Medications For Outside Feral Cats.

buffy2011

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I have outside feral cats. After the spay and neuter and shots they will never be trapped again, unless I see something unusual happening to one of them. If they turn up hurt or something on that order, I will try and trap them again to address the problem. But my question is, is there anything that I can give them to prevent maybe some health issues in the future. Is there any over the counter, or medicine that I can put into there food to help them out. I do notice sometimes someone might vomit, not often. But I just thought I could prevent some health issues with them if I could do something else for them. It also would have to be something that doesn't harm them. Not sure what cat eats what so who is to say they all got the medicine. Any comments would be appreciated.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
I don't know, as I've only used it a little, but you could double check with your vet about L-lysine. It's a supplement to support immune health.
 

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Some dewormer a few times a year wouldn't be a bad idea. You can get a big bottle of it online, usually sold for horses (pyrantel pamoate suspension). But you should make some kind of effort to dose it correctly. A small overdose won't hurt but you don't want anyone to get a huge dose, and of course if they don't get enough it won't be effective. If the fleas look bad I'll add some Capstar to their wet food. Again, you want to try to dose it at least somewhat close to the right dose.

If they look a bit sniffly, some lysine wouldn't hurt (might not help either---studies are mixed---but it's harmless so why not).

Other than that, no, don't add anything to their food.
 

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I don’t know how many ferals you are feeding but I managed to, kind of, establish a feeding dish for individuals. It was never flawless but it did help when I had to dose a cat that I could not catch. Dosing a feral is tricky. I had to keep others from eating her food and remove left overs. I was never sure if she got the amount specified.
I found that keeping fleas out of the yard was the easiest way to keep them off of the cats and prevent certain parasites. That won’t be foolproof. Plants are a natural way to do this and catnip plants help. Of course the cats tend to lay all over them. Lol I do use the L-lisine on an indoor cat as suggested by our vet. I don’t know if it really helps him but he is well. You can buy that now in cat treats so maybe you could better control who gets what if you try it. Maybe tossing a single treat to each cat? Very tough question. Our vet is always the first person I ask for information about medical issues. If they are all healthy now and you got them immunized then my guess is that good nutrition, a warm/ cool / dry/ clean and safe place to live will be your best bet. @1bruce1 might have some ideas.
 

shadowsrescue

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When my feral boys were outside, I used to use Worm Clear for cats. You can just add drops to their wet food. To get the recommended dosage, I would dose them daily for about 10 days.
I also would add Vetri Science DMG ( also a liquid) to their wet food to help keep the immune system healthy.

I was fortunate they never had fleas or ticks. On occasion I would give a liquid flea preventer from BestFlea.com I could add it to their food, but had to really watch who ate which food.
 

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L-lysine is a probiotic - and can be bought without a prescription (you can even get it through Amazon, etc.). And best of all, it's not horribly expensive and is tasteless and odorless, so you can just sprinkle it on their food (esp wet food) and 99% of them won't even know it's there!

Around here it was kind of "the thing" to give any cats with kind of runny eyes, kind of icky ears, etc. - - things that generally looked like they could be caused by Herpes. I will say - I constantly read up on what options (plus ask everyone on this site!) we have to give our feral gang when any look like they've got a bug (often that's how herpes looks for kitties). So I've used lots of it. Unfortunately - some respectable studies have been coming out that it may not really be doing much for the little furry guys. :( I swear it seems to help one of our feral boys some - - one of his eyes gets goopy, and when he was examined at the spay/neuter clinic when he was under for his neuter, the vet said herpes was definitely a possibility that Lysine would help his eye get better if we keep giving it to him religiously. Now after reading these things the past few months, I'm not as confident it's actually helping. But it definitely doesn't hurt him, is easy to get, and doesn't cost too much, so until we have a better option we're still giving it 2x a day (it's only like ⅛ of a teaspoon mixed into his wet food) - - so until we have something better, we're taking the "might as well" approach!

