sick wild kitty - suggestions pls !

Hello everybody !

I picked a cat i found in the streets, is a young one, probably 4 months...
he was sitting in this sick position still so i picked it up and he fighted, he had his eyes closed from an eye infection, so i managed to clean his eyes with a dump kleenex and put some eye cream for cats.

I went back to my house and picked a carrier, chased him and after a long fight and many scratches and bites i managed to put him inside.
the vet was closed by then and there is no emergency vet here in the island.

I put some crushed antibiotics (Ronaxan) in a little of canned food (which has stronger smell) , this was 2 hrs ago and he still has not eat it...

he seems to have fluids running from his nose but he does not let me touch him !

I have him now in a " portable hospital " a large dog sized carrier with a litter box, water, a place to hide and the food.

I would like to take him to the vet tomorrow - there is a storm now and i really cannot do it now

.... silly me i should have done everything backwards, take him to the vet so he could give him antibiotics, and his opinion ..and the last thing to clean his eyes because now he can see where to scratch/bite ...

the kitty does not look good generally speaking... but is willing to put a good fight make me bleed some more , so he still has his strengh...

any suggestions?


Thanks !

You're brave! Thank you for trying to help this kitty!

Our cats won't ever eat anything with meds in them, period. None of the ferals did either. We always had to trap the ferals to get them to the vet.

At this point, if you're still planning to take him to the vet, it's probably best to remove the food with antibiotics in it, and just put out regular food. If he's ill, he may not eat anyway, but you need to at least try. Kitty's systems don't do well with nothing going through them.

If you have some baby food on hand, or some chicken you can boil with nothing in it, you can try that - a little boiled chicken water with some shredded chicken or the plain meat baby food usually entices a hungry stray/feral to eat.

Other than that, just best to wait it out until you can get kitty to the vet.

DO take care of those scratches/bites with frequent wash and application of antibiotics! Cat scratches/bites can get infected easily.

What a wonderful thing you're doing!

Laurie

Well.... I burried him.

When i went to chek him again i just found his little body... I think he must had a very bad case of cat flu. In this times I hate not to live in a city with all the options open ...

In one hand I wish not to care for stray sick cats and not be able to make them better...
On the other hand, I think at least they did not die in a damp cold place somewhere .....
That they had the feeling that someone cared... I forgive him all the bites and scratches, I just hope he understood I tried to make him well.


LAURIE - I did wash them with alcohol ! Thanks !

that is so sad poor little guy. I'm sorry you couldn't help him get better.

I'm sorry you couldn't help this little kitty, you did the best you could. . Thank you for trying

Poor baby. It can be so emotionally draining to rescue at times like this - but it's just as important to help the rescued babies cross the bridge. He may not have understood you were trying to help him, but I'm sure it made his crossing easier. He wasn't alone and was in the presence of a very loving person.

You tried, sweetie, and he wasn't alone in the storm.



Laurie

Hi,

I was so sorry to read about the kitty you tried to rescue, dying. (I don't get to visit the TCS boards as often as I would like, so I also apologize for belatedly offering advice!).

Something to keep in mind for "next time": you could find out where to borrow a humane trap near you, and keep the places on file to call when you need it. Or you could consider buying a trap. Find out, too, whether there is any vet who would let you make tentative appointments (that is, "if you trap it tonight, I will have space tomorrow; you will call if you don't trap it).

It probably would not have helped this poor kitty, but for the next time, you might want to learn some very simple "home remedies" for caring for runny eyes and upper respiratory distress. For example, you can create a "kitty sauna" using a steamy bathroom, that will help get mucus to run and make it easier for a sick cat to breathe. (If a cat can't SMELL food, it will NEVER take a bite -- and in order to smell, we have to have our noses clear).

Instead of administering antibiotics without really knowing what dose to use or whether the one that you have in the med cabinet is a good choice, you can crush up Vitamin C tablets into food. You can warm the food to a little over our body temp, and that makes it smell a little more. Plus, it seems to be more soothing to a cat, to eat warm food, than cool or cold.

You can also learn a bit about herbs so that you can have some tinctures on hand that are carefully chosen to be safe for cats, and to help with common problems. I know you may not have classes in the area where you are, but you should try to read as much as you possibly can, borrow or buy some good books, take notes on them, sort of like self-study courses!

Then, you won't feel quite so helpless when you see a very sick cat, and perhaps you'll be able to share a good news story or two!

Best,
Linda

So sorry. RIP little one.