worm or intestinal parasite?

February 24, 2015 7:08 PM

I just found this worm, brownish and about an 3/4 of an inch long, on the bed next to where my cats were resting. Can someone identify it, and let me know if it's harmless or potentially an intestinal worm?

Possibly relevant information - I live in San Francisco, CA, and the cats are indoor-only cats. From my initial Googling, it looks like it's most likely an inchworm. Obligatory cat pic here.

posted by zombiedance to Pets & Animals (6 answers total)

Best answer: Yep, that sure looks like an inchworm.
posted by Earl the Polliwog at 7:10 PM on February 24, 2015

Best answer: I don't think anything living inside an intestine or stomach would have much use for feet.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:12 PM on February 24, 2015 [11 favorites]

Best answer: Ha! That cat pic is great! And yep, that's an inchworm, all right.
posted by heyho at 7:15 PM on February 24, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Geometrid moth larva, AKA inchworm. Nothing to worry about.
posted by brianogilvie at 7:23 PM on February 24, 2015

Best answer: Just to back up everyone else, totally harmless. The feet are a dead giveaway--nothing that lives internally holds on with feet that visible. (And so are the... uh, hind feet--even if you had something like a tick that was an external parasite and needed to climb hair, nothing would move the way that thing is designed to if it was parasitic.)The way that it's segmented is also totally inconsistent with any internal parasite of mammals I'm familiar with.

In conclusion: not parasitic.
posted by sciatrix at 7:23 PM on February 24, 2015

Best answer: My cat just had butt worms. They look more like small maggots or wiggling pieces of toasted coconut, so you're safe.




Also, I thought your cat had the world's record for longest tail (looking at the cat pic), until I came back to the question and saw catS.
posted by WeekendJen at 9:51 AM on February 25, 2015 [1 favorite]