injured feral

Hi Willowy,

Geez, Pad wounds can be so serious. Along with possibly being bitten, he may have been stung and needs the stinger out, or stepped on a small nail, shard of wood, anything. If there is anything in there, it really needs to come out, although I totally see your dilemma. If only you could get a big, thick towel, hold all of him in it (head popped out, of course) and bad back paw out and soak it in epsom salts. Once the thing is out if it IS something in his paw, there may be profuse bleeding, so it needs to be cleaned first with soap and water, then hydrogen peroxide, rinsed and then with antibiotic and wrapped carefully (I have the way to wrap if you think you can get that far with him. It can't be too tight.

The pain he's feeling from whatever's going on with his paw isn't going to make him any happier, either {{{sigh}}}. If you are able to start antibiotics such as Clavamox or something simlar right away, that would help with infection that's already going on if he/she's infected already. I'd try some probiotics with that if possible.

If there's infection, never wait for the antibiotics; go for it.

If you have any other questions about pad wounds. let me know! Like how to wrap, etc. Removing item in paw or pad is super important, stopping bleeding with cold water, then cleaning thoroughly and THEN putting antibiotic on before wrapping is super important, too.

Poor baby....................... I'm so sorry!!

Warmly,

Julie O'
Red-Cross Certified in Emergency Dog & Cat First Aid

Well heck, that will help him the best he can be help with his "Cattitude", heh! Poor guy, wanna give him a hug, pain and all. (Even my little Squint, she was on my shoulders the day before nail cuttin' day and I was typing, she started to slip, so it wasn't a scratch, it was her nail sliding down my back........... ai ai aiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!

Have a great evening and hoep you get your buddy fixed up with that Amoxycillin soon! :o)

Julie O'

Hi and sorry your feral is injured. I had a feral barn cat with an injured paw and actually it looked from a distance like the toe was torn a bit. I was not able to trap him and miraculously it healed on it's own. I was finally ale to trap him, but it was after the paw healed. It amazes me how these ferals are able to overcome these issues. The only way to get him help would be to keep trying to trap him. And since he is not TNRd yet, this would be a good time to keep trying. You can give antibiotics in the food, mix in wet food. But does he eat at the same time each day? Is he the only cat that comes to eat? Just want to be sure he will be the one getting the meds if this what you decide is necessary.

If he's in pain, he may be more willing to go into a trap than before. Knock wood, every time one of our ferals has been injured, we've been able to get them trapped.

What about trying a drop trap?

My experience is a hurt or later term pregnant is easier to trap-even the ones you have tried for many times. I would set out some laced food tho I am not sure how many your feeding and if there is a way to see if he gets it. I would set out trap and keep trying for him!

Much, much luck sent your way today as you try to trap this poor kitty. I am sure that foot needs to be looked at. Sending off many good luck trapping vibes today

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll send more tomorrow too!

I'm not sure if you've caught him yet, but I had a feral cat that was live trap shy a couple of months ago. He tried going in it once, but was too big for the trap, and went a week without stepping foot into another trap. I decided that I'd try to make the live trap look more live a cave (put cardboard on the bottom, wrapped the outside in paper, etc.) The next day he was trapped . So maybe if you cover it up and make it look more live a cave, he'll go into it.