Looking For Advice Please

[NinjaCat7]

I have been feeding several stray/feral cats in my neighborhood. One of them has a wound on its shoulder/top of his leg area and it's open. He won't let me touch him. What can I do for him?

 

[Columbine]

How bad/deep is the wound? Does it look infected? Is he limping? How close can you get to him?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know, the easier is is to help

If it's a really serious wound (big/badly infected/he's badly lame) then your only option may be to trap him and get him to a vet. If it's less serious, then I'd avoid trapping him (it really is a last resort for ferals for anything outside of TNR).

I don't have experience with this type of situation, but your answers to these questions will help others advise you better

I hope he heals up quickly and cleanly

 

[Norachan]

Has he been neutered yet? Open wounds like that are often a result of getting in fights with other tom cats. If you haven't had him fixed yet now would be the time to do so.

You can borrow a humane trap from animal rescues, TNR groups and vets that treat feral cats or you can buy one quite cheaply from Tractor Supply.

Once he's been trapped take him straight to the vet to get him fixed and his wound checked out. The vet will give a shot of long lasting antibiotic to make sure he gets over being neutered. This will stop any infection in his shoulder too.

 

[NinjaCat7]

How bad/deep is the wound? Does it look infected? Is he limping? How close can you get to him?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more we know, the easier is is to help

If it's a really serious wound (big/badly infected/he's badly lame) then your only option may be to trap him and get him to a vet. If it's less serious, then I'd avoid trapping him (it really is a last resort for ferals for anything outside of TNR).

I don't have experience with this type of situation, but your answers to these questions will help others advise you better

I hope he heals up quickly and cleanly

He's not limping, from what I can see it doesn't look infected. It was scabbed up once and now it's open again. One of his eyes runs too.

 

[Columbine]

Great that he's not limping and that it looks reasonably clean Keep a close eye on it, and definitely look into borrowing/hiring/buying a trap just in case he does need veterinary treatment. Keep a watch on his eye too, and try to get as close a look as he'll allow. It could be nothing (or something that will clear up on its own), or it could be that he got scratched there too. If the eye shows ANY sign of getting infected, I'd be wanting to get him straight to a vet. Eyes are not something to take chances with

 

[di and bob]

I take care of feral toms and I can almost guarantee you it is an abscess. They get them from deep cat bites which injects bacteria into the tissue and this builds up a pocket of infection. It can spread, although most come through it all right. One of my ferals became blind in one eye when the infection spread to his eye. It starts out as a swelling, it can cause limping and pain at the site. Eventually it builds until it bursts, which is good, it releases the infection. What I do to help since I can't take them in is to call the vet, tell them it is a feral that can't be brought in, and have them give me an over the counter antibiotic which I administer once a day (that is all I see them) for a week to ten days. I put the dose in a small amount of tuna, they eat it up, and then I feed them normally. You can also find it on the PetMed sites on the internet. This helps the infection from spreading. Since I have had almost all of my toms neutered now, the abscesses have dropped off a lot. The big toms ignore the neutered boys. All the luck!

 

[NinjaCat7]

Great that he's not limping and that it looks reasonably clean Keep a close eye on it, and definitely look into borrowing/hiring/buying a trap just in case he does need veterinary treatment. Keep a watch on his eye too, and try to get as close a look as he'll allow. It could be nothing (or something that will clear up on its own), or it could be that he got scratched there too. If the eye shows ANY sign of getting infected, I'd be wanting to get him straight to a vet. Eyes are not something to take chances with

Thanks for the info...very much appreciated!

 

[NinjaCat7]

I take care of feral toms and I can almost guarantee you it is an abscess. They get them from deep cat bites which injects bacteria into the tissue and this builds up a pocket of infection. It can spread, although most come through it all right. One of my ferals became blind in one eye when the infection spread to his eye. It starts out as a swelling, it can cause limping and pain at the site. Eventually it builds until it bursts, which is good, it releases the infection. What I do to help since I can't take them in is to call the vet, tell them it is a feral that can't be brought in, and have them give me an over the counter antibiotic which I administer once a day (that is all I see them) for a week to ten days. I put the dose in a small amount of tuna, they eat it up, and then I feed them normally. You can also find it on the PetMed sites on the internet. This helps the infection from spreading. Since I have had almost all of my toms neutered now, the abscesses have dropped off a lot. The big toms ignore the neutered boys. All the luck!

Thanks! I will look into getting getting him an antibiotic!

 

[NinjaCat7]

Any particular antibiotic work best?