Continuation of free kittens in Butler

[Emeraldgreen]

WOW! What a day you've had!! I'm so glad that you managed to get there, despite the scary ride! It's great that you will have your cats home with you by tomorrow. You did it!!!
I'm glad that the vet has treated the 3 cats for worms and I'm sending you the Drontal tablets so you'll be able to take care of your already neutered male and the 3 ferals. There are 14 tablets in total so you'll have enough to give everybody 2 treatments 3 weeks apart if you want. This is generally recommended for heavy loads of worms (yuck!). You could ask your vet if he thinks it's necessary. If not, then you'll have some on hand for another time if need be.
As far as the fleas go, I wonder if the vet would be willing to do something for you. Revolution is a topical flea treatment that you use in the same way that you use Advantage. You spread the fur at the base of the neck until you see the skin and then squirt the whole tube in that spot. Here in Canada, one treatment for a cat is about 12.00 or more. But, my vet used to sell Revolution for dogs to a local shelter and provided them with the correct dosage to give each cat. So, one big dog Revolution treatment was usually enough to treat 4-6 or more cats I think. One canine Revolution (it's the one for the big dogs and is teal coloured and is 2mls and has 240mg) used to cost around 19.00 but it would make treating the cats much more affordable. Here in Canada, Revolution is considered a prescription so basically it means the vet has to have seen the pet at some point and feel comfortable that it is safe to give it to the pet. I think the main reason is because of the ingredient it has in it to kill heartworms. Do you have heartworms in PA? Where I used to live, there were no cases of heartworms so we didn't have to worry about that but in other parts of the province, there are heartworms.
Anyway, he knows your situation and he might be willing to sell you some canine revolution and he might even divide it up into separate syringes (without needles of course!) so it's premeasured and all you'd have to do would be to squirt it on the cats. How you'd squirt it on the ferals is another problem and I don't have a solution for that but I'll definitely think about it!!LOL
I have some Teal Revolution that I bought for my big dogs and never used. Again, like the Drontal, it's a few years old and I don't know if it would be effective. But, my concern would be that you might have heartworm issues in PA and it could be harmful if your cat has heartworm? Perhaps you could ask your vet if he thinks it would be dangerous and if there could be any harm in trying some Teal Revolution that is a few years old? I have a chart from my old vet that says exactly how much to give cats that are under 8.8pounds and how much to give to cats that are over 8.8 pounds so I could definitely help you with that. I also have some syringes that are still in their packaging that you could use to draw out the liquid from the Revolution vial for each cat. I was given them for Tiger for one of his dozens of treatments the vets were prescribing him before they realized he had cancer. You just have to remember that you take the needle off after you've drawn out the fluid and carefully dispose of it. Then you just spread the fur and squirt it on. I really think you should ask your vet about it tomorrow though. Just tell him you have a friend that has some Teal Revolution and they want to give it to you and that it is 2.5 years old but has never been opened. I have 5 of them so if each one treated 6 cats, you'd have 5 months worth. I have to find that chart though and see how many doses you can get out of it. Anyway, it's worth a shot.
The other thing that I could send to you to help with the fleas is a can of spray called Siphotrol. It is for the house NOT FOR PETS. Here is a link about it so you can see what it's all about SIPHOTROL . Again, 2.5 years old but never used. When we left my last vet, I stocked up on everything because of the staff discount I got because of the website work. We've been really blessed and in all the years we've had pets, no one has ever had fleas. We've dosed them with Revolution though because of mites which it also treats. The flea spray I bought in case house we were moving to had fleas but I never ended up using it and it didn't have fleas anyway.
It's a powerful product and from other pet owners I have learned that it is very effective. It is used to spray inside your house. When you use it, you do have to take you, the kids and the animals out for a few hours but then it's fine to go back in. I realize this will be an issue right now with all the baby kittens etc.. but perhaps later, after everyone is fixed and the kittens have new homes, you can use it to make sure flea eggs don't hatch into fleas.
Basically what it does is sterilize any flea eggs and keeps them from hatching for up to 2 years. You spray it on drapes and on couches, carpteting and where the floor meets the wall in the cracks etc.. It's a one time thing, you spray it and it's supposed to keep working for 2 years. It's important at the same time as spraying to wash as many things as you can, like bedding, towels, clothes that in the laundry or laying around, curtains if possible etc..
The other super important thing you can do in conjunction with the spraying and treating each cat with a topical flea treatment is to vacuum. Vacuum everywhere you can think of and keep doing it. It really has an impact on fleas and their survival and that along with the other two things, you should be able to get it all under control. The can is for 1,000 square feet and your house sounds like it's pretty big with all those levels so you'd probably have to pick up another can to do your whole house. I think a can for 1,000 sq. feet is about 22.00 and you can also get them in larger cans, for 2,000 sq. feet and they are about 35.00. It's a good thing to do because even if you successfully treat all the cats for 6 months, flea eggs that are already in your house can still hatch for a couple of years but this spray stops that.

