worms that look like garden worms?

[Dantes]

Ok, this is the strangest thing. My third/fourth catbox is in what everyone here calls a "shed" but it's actually a little room off the bathroom that opens up to the outdoors, making it really part of the house and not a separate structure. Essentially it has a regular litterbox plus a catgenie in it since I was able to hook the catgenie up to the bathroom plumbing on the other side of the wall, and put a cat door in the wall. No smell, mess, or noise!

I went out there this morning during a break in the rain to clean the litterbox out there...because it has been raining so much and I've been sick, I hadn't been out there for a few days and it was messier than normal, so I picked up the litter mats that go between the catgenie and the litterbox and I found...

A worm!

Now I do store gardening tools in there, but there hasn't been any new soil or compost stored in there in quite a while, so my brain got running. I've looked up tapeworms and roundworms and hookworms and it doesn't fit the bill. It really looked like just a normal garden worm, about 1/4" diameter and about 4-5" long, even with a band on it. It was living under a vinyl mat and there was garden worm poop with it. Perfectly alive. All by itself.

I'm kinda regretting throwing it back outside, especially before taking a picture, but I have to say that it scared me a bit to find a worm sitting there inside next to the litterboxes not in any soil and was somehow worried that it would turn around a bare its teeth at me at any moment (Dune, anyone?).

Since I've been feeding the boyz raw food for most of their lives, what are the chances that I was wrong and the boys have some sort of worms? They don't seem to act sick, I haven't seen any blood or abnormal poo, and could a worm get that big in just a couple of days? Should I be running off to the vet or am I being paranoid? Please help....

 

[John Popp]

Eathworms breath just like us so the rain has probably pushed an earthworm to move ground and he found refuge in your shed.

As you described, there really aren't any parasites like this that would find a host in your cat.

Rest easy and don't let a hollywood movie distort your reality.

 

[Dantes]

Rest easy and don't let a hollywood movie distort your reality.

Too late, my brain has been invaded by sci fi for years. I'm also a sucker for Zeitgeist type paranoia films

Thanks for the confirmation. That worm sure did travel, about 2-3 feet of deck, under the door, and another foot to get under the vinyl litter mat. He should be proclaimed a hero lol

 

[Per Lausund]

AH! The famous alien earthworm-look-alike that infiltrates mankind by attacking the crown of all cats, the Savannah!
That would make a good Prometheus follow-up!

 

[Patti]

I agree, I think the worm was just trying to get out of the rain.