Starved And Filthy Cat

[shellychip]

A couple years ago a feral cat started hanging around my house. We fed him and very slowly tamed him. We moved to a new place in late February, kept him in for a month and then started letting him out at the new place. He had been going in and out for 2 weeks when he disappeared April 11. Fast forward to May 21...almost 6 weeks later. My cat was found by a neighbor in a commercial air conditioning unit. He was emaciated and so weak he was wobbly when he walked. He was covered in dried up urine and feces. There was another cat in there with him which was dead. The good news is that he is drinking and eating small amounts of food every couple hours and already seems more energetic. I am aware of refeeding syndrome and am taking it slowly. I wish I could take him to the vet but he is so stressed out around strangers that I don't think he could handle it right now in his condition. I really want to bathe him to get the urine and feces off his fur, but I am going to wait until he is a little stronger. Does anyone have advice on what to wash him with that will get rid of the urine and feces in the quickest amount of time? I don't want to stress him out anymore than I have too.

 

[Sarthur2]

Aww, poor kitty!

Use blue Dawn dish soap. I would go ahead and give him a warm bath. It sounds like he really needs it, and he will feel better when he is clean. Have a warm towel in the dryer ready to wrap him up.

I would also mix pedialyte into his wet food for hydration. You may want to give him Nutrical paste for extra calories. Gerber turkey baby food is good too - high protein and easy to digest.

I hope he gets healthy soon. It breaks my heart to think how long he was trapped in that A/C unit. He's a real trooper!

 

[StefanZ]

Good you are giving small portions but often. Too much too soon is even more dangerous than yet another day of starvation....
Its the key with them long starving. If he wasnt fat, the danger for fatty liver is low, esp as he HAS a background as ferale.

Aside of pedialyte and some nice vitamine paste mentioned above, if you can get raw goats milk it may be useful too.

Mild bathing so its not stressing? Do it in the kitchen sink, so its comfortable for you. Be sure the sink is warm. Lay something down, so its not slippery. You have warm water in a bucket, and pour warm water with a cup! You talk sweetly and calming too...
I think this is the gentlest way to bathe them.

 

[maggiedemi]

Poor little boy! Thank you for helping him. I hope he'll be okay.

 

[shellychip]

I washed him with the Dawn dish soap. Once he was cleaned up I could see that he had deep gashes on his legs. So I did take him to the vet and he was given fluids and antibiotics. Vet said he looks ok liver-wise and he was not running a temperature. I think it will just take sume time for him to feel better.

 

[Sarthur2]

It's good you washed him. The fecal matter was unhealthy.

Vet visit was good. The fluids and antibiotics will help for sure.

You're right, it's going to take some time for your cat to get back to a normal weight.

You're doing everything right!