Getting Ready To Trap A Stray - He Appears To Have An Eye Infection

[elizabeth k]

I am currently feeding a stray/semi-feral cat. I have been feeding him for several months and I am going to borrow a trap and take him to the Humane Society (tnr). I noticed that he now has thick, goopy discharge leaking from his eyes and his lids are a bit swollen. Until my schedule allows me to get him to the Humane Society, is there anything other then L-Lysine that I can put in his food that will help his eyes?

 

[Sarthur2]

Though he probably needs prescription eye drops, he would probably benefit from an antibiotic like clavamox mixed in his food.

 

[orange&white]

Is there any possibility of rearranging your schedule to trap him sooner? The HS will likely treat his eyes while they have him and it would probably be easier for them to administer drops if he needs them. Second-best option: maybe the HS or your regular vet could prescribe antibiotics without an office visit.

 

[msaimee]

Oral antibiotics are just as effective as eye drops and often easier to administer. Eye infections can get very serious very quickly, so you should try to get him to a vet as soon as possible. You can order Fish Mox without a prescription online, it is Amoxicillin capsules you can mix with water and put in his food for a week and it will clear up the infection. If you want the info I can PM it to you. But getting him to the vet quickly would be best.

 

[elizabeth k]

I am planning to trap him this coming week and take him to HS. I hope he will get into the trap. I have used tuna or mackerel in the past, so that is what I will try. The problem with drops is that I cannot get near him. He runs away. I have to just leave food for him and walk away. But...he is allowing me to get closer. I would say at this point I can get two feet from him (no eye contact). I am hoping the HS can treat his eyes while he is there and give me an antibiotic to mix into his food. I really, really hope he can't taste it. He can taste a 1/16th teaspoon of L-Lysine and won't touch the food after he detects it.

 

[Sarthur2]

If he's that sensitive, he'll likely detect the antibiotic, so they may need to give him a long-acting antibiotic shot.

 

[msaimee]

How is the kitty doing? I hope you got my email.

 

[elizabeth k]

misaimee - yes, and I got the Fish Mox. Tonight will be the 3rd night that I will administer it per your instructions. BTW, he has not been able to taste it! I also was able to borrow a trap from the Humane Society yesterday. Prior to that, I had called 3 rescues in my area to borrow a trap and they were all being lent out so I was on waiting lists. Luckily the HS had one available yesterday. So, the plan is to trap him Sunday night and bring him in to HS for neuter/shots/eye treatment/ear snip 1st thing Monday morning. I need to confirm that they are open Monday being it's a holiday. He has been fussy about food for the last week or so. I thought maybe it is because he is not feeling well due to his eyes, but he has not lost any weight, so I think someone else must be feeding him too. He is also pretty frisky and active. He is himself. It's funny - he looks through my window until I see him and when I do notice him, he gets very animated (excited). But, when I open the door, he runs. I am getting closer, but I still cannot touch him. If I bend down, he runs. What should I put in the trap? Tuna...salmon...mackerel? I know each cat has their own taste, but is one generally irresistible? I hope he gets in the trap. I have it covered with a blanket and it is outside where I feed him so he can get used to seeing it before I actually use it.

 

[orange&white]

You might see if you can get him to eat his meals today and tomorrow morning inside the trap with the same food you've been feeding him. Lock the trap open so it doesn't snap. That's how I trapped my back yard beauty this year (just fed her in the trap for a couple days before setting the trap to spring).

 

[elizabeth k]

He didn't show up last night so I missed a dose of his antibiotic. I hope he shows up tonight. That is a good idea to put the food in the trap and lock it in the open position so it does not spring. I will start doing that tonight. I don't like this trap I borrowed. It only opens on the end with the trap door. In the past, I have always borrowed a trap with a back door that you just lift to allow the animal to get out. I didn't have to actually put my hand in the trap to open it. This trap scares me. If a raccoon or opossum gets in there (and this is a very real possibility), I am going to have a devil of a time releasing it.

 

[orange&white]

If you cover the trap with a towel or blanket, would the animal still be able to see your hand opening the door? Otherwise, do you have some good thick leather gloves?

 

[elizabeth k]

He didn't show up again last night. That is two nights in a row.

 

[orange&white]

Is the humane society able to take him whatever day you can trap him, or do have to have an appointment for a particular day. Poor thing. Hope he's all right.

 

[msaimee]

You should set an appointment or make arrangements with a vet clinic ahead of time so when you trap him, you can take him directly to the vet. There should be no reason for you to open the trap. The vet clinic will handle this on their end. When you take him home (same day for neuter) he will be sedated and you can take him home in a regular pet carrier.

