Medical opinion-Should I release or PTS

Hi,
I am a somewhat experienced trapper but I have a cat that I need help with. I started on a colony of cats all of which seem to be healthy. I trapped a male feral 3 days ago and he was neutered, vacc, dewormed and had a dental (2 extractions and he is on antibiotics). When I trapped him he was skinnier that the other males and his hind end was dirty.The problem is that it looks like he does not have any bowel control and he has horrible diarrhea. He is eating and using the litterbox to urinate but does not go to the litterbox to defecate. He is also starting to have green discharge from his nose. My instinct is if he does not get better in a week is to put him down. Winter is coming and I do not want him to suffer outside. I have not tested him for FIV or Felk but I usually do not with feral cats. What have your other experiences with sick cats have been. Money is also a issue as I have 10 other cats to TNR.
Thanks

You have PM!


Welcome to the Forums,
and good luck!

I am not very computer savvy, what does this mean?

Up in the top right of the screen, there's an area that says "Private Messages". Stefan has sent you a message, and you can click on private messages to read it

Will the vet you took him to for the neutering and dental do any sort of free follow up? There could be many things that would cause diarrhea, including stress and a change in diet and he could have gotten an Upper Respiratory Infection from the stress of everything he has been through. I'm not sure what symptoms of FELV/FIV are, hopefully someone with experience will be along soon to give some advice about that.

Have you tried mixing dirt into his litter tray. I find ferals prefer to use a litter tray if there's dirt in it as it's closer to what they're used to.

I hope he gets better soon, a sick feral kitty is hard to deal with

Honestly, I would euthanise him if he doesnt get better and you cant keep him inside. If he is sick he will get worse being outside in winter with no medication and trapping them a second time is always harder because they become trap savvy.

Many cats can have diarrhea after deworming, but if he already had a dirty behind and wasnt a tubby cat who cant reach down there... but the green discharge could be a bad form of URI - will your vet do a followup?

BTW are your ferals the Queen & Ashdale ones? I read a little about the TNR effort a while back

The vet we use with ferals is very understanding and practical. That's a tough call to make. We rely on the vets experience to guide our decisions. Do you have a vet that will give an opinion on the long term quality of life with these type health problems?

So sorry for what you are going through. One of the reasons we rescue and TNR is to help end suffering. All the best to you for doing so much for them.

Hi all that responded,
Thanks for your advice, he seems to be doing better today. He is going to the litter box for his #2's, still diarrhea with blood but his cage is cleaner today (sorry if too graphic, I work at a vet clinic). I am starting to give him Lysine in his food to help with the runny nose. Knock on wood he continues with this progression.
To answer the question, yes this cat is from the Ashdale and Queen colony.
Thanks

Ok, a couple of things - it could be standard parasites, and there is no reason to kill a cat for that.

Can you get Clavamox from your vet to put into the food?
You can order panacur online, as well as nemex and droncit - these will knock out giardia, roundworm, and tapeworm. Also, add pureed pumpkin to the diet, not the one with spices in it, just straight up pumpkin puree, it will help to bind him up.

panacur - sprinkle on food:
droncit -
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?ur...roncit&x=0&y=0
nemex:
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library...d-t/page1.aspx

totally add the l-lysine, though.

The blood in the stool is not actually that significant - there is probably some tearing of the tissue due to the diarrhea.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Ashdalecolony

Hi all that responded,
Thanks for your advice, he seems to be doing better today. He is going to the litter box for his #2's, still diarrhea with blood but his cage is cleaner today (sorry if too graphic, I work at a vet clinic). I am starting to give him Lysine in his food to help with the runny nose. Knock on wood he continues with this progression.

Click to expand...

Wonderful you had the possibility to let him be inside and recover. So you can see for yourself if he gets better - or not.

Rescuers with more tight budget/worse accomodations must perhaps take this decision more or less at once....


It is almost pity you arent also a fosterer. A sick ferale who does get attention and nursing often turns around and gets domesticized surprising quickly. I mean, as he is inside more than one week...
So a severe sickedness is sometimes very useful...


Good luck!