Hello everyone.
I've been feeding some feral cats. I'm thinking there's about 15 of them. They come and go throughout the day and night. There's a house across the street from us that is only used for storage now. It's uninhabitable. The crawl space is wide open. In other words, every place there should be a vent or something, it's just wide open. The roof of the left side of the porch is caving in and the right side has a ton of moss growing on it. There are holes in the wall just beneath the roof of the porch and I've seen cats go in there so some are living in the attic. Some come from down the street. Two are siblings. Their mother was killed by a car a few years ago and the kittens disappeared. There were 4 of them. Two have returned. They're both white. One has long hair and the other short hair. I call the long haired one Fluffy and the short haired one Homie, or Home Boy. I started putting food out around a month ago. It was shortly after that I realized there were many many more than just those two. All the cats run away when I get roughly 30 or 40 feet from the porch, except Homie.
Homie was the first cat I started feeding. He'd run away all the time. One day I was heading to the house with a few paper bowls of hard food and I spotted him between the neighbors houses. He was running real fast and as I got to the porch he went under the porch on the far side. I walked across the street and turned around and he had come out from under the porch and was looking at me. I yelled that there was food on the porch and to go eat. hehe. I talk to all the cats. I think my 3 understand me. Anyway, he looked up at the porch, jumped on it and started eating. Over the course of the next couple of weeks he let me get closer and closer before running. First he would sit on the far side and when I reached to put the food on the porch, he'd jump down and go under it. Then he'd be near the door and just watch me set the food down and when I left, he'd go eat. I decided to give him some soft food. He was about 4 feet from my side of the porch. As I set the food down he came right next to me and jumped off the porch and went under it. Long story so I'll cut to the chase.
The last 4 or 5 days he comes to me, even across the street to my garage. He rubs on me and I pet him. He brought Fluffy a few days ago but Fluffy ended up running away and Homie ate the food. I put 2 bowls out that time. Yesterday, I saw Homie on the porch so I got some hard food and some soft food and walked over there. He usually comes off the porch and comes by me and then walks with me back to the porch to eat. This time he just sat there. When I got closer I started talking to him and he meowed a couple of times, but I didn't hear anything. When I was at the porch he got up and came to me limping. His right front leg was the problem. I didn't notice anything as he crouched down to eat, so I scratched his neck and walked back home. A few hours later I saw him on the porch again and went over with some soft food. This time when he limped over to me I touched his leg. He stood there looking at me and I could see a bulge about halfway up his leg. I rubbed it but I didn't want to hurt him and he still may bite me so I rubbed softly. Due to the bulge I'm sure it's broken. There's NO WAY I can afford to take him to the vet. Even if I could, I highly doubt I could get him in the carrier and even if I could do that, I don't think he'd be a happy camper at the vet. I hate the fact that I can't afford to take him, but I hate to see him suffer and be in pain. I'd like to at least ease his pain while his leg heals. Is there anything I can make or buy to ease his pain? I live in a very small town and the shelter here would NOT fix his leg. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
I've been feeding some feral cats. I'm thinking there's about 15 of them. They come and go throughout the day and night. There's a house across the street from us that is only used for storage now. It's uninhabitable. The crawl space is wide open. In other words, every place there should be a vent or something, it's just wide open. The roof of the left side of the porch is caving in and the right side has a ton of moss growing on it. There are holes in the wall just beneath the roof of the porch and I've seen cats go in there so some are living in the attic. Some come from down the street. Two are siblings. Their mother was killed by a car a few years ago and the kittens disappeared. There were 4 of them. Two have returned. They're both white. One has long hair and the other short hair. I call the long haired one Fluffy and the short haired one Homie, or Home Boy. I started putting food out around a month ago. It was shortly after that I realized there were many many more than just those two. All the cats run away when I get roughly 30 or 40 feet from the porch, except Homie.
Homie was the first cat I started feeding. He'd run away all the time. One day I was heading to the house with a few paper bowls of hard food and I spotted him between the neighbors houses. He was running real fast and as I got to the porch he went under the porch on the far side. I walked across the street and turned around and he had come out from under the porch and was looking at me. I yelled that there was food on the porch and to go eat. hehe. I talk to all the cats. I think my 3 understand me. Anyway, he looked up at the porch, jumped on it and started eating. Over the course of the next couple of weeks he let me get closer and closer before running. First he would sit on the far side and when I reached to put the food on the porch, he'd jump down and go under it. Then he'd be near the door and just watch me set the food down and when I left, he'd go eat. I decided to give him some soft food. He was about 4 feet from my side of the porch. As I set the food down he came right next to me and jumped off the porch and went under it. Long story so I'll cut to the chase.
The last 4 or 5 days he comes to me, even across the street to my garage. He rubs on me and I pet him. He brought Fluffy a few days ago but Fluffy ended up running away and Homie ate the food. I put 2 bowls out that time. Yesterday, I saw Homie on the porch so I got some hard food and some soft food and walked over there. He usually comes off the porch and comes by me and then walks with me back to the porch to eat. This time he just sat there. When I got closer I started talking to him and he meowed a couple of times, but I didn't hear anything. When I was at the porch he got up and came to me limping. His right front leg was the problem. I didn't notice anything as he crouched down to eat, so I scratched his neck and walked back home. A few hours later I saw him on the porch again and went over with some soft food. This time when he limped over to me I touched his leg. He stood there looking at me and I could see a bulge about halfway up his leg. I rubbed it but I didn't want to hurt him and he still may bite me so I rubbed softly. Due to the bulge I'm sure it's broken. There's NO WAY I can afford to take him to the vet. Even if I could, I highly doubt I could get him in the carrier and even if I could do that, I don't think he'd be a happy camper at the vet. I hate the fact that I can't afford to take him, but I hate to see him suffer and be in pain. I'd like to at least ease his pain while his leg heals. Is there anything I can make or buy to ease his pain? I live in a very small town and the shelter here would NOT fix his leg. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.