Here's the link to the one we use (Amazon has been the cheapest for us) if you want to give it a whirl, or at least read up on it!:

 

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I went to close this window this am and saw W Willowy said the same thing about L-Lysine! Sorry to reiterate what had been said! But it definitely doesn't hurt - so yeah, we give it anyway too.

I meant to say in my earlier post that I'd talk to my vet too to be prepared for if/when something does happen, you're a tad ahead of things. Our vet (& a few others) was who recommended the L-lysine anyway several years ago - -- and since ours go nutty for a certain canned (Meow Mix "Simple Servings" - they're in the little "double packs). We put just the tiny bit of L-Lysine into a bit of the Meow mix in each bowl, and they each gobble so fast no one has time to eat anyone elses! We've done that w/other meds too - - although I know alot of vets have cracked down on giving meds out for cats they don't actually see. We used to be able to get things for our feral guys by showing our vet a video and describing an issue. We actually had one about 2 years ago that, after showing up for months, TNRing her, and her still showing up for months - - one day she showed up with what we're pretty sure was a broken leg. We couldn't trap her again, so we talked to our vet and he gave us antibiotics and pain meds -- all of which we gave in little balls of soft food too. It certainly helped her - - altho she disappeared eventually & it broke our hearts, since we assumed she went off to die. But another neighbor who helps TNR in our neighborhood saw her just a few weeks ago!!!!
 
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buffy2011

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When my feral boys were outside, I used to use Worm Clear for cats. You can just add drops to their wet food. To get the recommended dosage, I would dose them daily for about 10 days.
I also would add Vetri Science DMG ( also a liquid) to their wet food to help keep the immune system healthy.

I was fortunate they never had fleas or ticks. On occasion I would give a liquid flea preventer from BestFlea.com I could add it to their food, but had to really watch who ate which food.
I have been mixing a little of this probiotic in there food. I can't ever be sure who is eating what. I have a hard time seeing when they are coming now. So this worm clear, would it be a problem just putting it in the food. I know they all eat the food. There is plenty of food out, so they all are eating. But how much is another story. They eat till its gone. Will it be a problem if they got to much? I know I tried to buy a wormer and like someone said the vets have to see the cat now. Years ago you use to be able to buy it over the counter. We live in the country so deer and fleas could be a problem. But I have cameras up and they look pretty healthy most of the time. There coat looks nice and fluffy for the winter. Can you still buy the worm clear. I will look around for it.
 

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shadowsrescue

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I have always added the Worm Clear to their food. Too much shouldn't be a problem. Just add the proper amount to each bowl. The probiotic will do nothing to help with worms.
 
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buffy2011

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I don’t know how many ferals you are feeding but I managed to, kind of, establish a feeding dish for individuals. It was never flawless but it did help when I had to dose a cat that I could not catch. Dosing a feral is tricky. I had to keep others from eating her food and remove left overs. I was never sure if she got the amount specified.
I found that keeping fleas out of the yard was the easiest way to keep them off of the cats and prevent certain parasites. That won’t be foolproof. Plants are a natural way to do this and catnip plants help. Of course the cats tend to lay all over them. Lol I do use the L-lisine on an indoor cat as suggested by our vet. I don’t know if it really helps him but he is well. You can buy that now in cat treats so maybe you could better control who gets what if you try it. Maybe tossing a single treat to each cat? Very tough question. Our vet is always the first person I ask for information about medical issues. If they are all healthy now and you got them immunized then my guess is that good nutrition, a warm/ cool / dry/ clean and safe place to live will be your best bet. @1bruce1 might have some ideas.
How does a cat nip plant help
 
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buffy2011

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I have always added the Worm Clear to their food. Too much shouldn't be a problem. Just add the proper amount to each bowl. The probiotic will do nothing to help with worms.
They don't have there own bowls, so what if a cat eats from two different bowls, will that be to much
 
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