Can humans catch tapeworms from cats?

Humans can catch tapeworms from cats, but not directly. To catch tapeworms from a cat, a human must ingest an infected flea that is or has been on the cat.

There are two types of tapeworms found in cats. These are Dipylidium caninum which comes from ingesting infected fleas, and Taenia taeniaformis which comes from eating raw meat, infected rodents, raw freshwater fish or animal parts.

According to WebMD, the chances of catching tapeworms from a cat are relatively small. It is considered unusual for a human to catch tapeworms from cats and, outside of swallowing an infected flea, cat tapeworms pose very little risk to human health.