My stray cats are sick. What can I do to help?

queenof3 · Sep 5, 2014

The male cat has an eye infection. I've been caring for him since I moved into my current neighborhood, and have noticed eye discharge, usually from the left eye, on/off. I could also see part of his third eyelid and sometimes it looks red. Last month when I noted the discharge, I started to mix lysine powder in his food. I did that one or two times a day and the discharge seemed to have disappeared. But now it's back and I'm beginning to think he might need some medication? I have some fish-mix but I'm not sure what he has, if this antibiotic is appropriate for whatever he has. He's fixed, as his ear is tipped and he's about 6, according the ppl who live on this block.

The other cat is a stray cat. She's very young, not fixed, and was abandoned. She recently had three kittens. I managed to get one adopted. I'm still working on catching the other two, as they both have homes waiting for them. I want to get her fixed once I get the kittens to their permanent homes. Right now the issue is that she has bumps on her ears. They're noticeable bumps. There is no scabbing or bleeding or noticeable irritation.

I wish that I could get both of these cats adopted also, as I'm not going to be in this neighborhood for long. I'd take them in myself but I have four cats. I'm going away to medical school soon and I won't even be around to help my sisters care for our cats, let alone the stray cats. I live on a very anti-cat block. Many times I have to sneak around to feed these two cats and at odd hours, i.e. middle of the night, before the sun comes up. I'm moving out of this neighborhood soon and I feel terrible leaving them behind. When I met Tuxie, the male cat, he was all bones.

So I need tips from you guys.

What should I do about Tuxie's recurring eye discharge?
What could be the bumps on the female cat's ears?
How should i approach this issue of finding the adult cats homes?
Tuxie is very sweet, non-aggressive, non-hissy, and very shy and scared of ppl.
The female cat is all black (people for some reason don't like black cats; one of her kittens is black and I had to search high and low to find him a family). She's sweet, likes ppl very much and not shy or scared. Many don't like her because she asks everyone passing by for food, and rubs on their legs, and crowds their path.

Thank you for bearing with me. Any help is much much appreciated.

Here are two pictures of Tuxie I took this afternoon. The brown under his mouth is food-he just finished eating.

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ondine · Sep 5, 2014

Tuxie may need to see a vet for the infection. It may be more than l-lysine and fish-mox can handle.

The female needs to be spayed as soon as possible. She may already be pregnant. As she is friendly, might one of the potential adopters also take her? Worth asking.

Thank you for helping them. I have four black cats and always wonder why people don't adopt them. Two are so friendly, they're more like dogs. The other two are basically sweethearts who are just shy.

queenof3 · Sep 5, 2014

Ondine said:
Tuxie may need to see a vet for the infection. It may be more than l-lysine and fish-mox can handle.

The female needs to be spayed as soon as possible. She may already be pregnant. As she is friendly, might one of the potential adopters also take her? Worth asking.

Thank you for helping them. I have four black cats and always wonder why people don't adopt them. Two are so friendly, they're more like dogs. The other two are basically sweethearts who are just shy.

I myself took in two black kittens from the street who may have been lost. They're so sweet and like cuddling and resting in our laps. I can't imagine life without them. A local police officer told me that ppl bring in black cats to shelters all the time, and they are the least likely to get adopted and as a result most euthanized. I don't why ppl are so superstitious?

I would have to buy a cage to trap Tuxie to bring him to the vet. I've been trying to find someone who may be involved in local TNR program. Tuxie is from this neighborhood and since he's fixed, I thought he might have been part of someone's colony. I can't seem to find anyone around here. I definitely don't want to ignore this issue but I was hoping there was something I could do without trapping him. I don't want to lose his trust. Since I want to get him adopted, I thought I should trap him when I find someone so we could do his vet visit plus trip to new home all at once. So confused.

I want to get the black cat fixed once her kittens have been adopted. I don't think she's pregnant. She's still with her kittens. I'm just curious what the bumps on her ears could be from?

queenof3 · Sep 5, 2014

I dont get it...what do i have to do to get more people to reply?

playerdark · Sep 6, 2014

If you have to trap Tuxie then you may have to do it. I have the same problem with an outdoor cat that lives in our garden and was a feral cat. it took me nearly two years to be able touch her. I will take her to the vet for the first time this year for vaccination and I am also delaying it because I dont want to traumatize her, but I will certainly do it. But if your cat is hurt, you should do it rather sooner than later.

