I'm new and I'm at my wits end.

I don't know if this is in the right area, but here goes. I have 2 cats. One is 4 months and one is 1 1/2.

I just discovered they have tapeworms for the second time in a month. The first time, I took them both and my dog all to the vet and got them treated for all worms, fleas, and bought flea home spray and cleaned the whole house very thoroughly. It was really expensive and time consuming. Now I can't afford to pay all of that again (over $200). We've been trying to save the get them fixed and de-clawed but we've been quoted over $500 everywhere we call. We don't qualify for income-based help with it. The first cat we took in because I wanted a cat, the second was a rescue and she brought most of the problems.

I have been trying to re-done the cats but no one will take them. They don't even need to go as a pair, but I can't find homes for them. The humane society doesn't have appointments for 4 weeks and wants us to pay the fee to fix them.

I need suggestions on what to do. I can't get any kind of credit or loan to pay for all of this (bad score). I'm at a loss. They are both locked up in different rooms right now and will stay there until I can get them out of my house.

Thanks.

Declawing a cat is inhumane and should be 100% illegal.

I have seen this over and over. Likely you're a very nice person who didn't think through the entire spectrum of pet ownership. I also hold the feet of many rescues, sanctuaries and public shelter that promote the feel good part of having a pet without ever discussing the actual cost. 

Everything besides the declawing you listed are normal vet bills most of us incur on at least a yearly basis. And yes pets are expensive and time consuming.

You are going to have a hard time finding homes for unaltered cats when the local shelter is handing them out almost free either already spayed or with a certificate for one.

These cats are your responsibility and any issues they have are not their fault. I have no idea what kind of flea treatment you received but we used frontline plus on our cats and it took care of a mild flea infestation within days. I have also washed feral kittens in the blue dawn . You have to use diluted and be very careful of their genitals/anus and you can get a nit comb to get rid of fleas on the head. They'll travel up as you wash. Cats do best if they can get their paws on the edge of the sink or wash tub. Mine do best with a flex shower head with water just warm enough to feel it on your skin. Do not spray them on the face or head. Claws should be tipped before to avoid personal damage to yourself

When we got the first cat, we had the finances to care for her. Guess what? Sometimes life happens. The second cat was starving in a factory. We tried to turn her over to a rescue and have been trying to re-home her for MONTHS. I have had no intentions to keep the second cat to begin with. I gave them the chewable pill from the vet, which is what they suggested and at $30 a pop I can't buy them every two weeks.

Also adding, I have a dog who I rescued 4 years ago. I paid for his neuter, flea medicine, vaccines, and monthly grooming for a while. Unfortunately when I got laid off from my job they didn't throw in an animal care severance.

First of all, take a deep breath.  I'm not sure where you're located, but call the Humane Society and ask them for recommendations for low-cost vet clinics.  Or call different vets and ask them how much various services cost such as deworming.  Also, ask if they know of any low-cost spay and neuter clinics.  Many places have low-cost clinics, but you have to ask around to find the.

As for the worms, most likely your dog is the main cause of the fleas which cause tapeworms.  You need to get the dog and the cats dewormed and treated for tapeworms.  For your dog and your adult cat, you can use Capstar to de-flea them.  I'm not sure if Capstar can be used on the kitten.  Also, you need to treat the carpets and areas of your home for fleas.  You can use Diatomaceous Earth or even Borax works well.  I have used Borax previously.  You can pick it up in the laundry aisle of the grocery store.  Block off an area of the house and treat the area by  sprinkling the borax or DE on the floor or carpet.  Leave overnight or for several hours during the day, then vacuum up.  Be sure to discard the vacuum bag in the trash outside.

As for declawing, that's not a good option at all.  If you're on Facebook, look up Paw Project for more information.  Declawing is inhumane and takes away the cat's defense system and way to fend off predators.  It can cause behavior problems, litterbox avoidance issues, and severe and painful arthritis as the cat ages.  https://www.facebook.com/pawproject

Lastly, here's some really good information on what to do if you can't afford a vet.  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155462/cant-afford-a-vet-please-read

jabsi said:

When we got the first cat, we had the finances to care for her. Guess what? Sometimes life happens. The second cat was starving in a factory. We tried to turn her over to a rescue and have been trying to re-home her for MONTHS. I have had no intentions to keep the second cat to begin with. I gave them the chewable pill from the vet, which is what they suggested and at $30 a pop I can't buy them every two weeks.