I don't cover the top or sides of my trap. Some cats are leery of going into something that they cannot observe around from the outside. I usually put a small towel on the bottom of the inside of the trap and scatter leaves and dirt along the top of it. I know some people do trial runs with the trap not set, but I have never needed to do this. You can just set the appointment and do the trapping in the morning of. Because even if he goes into an unset trap once, there's no guarantee he will go in a second time and you don't want to ruin your chance.

How is his eye doing? Any Improvement? It's okay if he misses a dose of the medicine. Just keep giving it to him, and let the vet know you have been giving this to him as well so he or she can decide whether or not to continue with the amoxicillin or administer something different.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[elizabeth k]

If you cover the trap with a towel or blanket, would the animal still be able to see your hand opening the door? Otherwise, do you have some good thick leather gloves?

The animal would be able to see my hand when the trap door is almost all the way up. It has to be pushed all the way up in order for the tab at the top to catch. I have been thinking about different things. It is going to take two - I will recruit my husband if need be. I could insert a stick and use it to push the door up and my husband can secure the tab at the top. But I would have to be standing right in front of the door to lift it, so I will have to get out of the way in a hurry. If this does happen, we will release the animal into the woods behind our house. That is where the raccoons and opossums live. And, yes, I have good thick leather gloves.

 

[orange&white]

Well, hopefully you will trap the cat and not a raccoon or possum. I'm pretty sure a possum would cower in the back of the cage. Not sure about whether a raccoon would put up a fight or not.

Hopefully the kitty will come home for to eat today.

 

[elizabeth k]

After 4 nights of not showing up, and worrying me sick, he showed up at 6 am this morning. His eye looks worse. He is still not eating. He sits right at my door and looks in, like he wants to come in. But, when I open the door he runs. Someone else must be feeding him. Hopefully tonight is the night. I am going to put tuna, salmon and mackerel in the trap. I like the idea of putting a towel in the bottom of the trap and scattering leaves and dirt. I will try that. I really, really hope he goes for it.

The Humane Society that I borrowed the trap from neuters by appointment only. Their first available is Oct 19th. That is not going to work. But, the larger downtown HS does walk in neuters every day as long as the animal is in a trap. That is where I plan to take him. I will have him neutered, get his shots, and hopefully they will give him an antibiotic injection for his eyes. If they don't do this, I will take him directly to a vet when I pick him up at the HS. My thought is that he will still be sedated and the vet can treat his eye.

I hope all this works out - tonight.

I just had another thought - the trap is on my porch. That is where I feed him. It is out in the open. Should I move the trap? I could put it against the porch/foundation so it would be concealed by the shrubs. Maybe this would make him feel less scared. Any thoughts?

 

[msaimee]

Put the trap where you usually feed him. I will pray for him to go into the trap to nite. The vet at HS should treat the eye infection too.

I wanted to add that if you want to keep everything as normal as possible, if you usually put out a bowl of dry food for him, put that out as usual and put something really irresistible for him inside the trap. That way he will be less stressed and more curious about the trap. Also, if the trap scares him, he won't go away hungry while he is sick.

 

[elizabeth k]

Kitty came last night. Eye looked a little better. I set the trap using salmon. I did put out a bowl of dry food. I just checked the trap. It sprung, but it is empty and the food wasn't touched. The blanket was off the trap and laying next to it. The dry food is gone. I think he ate it. If it was a raccoon or opossum who at it, the water bowl would have been dirty and it was clean and clear. I am so confused. I will try again tonight. The trap is due back Friday. If I don't have him by then I will go to the larger HS downtown and borrow a trap from them. This trap may be faulty. The top is bent. It is old and when you push the top up and into the trap to catch it with the lever at the top so it stays open, the left side is not flush with the roof of the trap. It hangs lower. I don't know what to think. At least his eye looks better.

 

[msaimee]

It does sound like the trap may be faulty. I would advise that when you set the trap the next time, please watch from the inside of your house to see what happens. This is the way you should do it anyway, because as soon as the cat is trapped, you want to cover the trap with a towel and bring the cat inside or to the vet (not sure what your plan is) . But you don't want to leave the cat panicking in the trap outside for hours or overnight. That is very stressful to a cat, a cat can really injure their face trying to get out and also he would be vulnerable to predators. I know it is time consuming to sit inside a house and watch out the window sometimes for a few hours, but that really is the best way to do the process. In the meantime, continue to get food with the antibiotics inside of him every day, especially since the eye is beginning to heal. If the eye infection can clear up, then you will have more time to relax in the trapping process.