Pepe has worms....what do I do???

Hi all, Pepe, one of our (now too many) cats, who is an outdoor cat (she was a stray), has worms! I am wary of giving her the worm medication that you can buy in the store b/c our first cat ever had worms and we gave it to him and he ended up dying, b/c it never got rid of them. Now here is my problem: Pepe is not one to actually get in a box or anything to get her to the vet to get it all fixed up. As she is an outside cat, is there anything that can be done so she doesn't get them anymore? Also her and her sister Zeb both had kittens about 2-3 wks ago, so when can I take her to the vet, and not have to worry about the babies? Should I get Pepe to the vet ASAP or is it ok to wait until the babies are old enough? Also when can I get her fixed? Do I have to wait until the babies are old enough to be weaned? I have wanted to, but both Pepe and Zeb are outside cats (strays), and I don't think either one of them would be crazy about going the vet to get fixed and leaving their babies behind. Never mind that it might be almost worth your life to get them into the box to get in the car and drive 1/2hr to the vet.....HELP!!!!

With the worms, you should take mom and all the kittens to the vet. If mom has worms, she has passed them onto the kittens. If a cat has roundworm, they need to get 2 treatments of dewormer 2 to 3 weeks apart.
As for keeping her free of worms, you can ask your vet about revolution. In cats, it keeps them from getting roundoworm, and kills fleas to lessen the chance of tapeworm. It's a topical you put on once a month.
Getting her spayed should be fine when the kittens are 5-6 weeks old. If they get mom back to you the next day, usually they can still nurse and the kittens are learning to eat solid food by then. Just make sure (even though they are outdoor kittys) that they are indoors while they are healing.

Sandie gives great advice I hope you heed it.

Thanks for the advice Sandi. I will try do it as soon as the kitties are old enough. I'm going to take a guess that when they start coming to the door/food that they are old enough to be without their mother for a day or two? Thanks again

If you put out food for them on a regular routine basis, you will begin the bond of trust between you. Make sure you put the food in the same spot all the time- and I usually make a noise before I put the food down (I have a small friskies box I rattle) That is their food call.

When she starts to trust you, she will bring her kittens to you. Since she is a feral, what I do with the colonies I have placed at the barns near me, is I feed them a mixture of dry food and organic catnip. The catnip works as heavy fiber pushing the food and parasites through their system. I used to have to add worming medicine to their food, with not great results. Since feeding them this mixture, i haven't seen worms in any of the colonies at all. BUT this is not a method to use on a house cat or a pet cat. Simply the ferals or strays- otherwise you have a cat who will not eat unless catnip is in the food- and that is not good- makes for an expensive kitty- but the ferals are different.

Hissy, What can I do about feeding the cats with the catnip? Shorty is an inside cat, but she likes to go out side, and she eats with the rest of them whenever we feed them. And she has an attitude (ie...I'm better than you, I get to go to the bathroom inside not outside), and if she doesn't want to go inside/outside, she gets mad at you and starts hissing at you and biting you....just cuz she can lol. Any ideas would be great. Thanks

For some reason when you feed an inside or inside outside kitty catnip and food you create a very finicky eater and they will not eat unless the catnip is in the food. Very Expensive- with the ferals you can add it once in a while and they will eat regardless- maybe because they are outside and active? I don't really know- all I know is a vet who specializes in ferals told me about this and it works. It sounds like you are going to bring this cat inside eventually - so perhaps try adding metamucil to the food to help push it through and get rid of parasites. But a vet call should still be in order down the road.