Sick cat being fed by neighbors

I'm hoping someone can give me advice on this situation. 

I have 3 rescued born-feral kittens now living with us and a wonderful part of our family, plus I am feeding and outdoor sheltering their mom Patience, who is TNR'd and not exactly tame, but making progress.  Folks in a house down the road feed feral and stray cats but do not TNR or otherwise care for them; I am pretty sure one of "their" toms is the father of our kittens  (I made some previous posts about this).

So the latest situation is one of their strays (I don't think he  is actually feral) has started hanging around our yard and front door.  He (I assume as he's a ginger) is obviously sick, nasal discharge, runny eyes, staring coat, getting thinner by they day despite I'm sure they feed him.  I feel terribly sorry for him, he tries to come up to me and ask for help, and part of me wants to feed him and try to care for him.  But, my 3 lovely kittens go outside frequently to play/poop, and mama Patience is mostly outside though now comes inside to eat and have some love.  They all had their shots (rabies, FHV and distemper) when I got them spayed/neutered, but I am terribly worried they will catch something awful from this cat and I don't want to encourage him to come here.

I have tried knocking on the peoples' door to urge them to take the ginger cat to the vet but no one answers, and I work long hours so it is difficult to find a time when they are home.  If I cannot contact them my options now seem to be to try to catch him and get him to the vet, likely a difficult and expensive prospect I can't afford, or call animal control which would likely mean him being put down.  He is not an attractive cat but I hate to see him suffer; and worse be a threat to my cats.  If I don't intervene he may die, and then I would feel terrible for not helping.

So, any  advice ...

If your kids are all vaccinated then the only thing you need to worry about then getting is felv since you have no idea what is going on with the cat other than a nasty uri.

If he has been sick only recently, maybe not,. but if he has been that sick for some time then assume the worst, fiv or felv.

FELV and FIV are commonly transferred via unfixed males from fighting.

As an adult, his immune system should be able to get his uri in check, symptoms should be milder, etc. without antibiotics, however being that sick, I tend to think something else is breaking down his system to where he is unable to fight it off or suppress it.

Leave a note at least, maybe they can't afford medical care, even though they are irresponsible cat owners if this is the case, but it happens.

Perhaps they might even accept help to get him well.

He certainly needs antibiotics, and neutering!

Animal control would be a death sentence for him.

If you find a way to heal this cat, or somehow get rid of it, it will not solve your problem.  There are many stray and feral cats out there, with many, many illnesses and they will cross your path.  If the problem with this kitty is solved, what happens when the next sick one shows up?  And the next?  And the ones you don't see that still are hanging around your home?

It would be nice if you could find a way to help this ill kitty, but ...

As long as you leave your kittens and cats outdoors they are at risk of catching something from somewhere, as will being exposed to many other dangers as well.

The only real way to protect your cats is to keep them indoors.

The life expectancy of an indoor cat is 12-20 years.  For an outdoor cat, 1-5 years.

as your residents and protegée are or was ferales, they are made of tought wood.  They are also more or less used to be exposed to the outside germs and viruses.

thus, the contagion danger, although bigger than null, isnt so big as with home raised cats.

That said, it would be swell if you could help this ginger.  In one way or another.  You or togheterh with these neigbhours (leave a note as someone said).

Here are a tip for cheap spaying clinics.  My guess is, these same clinics can also do most other treatmenst cheaper than most fashionable vets.

cheap  spaying:
If you are in the U.S. ,  the ASPCA has an online database.  http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter

 Or here is a hotline number that will find you a low cost clinic in your area  1-800-248-7729   

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies and the reassurance with contagion.  I may be over-reacting: I have seen this cat around for months and he has not seemed sick before, so maybe it is not too serious, but I will definitely try to make contact with his carers and if necessary offer some help with getting him to a vet.  We don't have an issue with other cats around, Mama Patience is very territorial and keeps them out, but Mr. Ginger seems to be tolerated and our only male, Mr. Patches, shows no signs of fighting with him - when he comes around he just ignores him.   I didn't see him the last few days, but will keep watching.  We do have a reasonably cheap spay/neuter clinic in our area so will encourage that too although maybe he is already fixed. 

thanks everyone for the replies.  I have not seen the ginger cat since I posted and hope he is ok, but I suppose we can't save all the cats in the world. I tried to talk to the folks who feed him but their English is very poor and I'm not sure they understood, even when I said I would help with the cost of neutering and a vet exam, they were not very friendly either.   As to our kits going outside, I understand the concern but they were raised outside and go pretty crazy if confined inside for too long.  I feel it is worth the risk of them going out (mostly just on our property, which is quite large) vs. being restricted  to our small house. It's sometimes a pain to get them in at night but they come eventually when called and snuggle down on the bed with us.  I feel as if it is a quality of life thing, they enjoy playing outside and having the freedom to roam a bit when the weather is mild, while knowing there is home to come to.

Maybe this is a British thing but almost everyone I know lets their cats outside - my mothers cat has been going in and out when he wants all his life and he is 18...

Hi Wildhoneybee

I'm Brit too and was raised with 'indoor/outdoor" cats.  Ours enjoy playing outside so much I can't see depriving them of that freedom. 

wildhoneybee said:

 
Maybe this is a British thing but almost everyone I know lets their cats outside - my mothers cat has been going in and out when he wants all his life and he is 18...

Click to expand...

Yes, I too think it is very common in England, at least in the country small towns and villages and villa areas of bigger towns.  Its even common they even let their purebred siameses and burmas go out.

As I do understand this.  

Well I've had a little progress with the ginger cat.  A few evenings ago I was out shoveling snow and noticed a guy doing the same in the driveway where the little ginger is fed, so I went over and talked with him.  At first he was not very receptive (in fact downright suspicious) and said he would have to talk to his wife (who I talked with before with no success) because she took care of the cat.  No enthusiasm about taking the cat to a vet but he did allow me to look at him and his accommodations.  I was delighted to see that the respiratory infection seems to have cleared up, but the poor little guy's fur was covered in frost and it was easy to see why - the cat box they had provided him on their (uncovered) porch had inside a pillow (cold and frosty) and a small blanket (almost completely frozen).  Obviously they were doing their best but in 20 degree snowy freezing weather this wasn't working.  So I tentatively made the offer that I had some spare straw which would be better than the frozen bedding, and he said "sure, if that will help him be warm", so I rushed back home and grabbed the partial bag of straw I had left from Patience's house and pulled out the icy pillow and blanket (I put them on top of the carrier thinking at least a bit of insulation), stuffed the box with the straw I had (more would be better but it was a decent amount) and put a heavy duty garbage bag over the top of the carrier with some wood I saw on their porch to weigh it down. Well the poor little cat ran immediately into the box (he is quite tame) and starting burrowing away, got settled and started holding my hand with his paws asking for pets (which I gladly gave) and despite being so cold began purring!  Next night I went to check on him and he was in the box, probably not super warm but at least no frost on his fur.  I brought him a can of food (he only seems to have kibble) which he came out and hoovered up.  So, not the best situation but an improvement.

Also on the subject of the mysterious life of our adopted ferals, this is at least one place our Patience goes when she is missing - probably trying to keep this little guy warm and company.  He probably owes his survival in this vicious cold to her body heat helping him out.   That almost makes me reluctant to call her in, but she is our responsibility and he really is not -- but I'm glad to have improved his circumstances a little bit at least.  Trials and tribulations!