Caring for a feral backyard cat with cancer

My wife suggested that I "journal" about this because it is driving me crazy. You see, we don't have pet cats (or as the joke goes, the cats have us as pets). But in this case, we have a small house and a large deck and garden which, because it is dog-free, attracts cats from all over the neighborhood. At last count, we have 3 regular and 2 or 3 more irregularly visiting cats.

It all started about 8 years ago, just a year after we finished renovating and moved into the house, my father stayed with us and started feeding one of the garden cats, an all-white cat that we called "white kitty". We were pretty sure that he had a home across the street where they seemed to feed a number of cats so that when my father left, we let white kitty do his own thing and he was feral enough still to not expect food from us (although absolutely not interested in any sort of rodent control). Then a year or two ago, my wife decided to start feeding white kitty and his arch-rival brown kitty (a runt Maine coon) on our deck. He was still pretty feral, but not stupid enough to pass on a good meal.

To make a long story short, about 2 months ago, white kitty started to present lesions on his right ear and nose. We couldn't catch him to bring him to the vet but we have a mobile vet here who was willing to visit and at least look at him. From a distance (he took off as soon as he heard the vet on the deck) and from photos, she diagnosed squamous cell carcinoma on both ears, the nose and on the brow. Her tech remembered the cat from years ago, figured his owners had moved away, and he might be as old as 18. Since the SCC was established in at least 4 places, she figured that there wasn't much we could do at this point. She also thought that given his age he probably has or will develop some other life-threatening conditions, like kidney failure, and that would probably end his life before the SCC.

I took photos of him in case the vet couldn't get close enough to examine him and, comparing those photos to his present condition, in the space of 2 months, the SCC has eaten away almost the entire right ear so it is progressing much more rapidly than any of us had surmised. Recently, he has begun to bleed more (we put towels in his favorite napping spots to soak it up) and he is drinking more water because he is losing fluids. He continues to eat and purr and jump to his napping places, but my wife is starting to talk about endgame and I am having a hard time dealing with this.

So what does one do? He isn't our cat (we have pet guinea pigs indoors so we couldn't have an indoor cat anyway) and he is still feral enough to read your intent and run away (as he did the day we brought the vet on to the deck). I suppose we could have trapped him (maybe with luck) and done the whole surgery and radiation and chemotherapy thing, but the SCC was already in 4 places and the vet didn't advise going that route.

Should we have noticed it earlier? I don't know - we've got our hands full with the pigs, and generally keeping our heads above water. And as I said before, we've got 5 or 6 cats visiting our garden at any particular time. Should we be responsible for all of them??? How do you spray sunscreen on a feral cat or keep him out of the sun?

It is really heartbreaking to see what is happening to white kitty (don't worry, I won't post "after" photos), but what can we do? And in this economy, faced with what would probably be thousands of dollars of surgery and radiation and chemo bills, what could one do anyway? Especially with a poor prognosis from the start.

I know that feral cats are real problem nationwide - here in Half Moon Bay we joke that the feral cat is the town mascot (its a cougar actually). There used to be a lady here years ago who would trap and fix feral cats - she had the vets notch the ears so that she would know if it were fixed. She isn't here anymore and the vet said that feral cats are starting to accumulate in the fields and neighborhoods again.

Our vet noted that white kitty had a notch in his ear...

What about trapping and having him euthanized? Call the shelters(a few by me will euth cats for 70 ish) in area as some that deal with ferals will be able to tranquilize him without touching him. It seems like he will have an awful lot of suffering if not.

I think if left on own he will get a infection from bugs getting a perfect breeding ground or an animal takings its shot at an easy meal.

Don't feel guilty about the surgery/chemo as imangine how stressed you would have made this cat. He got to enjoy his time for the most part with the same daily routine. I have quite a few cats and they dont really get a shot at any advanced care. They are never in pain but far as euth vs unknown shot with high cost care they will be euthed. About 6 weeks ago moms cat turned up not eating and failing. the vet had nothing solid to go on and it sucks...