As for finding a home, maybe you copy flyers and hang them from lamp posts like people do for other purposes. Hang one on the black board in grocery stores etc.

ondine · Sep 6, 2014

Most of our advisors have experience in one or two areas, so the people who know about health issues may not have seen your post. You can try posting in the Health Forum. Maybe others will see it there.

msaimee · Sep 6, 2014

My feral had a serious eye infection and upper respiratory infection two winters ago that was verging on pneumonia. I tried getting him inside my house and trapping him, but he's been trapped before and wouldn't come inside my house. I took pictures of his eye and emailed them to the vet I use for my ferals and she prescribed liquid Orbax--an antibiotic that has no taste or scent, and only needs to be given once daily. I put it in his food every day for 10 days, and it saved his eye and his life. If you have a vet you regularly use, I advise you call her or him today and explain your situation. Take pictures of the cat's eye and email or text them to her. Eye infections are very serious, so if you can't trap the cat to get it to the vet, beg your vet to prescribe the antibiotics! Orbax is pricey--about forty dollar a bottle--but the problem with the cheaper antibiotics (liquid pink Amoxycillin and the pills) is that most cats won't voluntarily ingest them, and they add a nasty flavor to the food. But if this is all you can afford, then get some and try putting it in something like tuna fish. If you can't find a vet to prescribe the antibiotics, you can give fish antibiotics to a cat and you can google it and find out the appropriate dose for a cat. Anything course of action at this point will be better than none.

red top rescue · Sep 6, 2014

QueenOf3 said:
I dont get it...what do i have to do to get more people to reply?

Please be patient with us, @QueenOf3, believe it or not, even the Advisors on TCS are volunteers, not employees, and we aren't on here on any schedule, we come by to answer questions as much as we can because we love cats and we care and want to help, and most of us do it more than we should, i.e. when we should be cleaning our houses or something! Myself, I need to be off to Petco for adoption s from 3 to 5 so I can't stay around right now. I saw this post and think there have been some good answers so far. I agree with @MsAimee about tuxie's eye, but I have had no problems with them taking the Fish-Mox (not pink) which is a powder you just open the capsules and put in their food. First dose is a double loading dose, so 1/2 of a 250 mg. tablet, then 1/4 of a 250 mg. tablet twice a day for at least a week, 10 days is better. That's amoxicillin, a very good broad spectrum antibiotic. Fish-Mox can be purchased here at my feed store for $23 for a bottle of 100 tablets. (It's behind the counter and you have to ask for it). You may be able to find it where you live also. If not, it can be found on some of the internet sites. It's exactly the same as the human amoxicillin -- have taken it myself several times.

red top rescue · Sep 6, 2014

PS -- have you tried RescueMe.org? It's got it's own dot com web site and is on Facebook also. You can post free ads.

queenof3 · Sep 6, 2014

Hi. I'm sorry for my explicit frustration. It's just that I'm emotionally overwhelmed. I love these cats but the neighborhood treats them badly. I have little to no support. I'm worried sick. The winter is going to come and I can't even offer them shelter

Anyway, thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate the time you guys devote to helping ppl on this site. It has made a ton of difference in the lives of my own cats so thank you from the bottom of my heart :rbheart:

I have fish-mox, but it's the pink and red capsule. The bottle says one capsule is 250mg. Is it ok for me to use this particular color of amoxicillin? I'm going to mix it in his food but I just wanted to confirm that it's ok before doing it.

Thanks

queenof3 · Sep 6, 2014

MsAimee said:
My feral had a serious eye infection and upper respiratory infection two winters ago that was verging on pneumonia. I tried getting him inside my house and trapping him, but he's been trapped before and wouldn't come inside my house. I took pictures of his eye and emailed them to the vet I use for my ferals and she prescribed liquid Orbax--an antibiotic that has no taste or scent, and only needs to be given once daily. I put it in his food every day for 10 days, and it saved his eye and his life. If you have a vet you regularly use, I advise you call her or him today and explain your situation. Take pictures of the cat's eye and email or text them to her. Eye infections are very serious, so if you can't trap the cat to get it to the vet, beg your vet to prescribe the antibiotics! Orbax is pricey--about forty dollar a bottle--but the problem with the cheaper antibiotics (liquid pink Amoxycillin and the pills) is that most cats won't voluntarily ingest them, and they add a nasty flavor to the food. But if this is all you can afford, then get some and try putting it in something like tuna fish. If you can't find a vet to prescribe the antibiotics, you can give fish antibiotics to a cat and you can google it and find out the appropriate dose for a cat. Anything course of action at this point will be better than none.

You're so lucky to have helped him. Last year one of my stray cats died from pneumonia. She showed up with a wound one day on her side. I called my regular vet and he said I had to bring her in, but I couldn't trap her. So I started putting a triple action antibiotic ointment on the wound twice a day. The wound started healing up very nicely and the missing hair came back too. I had no idea the problem could be much deeper. I ordered the fish-mox from an online store and planned to give her but since the wound was healing so nicely I decided against it. What a huge mistake that was because she paid with her life! She took a huge chunk of my heart when she left. She was my teacher. Since then i do not take things lightly.

