Running Nose

the neighborhood stray has developed a running nose for more than a month. eats regularly but gets very messy.  wont let us come nea. what can we get to help him get over it?

If he eats wet food, you can try adding l-lysine to it.  It will help boost his immune system.

But have you tried catching/trapping him for a vet check?  If this is an upper respiratory infection he's really sick.  He will need anti-biotics.

I would be inclined to try and trap him and get him to a vet.  You also could then check to see if he/she has been spayed or neutered.  Lysine will help boost his immunity, but if he has a URI infection he may be antibiotics.  Have you noticed if his eyes are runny too? 

No runny eyes.... just his nose runs alot.  trapping him is next to impossible. plus the local vet is VERY expensive

I used to have a great vet who would write a script for antibiotics and I could fill it at the human pharmacy for $4. Unfortunately he has retired. I would video and audio record the stray on my phone and go to his office and beg for a script. I tried and tried to trap a sick stray I knew to no avail. It's technically no different than internet doctors was my argument to him. It worked. Though it is not the correct way of administrating antibiotics I'd put the liquid antibiotic in tuna and feed it to the stray. He got better. If you can trap him and pay the exam fee you can probably get away with the human low cost version of the antibiotic. If not I would video and audio record the cat and beg your ASPCA vet or a private one you know to write you a script. If all else fails is there anyway you can keep him in maybe a screen room and try to warm him up? I assume it's cold where you are.