[MoonandBean]

I wrote an email to the company that makes advantage. I'm sure it's a longshot but I asked them if they could help. I told them we'd post it all over pet forum I'll let you know if I hear anything. Otherwise, we all know you're doing the best you can and we appreciate all your good intentions and hard work. The vet should be grateful for people like you in his community

[krazyaboutkatz]

Hi, I'm so glad to hear that you were able to get 3 of your cats spayed and dewormed. I have 6 cats indoor only cats and yes even they can get fleas because they can jump on me from being outside. I've been buying advantage for the largest dogs over 55 lbs and then I measure the right amount for my cats. I've never had a problem since.

For cats under 10lbs they only need 0.4ml and for cats over 10lbs they only need 0.8ml. One tube of advantage for large dogs comes in a tubes that are 4.0ml so I can give each cat several doses of it from one tube. As far as I know there aren't any experation dates so I don't know what the shelf life would be. I've also been buying mine online and or at a pet store. It seems to be much cheaper than buying it through your vet. Good luck.

[Emeraldgreen]

I wrote an email to the company that makes advantage. I'm sure it's a longshot but I asked them if they could help. I told them we'd post it all over pet forum I'll let you know if I hear anything. Otherwise, we all know you're doing the best you can and we appreciate all your good intentions and hard work. The vet should be grateful for people like you in his community

Great idea! I hope something comes of it! Keep us updated.

[rebeccahowes]

