Stray Pregnant cat Info Please Anyone?!

We took in a stray roughly about a month ago. She seemed clean and very friendly. We asked around for her owners to claim her but no luck so after 2 weeks we let her in. 

Last week her belly started getting big all of a sudden and weeks before that her nipples we seen was pink. At that time I was looking up online if she may be pregnant but wasn't completely sure until the belly growth. She still seems fairly active and playful, wanting to go outside. We also noticed last week she has worms and fleas too. I am looking for her safe meds I can give her without hurting the kittens and WITHOUT an expensive trip to the vet. It is just not in my budget until next month. Im also hoping she has her kittens by that time and I can get her spayed! 

I emailed a few vet / pet sites and all the suggested is frontline safe for pregnant cats and bring her in . I found the same product online and it says "kills fleas, worms etc" so would just the one product be ok to use on her? I kept thinking I would have to use two separate ones ? Any ideas?  Also should she still be going outside? No way to tell how far along she is , I am guessing maybe 5 weeks or so??  Can't wait to see  Alley Kat's new babies we are all excited! 

5 weeks would be my guess too.  So she got mated just before she come to you.  My guess is, she either got thrown out because she was in heat, and the owners got annoyed,  OR she was in heat and sneaked out hoping to find a suitable  tom.  And found, but in the process went astray.

Frontline takes mostly just the outer parasites, like fleas and mites...

to be continued later....

Good luck!

Do you know if it's a tapeworm or roundworms? Tapeworms are common with fleas, what do the worms look like? If they dry up like little grains of rice it's most likely a tapeworm. Roundworms look more like spaghetti and can be like 4" long. I'm not sure about otc frontline treating worms, you could call a vet and ask if they know of any safe treatments for round and tapeworms and if you can treat her. If anything else the fleas are the biggest concern as they are harder on kittens who are to young for flea treatments, you can always discuss deworming the kittens when mama goes to the vet in a month.

The stray I took in had a tapeworm but was treated for both roundworms and tapeworms. The roundworm med I did have to get from my vet and the tapeworm was otc but is the same as the vet gives. If she doesn't get proper treatment the kittens can consume a tapeworm segment on accident and they can get roundworm from mama as well.

If you have any other pets I'd keep them away from her area in case she is dropping tapeworm segments around her bedding or tracking them around the house.

It might seem stressful now and almost an impossible thing to take her in like you have but it is worth it once those kittens are born healthy and safe. You are a gem for doing this! Hina the stray we took in is a cutey and her six kittens will be 9 weeks old this Friday and though they drive me nuts sometimes I am glad I stuck with them lol.

Best of luck and hopefully someone with more knowledge of worms and fleas will come along to help

Thanks for taking in this poor mama cat.  She must have sensed you were good people.  For fleas,  I know you can give Advantage II  to pregnant cats.   I think Frontline as well but  you can check on that.  Both of those are sold OTC.

( There are some versions   that are both fleas and worms but the only safe ones are prescription)    I would definitely give that now and try to get rid of this problem before the kittens. 

There is a pill that is for both roundworms and tapeworms ,  called Drontal,  but I think  it is prescription only.      

 However you can buy them separately and give now. 

For the tapeworms you can get  it for one cat  -- 3 tablets.    http://www.allivet.com/p-1972-tape-worm-tabs-for-cats-3-tablets.aspx    

 For roundworms you can order some pyrantel pamoate in oral suspension.   http://www.allivet.com/p-115-pyrantel-pamoate-suspension-16-oz.aspx?gclid=CLn_9vrB1bkCFZE7MgodXD8ALg       It might say for humans or horses.  & might mention pinworms, but it is also against roundworms,  and is also for use in cats.  It is the same as Strongid from the vet.     If it says Pyrantel base 50 mg/ mL ,   then the dose for cats  is 0.1 cc (ml)  per pound.    but it'snot  easy to overdose.   Some  vets  just round it off and give half a cc to kittens under 5 pounds and 1 cc  over 5 pounds.  I suppose if the cat is more like 20 pounds they do give more.    Repeat in 2 weeks.

 Make sure you shake it well before drawing it up ,  to make sure the active ingredient is mixed throughout the liquid,  because you are only going to use a tiny amount at a time for a cat.  You will need a syringe that measures in cc's (ml) . 

 You should then give the Pyrantel Pamoate to the kittens.   ( in case roundworms  have already got encysted in  the mother cat's mammary glands  which is very common for outdoor cats who are not regularly de-wormed,  then  a tiny form of the worm can come out in her milk,  which is how most kittens get worms.   They can have it as early as 2 wks if needed but i would rather wait 

If there are fleas in the house wash the bedding,  treat carpets , floors with diatomaceous earth (food grade only);   there are some discussions of DE on this forum before  for example this one last month. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/263073/diatomaceous-earth

Yes they do dry up like small grains of rice!

So it is almost surely tapeworm.  No big problem, but it makes deparasiting a little more complicated.

And to be on the safe side, you ahould deworm also for the round worms, as round worms are quite common.

There are some spot on preparates like Revolution, which takes both all external parasites like fleas and mites  and also internal parasites like round worms, but no tape worms.

Some preparates takes both round worms and tapeworms, as Drontal and Milbemax, but not external parasiter.

Some takes just roundworms, like the recommended preparates containing Pyrantel (poamote).

Others take just tapeworm, like Droncit.

I dont think any takes both fleas and tapeworms...

So you must, willy nilly, use at least two different preparates.

So, for example, Frontline and Milbemax.