Had there been a cougar living under your porch...maybe the city would have paid for it, being the town mascot?

Feral cats are a real problem wherever there are people. It's one of those things humans seem to carry with us. Unfortunately, there really isn't an ecological niche for the domestic cat, so they cause problems and mooch off humans. Cats are, after all, "opportunistic" feeders.

The kindest thing you could do would be to trap this cat and have the vet euthanize. Otherwise, it will eventually be unable to hunt or eat and will starve to death, in a great deal of pain.

Your local shelter can probably lend you a humane trap, or you can buy one at Harbor Freight. Talk to the vet, first, so you can have a quick solution set up for when you trap him.

Just in passing, white cats are said to be more prone to skin damage from the sun.

First of all, thank you for caring about White Kitty. I recently lost an old feral cat that I had been caring for for 18 years. What you face is very difficult. On the one hand, they have been living on their own terms all of their lives, and who are we to intervene? On the other hand, if you are like me, you don't like to see an animal suffer. And how do you recognize when a feral cat is actually suffering? Cats, particularly feral cats, hide their pain very well.

My old girl suffered severe allergy problems her entire life and without the ability to really treat her for the condition (too wild to consistently medicate), there were times when she got bad when I thought it easiest to euthanize and end her suffering. But then I would watch her, and she loved to lounge in the sun, go hunting in the fields, and follow our dogs around when they were outside. Other than her skin conditions and wheezing, she always had good days. Then one day she most likely had a stroke and her good days ended. We immediately took her to the ER vet and had her euthanized. It was an obvious decision. Most times it is not this obvious.

IMO, you should not feel guilt about not spending a tremendous amount of money to provide cancer treatment to this cat. What I've noticed about feral cats, even semi-feral cats, that the more human intervention you do with them, the higher the likelihood that their condition gets worse instead of better. They may have not chosen the way they are living their lives, but if they've lived that way long enough, they don't always respond well to change. And intervention by a human to treat for cancer is a drastic change.

Euthanizing a cat is never an easy decision, but your decision to do so with this cat needs to consider the thought - is it actually his time? It can sometimes be an easy decision to make if the cat isn't actually yours or you haven't spent a lot of time with them. It sounds like that is where your wife's head is at. But it sounds like you've cared for him long enough to recognize good days and bad days. Are you seeing something that your wife isn't seeing?

You have to make the call on this. If it were me making this decision, I would watch the cat very closely, and when I noticed his quality of life is gone, I would trap him and have him euthanized. I do not like to see any animal suffering. Years ago, when my first cat was terminally ill with cancer, I asked my vet for advice about when do you know its their time. His answer, which I still use to this day was simple: "Are you keeping him alive for you or are you keeping him alive for him?" Get your mind around that question and the answer will guide you.

Thank you for the thoughtful responses. We've never faced anything like this before and there is very little support in the community for dealing with something like this. I remember feeling quite embarrassed when I called the vet and explained that I wanted her to see a cat that I didn't own and that I wasn't sure would be here when she came. She was great, it is just too bad that the diagnosis was terminal.

As for status, he is still eating like a horse, still agile, and as affectionate as a feral cat can be - sort of on his terms and conditions. He is letting my wife clean the crud off his fur but only to a point. We can't clean the wound but he is apparently keeping it clean somehow. He is drinking lots of water and peeing a lot so it could be that kidney problems are beginning but I think it might be symptoms of dehydration from losing subq and bloody fluids.

I've uploaded a picture of white kitty in his prime 4 years ago on one of his elegant perches in our garden (actually its been uploaded to our clever guinea pig's twitter account Sweet Pea). He loved it when we transformed a dead and disused backyard into a lush green garden and began spending most of his time here. And maybe that is what is keeping him going as he still disappears for most of the day into the garden.

I am so happy that this old boy has known some love and a family. Thank you for taking care of him. I agree with others who have said trap and euthanize when the time is right. You will know.