First, Emerald, the vet said the worm medicine might be ok, but I truly believe he just wanted me to get all the cats dewormed at his place. As far as the flea meds that you have for the dog that you wanted to share with me, he definitely said "no". He said it would hurt the cats. I picked the cats up today and it was so stressful. First, they told me that my cats were not allowed to climb on any stairs for a week. My whole entire house is stairs. I live in a four story house. Then they said they were not allowed to lick themselves where they had been cut open. For the boy, that is you no where? For the two girls, it was there stomaches. They said if you can't be home with them, you have to have someone watch them. I am home all of the time, but I do have to sleep, so I am kind of worried about that situation. So after digesting all of this info, I took my three cats home, and the only place I felt they were safe, was in my bedroom. They have been in there all eve, I put a cat litter box, cat food, and water. My husband and I share the room with my seven year old son because all the other rooms are taken by my other children. They don't want a seven year old in their bedrooms; therefore, we let him sleep in our room. Tonight my son asked to sleep downstairs and I have not even gone to bed. If I do, I will sleep on the couch. My husband, God bless his soul, is upstairs in a small bedroom sleeping with three cats. I think that is kind of funny. They will be there for six more days. Every time we open the door, they try to escape. The horrible thing is that if they escape they will be running down our stairs which the vet said "no stairs". After all of this drama, the vet said my cats have fleas really bad. I feel so bad. It will be really expensive to treat them for the fleas. They said I could buy a months supply at a time of Advantage, but that is pretty close to 70 dollars a month. I do not have that in my budget, only because I am having such a hard time clothing and feeding my children. I am not trying to sound desparate or begging, but I am truly having a really hard time right now. I want to do the best for my kids and for my cats. I am so thankful that three of my cats are spayed and neuterd, but we are still not out of the woods. There are still three more to go and they are all females and I think two are pregnant and the other just had four kittens. I still have four cats that have not been dewormed, which will spread back to the three that were dewormed, plus, everyone has fleas. Pretty soon my whole family will have fleas. I am going to vacuum three times a day to try to help with the infestation that could happen this summer. Life sometimes seems to be so hard. I just know that no matter what, I love my kids and my cats and I will try to help them in any way I can. Why couldn't God have made me rich? Oh well,live goes on. I appreciate any advice or help you guys can give me. I know that this seems like an overwhelming job, but I am willing to do this job and make sure that everyone is taking care of. I am sitting here crying because I cannot believe that my three cats are finally free from having tons of babies. My one cat had ten litters and I know she is going to be so happy to finally just sit back and enjoy life. You guys gave her life and freedom. I am just so amazed at the love for pets on this site and I will try to help anyone I can after I get through my own ordeal. That means everyone spayer or neutred, no fleas, no worms, and lots of love. I was just ready to sign off when I realized something that I want to share with everyone. I have had over 2000 views since I posted "FREE KITTENS" I know that I stirred alot of emotions from that post. I never meant to.I did get awesome homes for my beautiful kittens though. Now I have four more to go in about 7 weeks. I will send you guys pics. They are so adorable. They come from a feral cat, but I know they will end up tame in my house. There is so much love from me and my kids. The point that I was going to say, and believe me, I don't want to even ask, I really never ask for much and never expect much, that is my motto in life until I came to this website. It was no accident. It was God. He loves me, you, and all of our cats. If only 100 people, out of the 2000 people that have viewed my post, gave just 10 dollars to the vet I am going to, I would have 1000 dollars, and that would take care of the worms, the fleas, and every cat in my house would be spayed and neutred. That is such a dream for me. Before I close, tonight, my seven year old son came in and told me that there was a dead cat outside. I ran out to see if it was one of mine. Thankfully, it was not, but I still cried. It was a homeless cat, feral, alone, lost, unloved. My neighbor was kicking the cat to the curb so he could park his car. He really hates cats. After he went inside his house, I asked my husband to go out and pick him up off the curb. I would have burried him, but our neighbors would get mad because they say it gets in the the water system and they will call the police on me. When I was a little girl, my daddy always buried our dead cats in the backyard and put a little cross over their grave. Today, it is breaking the law; therefore, we put the cat in a garbage bag and he is lying on my back porch. My seven year old son said "mommy, there is a dead cat out in the street, but he is still breathing". He loves cats as I do. I want to share my love of cats with all cat lovers. Love Rebecca

[Emeraldgreen]

