Deworming before or after giving birth?

So I just found out my pregnant cat has worms. She's an indoor-only cat so I don't really know how she got them.She's also due soon. I've read worms can take a lot of nutrition that's important for kittens, so I'm worried. I bought a bottle of dewormer at the store but it recommends not giving it to pregnant cats. So letting her have worms and giving her deworming medication is dangerous. Which is worse?

She's about a year old, and due to give birth any day now, since her nipples started showing in early/mid June. Also, when should I give the kittens deworming medicine? Is it safe to give my boy cat the medicine? Thanks in advice for all your advice!

I have a feral cat that I'm fostering at the moment. She had five kittens a week after she was rescued. She kindly informed us that she had roundworms...We treated her with pyran, which we got from our veterinarian and is safe to use with a nursing mum. However, Raspberry and her kittens had such a heavy parasite load that it didn't end there. The kittens were actually becoming blocked by the parasites and we nearly lost Margot. The vet we saw the night Margot became ill gave them all drontal (sp?) and put Margot on fluids. Our vet put them all on an antibiotic/anti-inflammatory, and wormed Raspberry with milbemax. Drontal and milbemax are more broad-spectrum.

The point of this rambling story is that if you don't know what sort of worms she has, its best to take a stool sample to your veterinarian and find out. The veterinarian will have wormers that are safe for pregnant and nursing cats.

If you've never dealt with worms before, its also important to know that one dose will not end the infestation. Usually a cat or kitten will have to be wormed at least three times to get rid of the unwanted guests.

I've seen enough worms from volunteering at animal shelters to tell they're definitely tapeworms. I did call the vet a couple hours ago and they said they couldn't give me any advice unless I brought her in and paid $50 for a vet visit, and that didn't even include any medicine. Unfortunately, I can't afford that right now. I could, however, afford the OTC worm medicine at the store.

I'm sorry about your Raspberry and her kittens though! Did they all make it okay?

Every vet has a set examination fee, and it may be worth calling around to see if anyone will give you a cheaper rate. There are a couple of veterinarians in my area who will give lower rates to rescues (one who has done more than his fair share of low-cost and sometimes no-cost sterilisations). Our local OSPCA does offer a low-cost clinic which my neighbour was able to use after some jerk kicked her dog. Does your local shelter offer such a service? If there isn't any such wonderful person in your area who will help out, than its best to err on the side of caution and follow the directions and warnings on the label.

Raspberry's babies are doing better and better each day. They are steadily gaining weight and the stomach upset has stopped. I'm still giving them a high-calorie supplement as a precaution. Raspberry is now on metronidazole because her digestion is so poor. We're hoping the anti-inflammatory will sooth her bowels. If we can get that straightened out, we can get enough weight on her to spay her in a few weeks and then maybe she can find a forever home, too.

I tried like you said, but unfortunately I'm in an area with few options, and the one in my town was the cheapest (I'm going to end up taking her way out of town when I visit family next to get her fixed since it would cost over a hundred here). I did a bit of research on the active ingredients and it says it's ok if really necessary to use on pregnant cats, but that others (probably specifically for pregnant cats) are preferable.

She's just so small already and I was worried about the kittens not getting enough nutrition, so I put about 2/3 a dose in her cat food. She hasn't eaten much the past two days so she didn't even take that much. I hope it works.

Thanks again for your advice! And good luck to Raspberry and her kittens too. I hope she keeps getting better and finds someone as caring as you to live with!

Its a shame when veterinarians put their services out of reach of the average person. Its a good thing your cat has someone like you, with her best interests at heart. I hope all goes well for both you!