Our knowleable british forumist  OrientalSlave assures Milbemax is quite mild, and can be used in most situations. 

You will perhaps find other useful combinations, it depends also on what you do have possible to buy, at your place or online.

You don't say what country you are in.  That makes a difference to what is available, and what needs a prescription.  In the UK Drontal is available without a prescription and deals with roundworms and tapeworms.  Frontline is fleas only, it doesn't deal with worms.  Any spot-on that does in the UK needs a prescription.

She probably has roundworms as well and it's very important to worm her now, and her and her kittens at 3, 6 & 9 weeks.  They get passed from mother to kitten in her milk and can cause a lot of damage to the kittens.  It's just as important to deal with any fleas before the kittens arrive - an infestation can kill kittens by gradually making them anaemic.

OrientalSlave (whoever they are) is right that Milbemax is approved for use in pregnant and lactating females, and it's a smaller tablet than Drontal so easier to give.  However in the UK it's vet-only, and I've heard it's not even available in the US.

And if you ever take in a female stray again, assume she is not neutered and book her in asap.  Spaying a cat is much, much cheaper than raising a litter.  So far the cost of my current litter is heading towards £500 with more expense to come.  There are 6 of them, and that includes their first vaccination.  The 'more expense to come' is for their second vaccination,  neutering and chipping.  It would cost me £60 to get a cat spayed, and in some of the UK there are clinics where it's about half that.

Alley and her three babies are doing well.

shunra said:

You don't say what country you are in.  That makes a difference to what is available, and what needs a prescription.  In the UK Drontal is available without a prescription and deals with roundworms and tapeworms.  Frontline is fleas only, it doesn't deal with worms.  Any spot-on that does in the UK needs a prescription.

She probably has roundworms as well and it's very important to worm her now, and her and her kittens at 3, 6 & 9 weeks.  They get passed from mother to kitten in her milk and can cause a lot of damage to the kittens.  It's just as important to deal with any fleas before the kittens arrive - an infestation can kill kittens by gradually making them anaemic.

OrientalSlave (whoever they are) is right that Milbemax is approved for use in pregnant and lactating females, and it's a smaller tablet than Drontal so easier to give.  However in the UK it's vet-only, and I've heard it's not even available in the US.

And if you ever take in a female stray again, assume she is not neutered and book her in asap.  Spaying a cat is much, much cheaper than raising a litter.  So far the cost of my current litter is heading towards £500 with more expense to come.  There are 6 of them, and that includes their first vaccination.  The 'more expense to come' is for their second vaccination,  neutering and chipping.  It would cost me £60 to get a cat spayed, and in some of the UK there are clinics where it's about half that.

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Drontal is not available here without vet visit.I'm not in the u.k here the cost is 200 per spay plus meds and 30for visit.

TanyaAnne said:

Drontal is not available here without vet visit.I'm not in the u.k here the cost is 200 per spay plus meds and 30for visit.

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Since you haven't said where 'here' is it's a guess as to what the '200' are.  My guess is US dollars.  That seems incredibly expensive.  There are less than two USD to the UK £, and it's well under £100 to get a cat spayed here.  I'd be ringing around all the vets I could take her to to see if I could find a cheaper one.

Please, don't let her out until she is spayed - she will get pregnant again.

I dont usually give out my location online. However I am not in the US. She isnt allowed outside until she is spayed. 

Surely there's nothing dangerous about giving the country you are in?  Things vary from country to country sometimes hugely, it's often not possible to give good advice without knowing which one you are in.

Oh the momma and kittens are just so sweet, kids are darn cute!!

The fact is, if you haven't dealt with the worms before the kids came, I wouldn't worry about them now. Kids need deworming regardless, I use and suggest getting a small bottle of pyrantel, it's safe and mild, very effective.

This is for all of them, but not just yet.

For mom's tapeworm, you can order tapetabs, Amazon, 1800petmeds, petco, lots of places have them, 3 pills, highly effective. No vet visit.

Kids are too young to produce a tapeworm. Most if not basically all kids come with roundworms though, the pyrantel will take care of this when theyre about 4 weeks, given once again after 2 weeks.

You won't overdose them either.

0.1ml  first time, then 0.2 ml the second time.

Mom, give her 1.0 ml, twice at 2 week intervals as well.

If mom has not been flea treated, she really needs to be otherwise the kids will be flea ridden soon and htis can cause anemia, because they are so small, the fleas literally suck the life out of them.

So, I recommend advantage 11, the only danger here is that her kittens should not be able to crawl on her where she was treated until it has absorbed throughout her skin/body.

For spay, you will notice around 4-5 weeks old, mom will start acting tired of nursing, but she will continue, just likely not as often. They will watch her eating from a dish and want to check it out as well. Once they begin eating on their own, she will rarely want to nurse them.

When they are fully eating on their own, she can be kept seperate and allowed to dry up, a good 10-14 day minimum.

Meanwhile, call around, there must be rescue groups, humane societies, etc in your area who offer lower cost spay.

Be sure to have her get an fvrcp vaccine as well.

The kittens should recieve at least 2 also, at 7-8 weeks, then again at 11-12 weeks.

Very nice little family you have there.

US-specific advice on wormers etc. above.  This is why it would help hugely to know what country you are in.

Shunra is correct, the info is for US.

As you can see this is not a threatening site, we advise cat owners from all over the world, many other countries.

Japan, UK, Sweden, South Africa, Phillipines, etc.

It just helps us with advising, as other countries don't always have the same available.