Rebecca, if your vet is referring to the expiry date of the dog Revolution as being dangerous, that is one thing. If he is referring to the ingredient in the dog Revolution that is for heartworms then that is another thing. But if he is saying that treating a cat with dog flea Revolution or Advantage is dangerous just because it is for dogs, it is not true. Obviously, if you squirted a whole tube of the dog revolution on one of your cats, that would be dangerous but this is not what I am suggesting or what Krazyaboutkatz said she does with her dog Advantage for her cats. It is measured out into proper doses that are a very small percentage of the tube. It is done all the time and it is safe. It sounds to me like he either misunderstood and thought you were going to put a whole tube on each cat which of course would be an overdose or he has concerns about the outdated stuff I have or the heartworm ingredient.
Perhaps you could ask him if it is the date or the heartworm part that he is referring to. If so, then I'll toss them out. But if it's just that he misunderstood and thought you wanted to put whole tubes of it on the cats, then you could explain to him that you were going to get help premeasuring the doses out before treating them. I could do the premeasuring for you and draw them up into the syringes and send them to you that way so you wouldn't have to measure them. I would just need to pick up some caps to put on the ends of the syringes so the revolution doesn't spill out. I think pharmacies might sell them.
Worst case scenerio is that you'd have to buy ONE box of dog Advantage (just regular Advantage, not Advantage Multi-which has heartworm meds in it). Krazyaboutkatz has posted the dosage that she gives her cats and her cats are all doing fine and from the sounds of it are 'flea free'. One tube (you get 6 tubes in a box) has 4 mls each. Depending on the weight of your cats, each cat would need roughly half of one ml each. That means one tube could treat 8 cats. One box could treat 8 cats for 6 months. The cost of the box is I think about 70.00 or something but that would be enough to treat them ALL for 6 months. I can mail you the syringes you'd need that are still in their packaging that you would need to draw the Advantage out of the tubes.
And, maybe your vet or other vets in the phonebook might sell Advantage by the tube. Advantage does not require a prescription (the regular kind) so you can buy it at any vet. If you can find a vet that sells it by the tube, then you could just buy one large dog tube size (it is the one that comes in the Navy blue coloured box) and it would probably cost you around 15.00-20.00 and you could treat all your cats for this month. Next month, same thing etc.. This is done all the time, I know of many shelters that do this, it's safe as long as you are dosing the cats correctly.
I have already mailed off the Drontal so you should receive it by the end of next week. I will PM you a dosing chart. There is more than enough tablets in there (14 in total) to treat all your cats twice. You should wait until the ferals are either fixed or finished weaning kittens before dosing them though.
I'm also sending you the can of flea spray that is for the house (NOT pets) and along with vacuuming as mentioned in my earlier post, will help tremendously. Worst case, you might have to go and buy one more can and it will cost around 22.00. The two cans together will cover 2,000 square feet.

I'm so glad the cats are home and safely tucked into your bedroom. The main thing to watch for is that the incision doesn't open. If you see that, you should take them back to get them 'stapled' before the incisions open up any further. This usually doesn't cost anything. You just want to avoid the incision opening to the point that staples won't help and surgery has to be done all over again. It's expensive because they charge you for the anesthesia and vet's time etc.. So, it's awesome that you guys have them in a quiet place and that hubby doesn't mind his new roomies.
Also, they often send the female cats home with the head cones to keep them from being able to lick themselves. Alot of clinics usually will 'lend' a collar if an owner can't afford one. If you do have to buy one, they are under 10.00 each.

As far as the ferals go next month, I'm wondering if MoonandBean's donation had been received yet by the vet hospital. You mentioned that 355.00 had been received but wasn't the total already over 300.00 with Kuhio's, Moesha and my donations? Hopefully that is the case because that would mean another 100.00 should be available to go towards the feral spays.

[MoonandBean]

yah...The charge has already appeared on my credit card statement so make sure they're including it.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I just wanted to add that the vet that I used to take my cats to was the one that suggested that I buy the large dog advantage because the ingredients are the same as the cat advantage. He did this to help save me money. I only had 4 cats back then. Since I live in CA, I have to treat my cats year round and so far so good. You can also probably get free syringes from your vet or any other vet office when you buy the advantage from them. The numbers will eventually wear off of the syringes so I use either masking tape or surgical tape to mark off the right amount that is needed. I also have an empty plastic test tube with a lid that I squeeze the advantage into so then I can measure it out and save whatever is left over for next time. Good luck.

