Ear mites and intestinal worms in cats

Question
I have several barn cats which I have acquired from drop offs as well as unwanted by friends and acquaintances. I have had them all neutered and vaccinated and feed them good quality food. They are all very friendly and seemingly healthy. My question is--is there a reasonably inexpensive way to deworm as well as eliminate ear mites? I need something that doesn't take days or weeks to administer. I did hear that ivermectin would work, but I don't know to safely use it for cats. We do use it to deworm our horses, but with cats I need help from an expert.

Answer
Pattie,

Unfortunately, the only reliable way to deworm a cat is to go through your vet.  Your vet should test the cat's stool for worms, but even that can come up a false negative.  You will be the person most likely to know if they need deworming or not.  

If your cats suddenly start vomiting or retching, that is a sign of worm infestation.  If they start having diarrhea, that can be a sign of worms.  Of course, you can also see some worms in either vomit, stools, or attached to the cat butt.  If attached to the butt, certain types can appear as small white grains of rice.  If it's just very recently that the worm appeared on the butt, then it may be moving.  If not, again, it will look like a grain of rice (certain species only).  Or, you may see long white "spaghetti" in the stools, or in the vomit.  They can also appear as white stubs, or brick looking.  If your cat starts developing a pot belly when she/he previously didn't have one is another indicator that there may be a worm infestation.  Your cat may begin to lick a lot around the rectal area.  

Most vets will want to get a stool sample to confirm or deny the presence of worms.  However, like I stated above, some stool tests can come back falsely negative for worm infestation, so your testimony to the vet of what you've observed or seen will be key.  You don't want to give deworming meds if not absolutely necessary, because the meds are toxic and can have bad side effects.  

The dewormers that are sold OTC (over the counter) are not good products.  They are not strong enough, don't have appropriate ingredients in them, and they are much more toxic--poisonous--to cats.  I would steer clear of them.  They may be cheaper, but if they're not working, and you keep going back to buy more in the hopes they will eventually kick in and work, then you end up spending just as much or more as you would going through your vet.  Also, because the OTC products are much more toxic, the more you give, the more permanent damage you could be doing to your cat.  So, you're paying in a couple of different ways.  

I would go through your vet and just suck up the cost.  Barn cats will undoubtedly need to be dewormed on a regular basis, so I'd just set aside money in a special "veterinary" acct just for things like this.  If you go through your vet, you will get the appropriate medicine for the type of worm your cat has, and you can rest assured that after a course of the medicine, the worms will likely be gone (depending on the species, though, they may still be present, because they may have been in the larvae stage when the first round of med went through and the medicine didn't reach them, so a second cycle has to be given to kill those that survived the first round).  You may be able to get the meds through large supply houses, such as 1-800-PET MEDS or others like it.  They may be slightly cheaper, but then you have to add in shiping costs, so it may turn out to be just as expensive or more.  

Since some meds only work on certain species of worms, you don't want to indiscriminately begin giving your cats only one type of dewormer.  Ivermectin is used to treat heartworm and hookworm in cats, as well as sarcoptic mange and ear mites.  There is not one single product to treat all species of worms.  That is why it is important to get a stool sample analyzed for which type of worm your cat has.  Then you can be sure that you're not giving any and all dewormers to your cats in the hope of killing the worms.  Since the drugs are toxic, even in small doses, you want to give the correct medicine and in the smallest amt to do the job.  There is a great comparison chart on Drs. Foster and Smith website that shows the different types of dewormers and what worms they're effective against.  The website is:  http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?dept_id=&aid=1085  

I hope this info has helped you.  There really is no "cheap" way to deworm cats.  Because you don't know for sure what type of worm your cats have, you need to have a stool sample analyzed, and from there, the right dewormer can be rx'd. But you definitely don't want to indiscriminately give the cats any dewormer. That can have bad consequences.  

Thanks for your question, and let me know if I can help in any other way.

Savannah