Hair/skin illness, stray kitten

Hi all.

I'm on vacation in southern Italy and while I'm here I have kind of adopted two stray kittens.

One of them, a female, must have a skin illness. Looks bad, and I can tell it must be really painful as well.

Unfortunately I'm in the middle of nowhere, there is no vet around, and I don't have a car nor a carry cage to bring the animal to the vet.

I hope there is something I can do though. Maybe some antibiotic or medicine to put in the food? Does someone have any recommendation?

Here are some photos, if someone could even just identify the illness that would be great. I could search for a vet number and ask for advices with a phone call.

Thank you very much.

ps: looking at the photos (which were taken a couple of days ago) I just realized it's getting worse. The infection or whatever has now spread to the center of the head, which now looks pink too. Please note that I don't have an internet connection, so my replies could be delayed.

I can't offer any expert advice only to say your best bet would be to ask a local for a ride to a vet. As a stray that kitty could have feline AIDS or any number of illnesses
Good luck

Well, it could be mange, in which case I would suspect the other kitten would have it as well though.  If you haven't noticed anything on the other one, then perhaps that's not what it is.  There's another possibility that it's solar dermatitis, but that would be a long shot too, since she's just a kitten, and this is caused by long term exposure to the sun, although it is usually found in white cats .

Sorry, I don't have any recommendations, because either of the above would require a Vet for treatment.

It could be from fleas, my cat used to get bit up by fleas before I got her and she was really scabby when I had her. But I cannot give expert advice. Ask a local who speaks English (if you aren't familiar with the language) where the nearest vet is. And that little condition with her ears isn't a sign of FIV like Elizabeth suggested. One of my cats has FIV.

I believe it is an allergy to fleas; the cat scratches its ears so much they bleed.  I take care of a cat colony, and one of the cats has this. 

Originally I thought maybe the cat was getting scratched when crawling through/under wire fences, but the skin condition disappears in the colder weather.

I know you're in Italy, so I know what you can get is  limited.

But....

You can put Brewer's yeast on your cat's food in powdered form (up to a tsp. a day)
You can also put diatomaceous earth (food grade only) in their food, I'd start with a teaspoon or two a day (Guessing here, the only disadvantage of putting too much in the food is the cats won't like the taste)  And sprinkle D.E. on her lightly as well as anywhere she stays.

You can put  TINY bit of garlic (1/2 clove) in their food, the theory being fleas don't like the smell of garlic.  Caution:  too much garlic is toxic to cats.

Don't worry about the non-affected cat eating some of the D.E. or brewer's yeast, won't hurt them.

Is there any way you can get Frontline/Advantage and put it on the cat?  That's the best way.

Agree, what I was trying to get at with the above poster ^^^

Thanks to everyone taking time to help me, I really appreciate it.

Unfortunately a trip to the vet is out of question, we're in the middle of nowhere with no car and even if I find a ride I got no cage to carry the cat, who would most probably freak out once in the car.

I'm gonna try and get some Frontline or Advantage somewhere, as Ritz suggested (btw thanks a lot man, you've been really helpful).

In the meantime I'm gonna start adding yeast to the food, that's the easiest solution for now.

Just found out she already has two little kittens...too bad I'll be here just 3 more days. I'm gonna properly instruct our landlord (a cat lover, luckily) about all this when we leave.