I have fish-mox at the moment. I'm going to try it. If he doesn't show improvement I'll have to call up a vet and plead with him/her to help me.

Thanks for your advice and sharing your story.

queenof3 · Sep 6, 2014

Red Top Rescue said:
PS -- have you tried RescueMe.org? It's got it's own dot com web site and is on Facebook also. You can post free ads.

No I haven't, but I will look into it. Thanks so much!

queenof3 · Sep 6, 2014

So I gave him 1/2 of 250mg to start the medication. He only ate half of his food

I'm going to feed him again around 12 midnight. Should I add a 1/4 of 250mg to his food then since he ate only half the food now? Or is it better to wait until the morning? I feed him again at 5 in the morning.

Thanks.

red top rescue · Sep 7, 2014

Not sure what you did, I ended up dealing with emergencies all day, then crashing, waking up at 2 AM to finish cat duties etc. Either wy, giving him more or not, would have been fine. Also, it doesn't have to be exactly every 12 hours, so if you need to give him smaller doses and feed mre often, as long as you keep is blood level up that's fine. Dosing usually has to do with how long the drug stays at the optimum level in the bloodstream. The drugs that require every 12 hours start to fade in 12 hours. You could do the same combined dosage over 24 hours by giving half as much 4 times a day etc. However, giving twice as much only ONCE a day would not work as the levels would drop after 12 hours. Understanding that makes it easier to dose cats according to their particular behavior patterns. Also I'm not sure if your guy might not have herpes, so you could also add l-lysine to all of their food. It tastes like salt, you can get it in powder form or in tablets or capsules. I get a capsule form from Kroger health section (they dont carry it in the regular vitamin section) and those are easy to open and mix with food, and I take them myself also to prevent herpes outbreaks. I have actually had a herpes eye ulcer!

catsallaround · Sep 7, 2014

Being he has fight wounds I would have him tested for FIV. If he is positive that is not an automatic death sentence. I personally euthanized a FIV cat not long ago but he was having more issues then he had at the start. His breathing was becoming labored and he could not eat comfortably anymore.

If you have Petco some(all?) do shot clinics and they offer testing by me for $39 and $3 medical fee. Low cost spay clinics or the shelter may also do the same in your area. Petco takes a week or so for results.

bonepicker · Sep 7, 2014

QueenOf3 said:
The male cat has an eye infection. I've been caring for him since I moved into my current neighborhood, and have noticed eye discharge, usually from the left eye, on/off. I could also see part of his third eyelid and sometimes it looks red. Last month when I noted the discharge, I started to mix lysine powder in his food. I did that one or two times a day and the discharge seemed to have disappeared. But now it's back and I'm beginning to think he might need some medication? I have some fish-mix but I'm not sure what he has, if this antibiotic is appropriate for whatever he has. He's fixed, as his ear is tipped and he's about 6, according the ppl who live on this block.

The other cat is a stray cat. She's very young, not fixed, and was abandoned. She recently had three kittens. I managed to get one adopted. I'm still working on catching the other two, as they both have homes waiting for them. I want to get her fixed once I get the kittens to their permanent homes. Right now the issue is that she has bumps on her ears. They're noticeable bumps. There is no scabbing or bleeding or noticeable irritation.

I wish that I could get both of these cats adopted also, as I'm not going to be in this neighborhood for long. I'd take them in myself but I have four cats. I'm going away to medical school soon and I won't even be around to help my sisters care for our cats, let alone the stray cats. I live on a very anti-cat block. Many times I have to sneak around to feed these two cats and at odd hours, i.e. middle of the night, before the sun comes up. I'm moving out of this neighborhood soon and I feel terrible leaving them behind. When I met Tuxie, the male cat, he was all bones.

So I need tips from you guys.

What should I do about Tuxie's recurring eye discharge?
What could be the bumps on the female cat's ears?
How should i approach this issue of finding the adult cats homes?
Tuxie is very sweet, non-aggressive, non-hissy, and very shy and scared of ppl.
The female cat is all black (people for some reason don't like black cats; one of her kittens is black and I had to search high and low to find him a family). She's sweet, likes ppl very much and not shy or scared. Many don't like her because she asks everyone passing by for food, and rubs on their legs, and crowds their path.

Thank you for bearing with me. Any help is much much appreciated.

Here are two pictures of Tuxie I took this afternoon. The brown under his mouth is food-he just finished eating.