[rebeccahowes]

Hi everyone! I had an appointment for the last feral cat to be spayed, but she disappeared on her appointment day. She is rescheduled for the middle of July. I had a new litter of kittens and was able to find good homes for two. I still have two kittens left. If I keep the two kittens, I will have nine cats. I want to know if everyone thinks that nine cats are ok in a four story house. I feel that I can handle the situation, but I do have a landlord that will never understand and my 20 year old is not happy with the situation. I don't want to be a hoarder, but there is no where to take the cats to and no body usually adopts older cats. I am willing to take on the job and almost everyone is spayed. The kittens can be spayed in four months and from the donations I recieved, I can spay one kitten and I am sure I can come up with the money for the other kitten. That means that all nine cats will be spayed. I can afford the food and cat litter and I have all the patience in the world and love everyone of my cats. Do you guys think I am crazy? The fact is that I have no where to take any of the cats. The shelters charge 50 dollars and Tiger Ranch is no longer around. Second, I would never want to take them to a shelter. There is no guarantee that they would get a home. Does anyone else have nine animals? I just don't want to seem like a hoarder. My landord never comes over; therefore, I don't have to worry about him. I have lived here for seven years and he never bugs me. Thanks for everything, everyone. Love Rebecca

[Moesha]

What are you going to do if the feral cat is pregnant again by the time of her appointment in July? What about if any one or more of them needs major medical attention? Is the flea problem fixed? There are others here that have more kitties in the house and could probably give better advice than me. I would just be concerned.

[Emeraldgreen]

Hi Rebecca. I'm so surprised that no one wanted the sweet little one without the tail! They are both cute but that one stole my heart!
It's hard to say if it's a good idea or not for you to keep the two kittens. I have 9 cats but it's a handful and financially a big deal. A few years ago it didn't seem to cost that much but over the past couple of years, I've been dealing with health issues with 4 of my cats and it has really added up. It's so unpredictable when one of them is going to need vet care. One of the reasons we are selling our home is to move to a more affordable place so they can all get the vet care they need whenever that need arises. Our house is pretty big too, lots of room for everybody but it's expensive to care for so many animals. We do spend quite a bit of money on holistic dry food for them rather than the cheap stuff but I think in the end it helps reduce future vet bills. And, we seem to adopt a cat every 2 years or so and it's usually after one of our cats has passed away and a space has opened up. Part of me wishes I could take in all the needy cats but I just know that I could not handle it and they would not get the care they deserve or the attention.

Maybe there is another PT'r in PA who rescues kittens who could take these two in? I'm not sure if there is someone who could but it's just an idea.

Also, I wonder if you could ask the local shelter if you could place the kittens there and if no one adopts them within a month or two, you could take them back? I have no idea if this is an option but maybe worth asking about. This way they would get a chance to possibly get a home and if no one comes for them, they can have a home with you?

How is the flea situation going these days? I hope that your family and all the cats are not being bitten by them. Do you still have flea meds left to continue administering?

Anyway, hope all is well. Good to hear from you and please keep us updated with your fur family. Those kittens are so adorable.

p.s. Like Moesha, I'm concerned about the adult feral getting pregnant again. Is there a way for you to keep her in a room until her spay date? It might sound like a long time but really it would only be about 2 or 3 weeks and if you could avoid another litter on your hands, it would be so worth it. If you are having trouble finding homes for these last two cuties, a whole new litter will be even harder.

[rebeccahowes]

Hi, I am also concerned, but I feel that I have the solutions to my problem. First, if the feral cat is pregnant, it costs an extra 20 dollars and I have 100 on my account thanks to someone special on the boards. It is 45 regularly and 65 if they are pregnant. That leaves me almost enough to get one kitten spayed. I have four months to come up with another 45 for the other kitten. The flea problem has been solved thanks to donations of a three month supply of advantage. The worm problem has been solved because of donations. If there is a major medical problem, I will not be able to do a thing. Even if I had one cat, I would not be able to help them. So far, in my life of having cats, nothing has ever gone wrong except fleas and worms. I feel blessed. I do live on a busy street and I have had four cats hit by cars. They died instantly. I try to keep them inside, but it is truly impossible because I have five children and all of their friends running in and out. The cats are very fast. When they want out, they find a way out. Thanks for your concerns and I hope this letter answers all of your questions. Love Rebecca