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I'm sorry for your situation. Do you know what the source of the flea infestation is ?  We get six weeks out of one frontline treatment because the cats are indoors and ticks are not an issue here I know some of the rescues use the large dog frontline and can measure a dose for a cat.

Not all spay/neuter clinics are based on income. You might start a thread asking for help and explain your situation. That at least might get the burden of fixing them off your shoulders.

Thank you for caring about the starving kitten. Unfortunately our best intentions are often thrown in our face and leave us feeling completely defeated. If you have an established relationship with one vet perhaps a payment plan could be implemented .

I'm going to ask my vet if I can do a payment plan, I hope they say yes. I don't know how bad the infestation is, I'm going to try Frontline instead and buy a stronger home treatment I guess. This situation has made it very clear to me that I can't keep the second kitten. She's really sweet and great with my kids but all of these pets are a huge expense. The first time the worms happened I thought I did everything correctly and now they're back less than a month later and it's causing me a lot of stress. Thanks for your reply.

I use salt to clean some very old rugs. I was also told by an uncle that it will drive fleas out. I'd test any rug I tried this on. Repeated daily vacuuming is probably as effective. Note I use filtered heap bags in my vacuum. We don't use chemicals and I have issues just using the frontline plus. However this is a case where the benefits far outweigh the negative. I have seen tapeworm medication in the farm store for cats. I have zero experience with it. I did have a rescue filly with them once and it took multiple treatments to get rid of them. It wasn't terribly expensive but required quarantine and picking up every drop of poo, heat composting and then disposing of it in the local landfill. 

My husband is going to go to the farm store on his way home and see what they have. I do have some borax on hand I'm going to sprinkle the house with tonight and vacuum up in the morning. I don't really like leaving things on the carpet and furniture like that because my kids are small but it's better than the flea stuff from the store I guess. Is there some kind of cleaner I can put in a carpet scrubber and scrub the floors with? To kill the fleas?

You've had some great advice here already. Hopefully, some of these flea articles will help. Do keep looking for a low cost spay/neuter programme - especially if your usual vet refuses to take payments. Lastly, please, please, please don't declaw these cats. It actually involves amputation of the top section of each bone in the paw, and is not only unnecessary, but causes a lot of pain and suffering -often lifelong. The trouble with cats is that they're stoical by nature, and are all too good at concealing pain and discomfort. Please read the declawing articles so that you have a full understanding of this procedure.[article="22394"][/article][article="0"][/article][article="31635"][/article][article="29664"][/article][article="29667"][/article][article="22411"][/article][article="29668"][/article][article="22520"][/article][article="31290"][/article]

jabsi said:

My husband is going to go to the farm store on his way home and see what they have. I do have some borax on hand I'm going to sprinkle the house with tonight and vacuum up in the morning. I don't really like leaving things on the carpet and furniture like that because my kids are small but it's better than the flea stuff from the store I guess. Is there some kind of cleaner I can put in a carpet scrubber and scrub the floors with? To kill the fleas?

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You'll probably need to hot water wash bed clothing and I'd vacuum the mattresses along with things like sofa cushions , goes without saying pet beds need to be washed or thoroughly vacuumed daily until the problem is taken care of.

 You can also google how to make a homemade flea trap. Seems if you put a pan of soapy water under a bright nightlight the fleas are attracted. The directions I seen suggested hanging a light bulb over a pan of soapy water but you have enough to deal with and that just sounds like a bad idea. A night light secured in a wall socket seems much safer.

Our local shelter has a pet food bank. It's not income based but rather on need. The idea is to get people over the hump and not have their pets land in the shelters. It might take some burden out of your budget for now.

I used diatomaceous earth for my boys' fleas and it worked wonders, although it does get everywhere!
Make sure that you get FOOD grade though, not the kind for swimming pools!
You sprinkle it all over and then vacuum, and repeat for a few days morning and evening.
I would recommend against the flea home spay. It is incredibly toxic.
There are lots of herbal remedies that work quite well, check out your local pet store.