View media item 236780
View media item 236781

Ask your vet to give you an oral antibiotic to put in food. It looks pink like pepto that is what my vet gave me for ferals also I put oral flea treatment in their food,

queenof3 · Sep 7, 2014

catsallaround said:
Being he has fight wounds I would have him tested for FIV. If he is positive that is not an automatic death sentence. I personally euthanized a FIV cat not long ago but he was having more issues then he had at the start. His breathing was becoming labored and he could not eat comfortably anymore.

If you have Petco some(all?) do shot clinics and they offer testing by me for $39 and $3 medical fee. Low cost spay clinics or the shelter may also do the same in your area. Petco takes a week or so for results.

I don't see fight wounds. It's possible he's had fights in the past and maybe he has FIV, but he's very healthy at this point, aside from the eye issue he's having now. When I met him in April, he was pretty bony, but he's put on considerable amount of weight. I have to buy a cage and start doing some real work for these cats, I guess.

queenof3 · Sep 7, 2014

Red Top Rescue said:
Not sure what you did, I ended up dealing with emergencies all day, then crashing, waking up at 2 AM to finish cat duties etc. Either wy, giving him more or not, would have been fine. Also, it doesn't have to be exactly every 12 hours, so if you need to give him smaller doses and feed mre often, as long as you keep is blood level up that's fine. Dosing usually has to do with how long the drug stays at the optimum level in the bloodstream. The drugs that require every 12 hours start to fade in 12 hours. You could do the same combined dosage over 24 hours by giving half as much 4 times a day etc. However, giving twice as much only ONCE a day would not work as the levels would drop after 12 hours. Understanding that makes it easier to dose cats according to their particular behavior patterns. Also I'm not sure if your guy might not have herpes, so you could also add l-lysine to all of their food. It tastes like salt, you can get it in powder form or in tablets or capsules. I get a capsule form from Kroger health section (they dont carry it in the regular vitamin section) and those are easy to open and mix with food, and I take them myself also to prevent herpes outbreaks. I have actually had a herpes eye ulcer!

I gave him 1/4 of 250mg amoxicillin 12 hours later. Thanks for this very useful information. I'm going to feed him smaller portions more often so I can get enough medicine in him. He usually doesn't finish his meals to the bottom of the bowl. I bought a large bottle of l-lysine powder a few months ago and have used it for him. About two months ago, I noticed yellowish discharge from this same eye so I started giving hi lysine mixed in his food and it seemed to help him. Maybe he has herpes, but other than the eye issue, i dnt see any other signs. He spends all day in my land lady's backyard so i see him throughout the day. He has no coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge, just this eye issue.

Is it ok to supplement the lysine in meals not containing his antibiotics, or could I add the lysine in every meal. The bottle says to add 1/4 of a teaspoon. I don't want to upset his stomach and cause other problems.

He's really a sweetie. Thanks for telling me about the rescue me.org site. I've already checked it out. Once his eye clears up i will take some photos and post an ad there. I'm hearing this winter is going to be just as brutal as the last. Something is already stirring in the North Pole. I'd hate to leave him out.

Regarding the other female cat, I met her owners! The woman told me she left the cat out here because her landlord didnt allow cats. Now she wants to take her back. They could've at least gotten her fixed before leaving her like that. It's so sad. She's very beautiful and friendly. I hope they take her back.

bonepicker · Sep 7, 2014

You can but TNR traps online, many cities rent them out, gander mountain sells them. You have to stop the females from breeding before you are overwhelmed, believe me when I say that feeding without spay and neuter is worse than not feeding at all, that is how fast they multiply.

queenof3 · Sep 7, 2014

bonepicker said:
You can but TNR traps online, many cities rent them out, gander mountain sells them. You have to stop the females from breeding before you are overwhelmed, believe me when I say that feeding without spay and neuter is worse than not feeding at all, that is how fast they multiply.

Yes, I realize the growing population crisis. I mainly want to help because I hate seeing them living on the street in all sorts of weather, and not having food and shelter. The female had three kittens. Two have been adopted. I'm still trying to catch number 3. Once he's caught I'll get her fixed. I met someone on the block today who also takes care of cats and is involved in getting them adopted. She told me she'd help me out. I think this female cat is adoptable. She is VERY FRIENDLY. The problem is she is all black and ppl dnt want black cats. Kitten number 3 is also all black and I had a very hard time finding him a home.

The female cat has noticeable bumps on her ears. They're not irritated or inflamed. Is she having an allergic reaction to something? She hangs out in the backyard and it's a jungle back there with all sorts of plants growing and Mosquitos and bugs.

My stray cats are sick. What can I do to help?

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