Sick cats, not sure what it may be. Vet appointment scheduled.

The SPCA isn't very helpful here. Some volunteers don't seem very friendly nor helpful. They apparently don't have the resources or funding to be able to assist with anything. They can't take in animals, they can't assist with finding rescue groups or homes to take them. Trying to do the right thing and get the ferals in for spay/neuter to cut down on the feral population is met with difficulty. I took two male cats in under their discount barn cat program where student vets perform the spay/neuter and shots. We were told at first they would have openings for males in February but couldn't get females in until March. They changed they to say they couldn't do male or female until March. Now they claim they are booked and can't do any until April. They shut off messaging via their Facebook page so calling in is the only option.

I've been caring for six feral kittens since late last year. Once the weather was turning cold and they were having trouble finding food they started to gravitate towards me for food and shelter. It started out with two of the male ferals following me back to my place and running inside. I think they tipped off other kittens from the same colony because I suddenly had four other show up and run inside. They could smell food inside I had out for my two cats. From there it became an endless battle of trying to chase cats out, get one out and another runs in. I opened my door and a cat runs it. They are so smart they will hide out of sight and stalk outside the doors until one opened. I tried to trick them by going to my back door but they wisened to that, heard me walking to my back door and would run to that.

I had to do something. No one would help. SPCA couldn't take them, animal control nor the health department or disease control could do anything. I decided I'd take them in to provide food and shelter, litter train them and work on socializing them to find them homes. I would also get them spayed/neutered in the meantime and vet checkups if they needed to go to the vet.

I've been doing this out of pocket with no assistance. The barn cat program was supposed to alleviate some of the burden as paying the regular price of $50 plus a cat is waaay to much because I not only have to currently get four ferals spayed/neutered I have two male cats of my own I have to do. Due to difficulty getting openings at the SPCA one of the female ferals is showing signs of pregnancy.

Case in point. I can't rely on the SPCA to assist. My mother suggested setting up a GoFundMe for donations but I feel there's not enough exposure to net any donations as I don't have a lavish social life and very few friends. I don't feel right or comfortable asking random strangers for donations. So I pay out of pocket if I can. Me and my mother have discussed splitting costs to get cats done at the normal price. Once these kittens are done and out of here I plan on doing TNR of the few other ferals, specifically the females that would get pregnant. The feral males far outweigh the females so it makes sense to get the females in. I shall see if the SPCA has openings for next month, it's gonna have to be for male and female and more than two cats. 

I apologize for bumping. Since getting to the vet is difficult for me due to transportation what diagnosis fits the described symptoms? I'm curious if there's a way to treat and heal the eye without getting to the vet such as any over the counter stuff? I'm going to try my best to find a ride to the vet, I'll ask the neighbor here but don't know what his plans are tomorrow. The office visits gonna cost me $25 not counting any shots or medication and surgeries. My parents cat had milder conjunctivitis if it's conjunctivitis this cat has and it cost my parents little over $60. My parents cats eyes didn't fully heal until he got a uti, they took him in and the vet gave him something better/stronger than Amoxicillin.

For feral cats, New York has a slew of low cost spay/neuter options. For your particular colony, and your own 2 young males, invest in neutering (castrating) all the males first. For wild populations of horses, deer, beavers, etc as well as domesticated species such as cats and dogs sterilizing the males has always been more effective means of population control by any management program. I've done it for the all the above mentioned species, and then some, and it is the most cost-effective, and fastest, effective means of getting an out of control population Under Control.

Sounds like you have utilized the Finger Lakes SPCA already, so programs that are solely low cost spay and neuter programs, or specifically TNR programs, are your best bet. $25 is very economical for castration, so unlikely the other programs will be this low cost. Dogged determination with the Auburn location, rescheduling as often as they need you to and taking the soonest available day with multiple openings, hiring a cabbie, loading 4 carriers, and taking one trip to minimize your travel cost may be your best option for your area. Project Catnip at the Bath location is $35 for neuter w/ RV http://www.fingerlakesspca.org/neuter.php  $40 at Waterloo http://www.beverlyanimalshelteronline.com/SOS--Low-Cost-Spay---Neuter.html

TNR programs notch the ears of all cats they alter, so if you don't want your 2 males that live indoors notched, you'll need to pay more for them to get neutered elsewhere. Since it sounds like controlling the outdoor cats' coming in, and possibly your cats going out, is difficult, ear notching might be best, in case a stranger ever saw them patrolling the neighborhood. Any animal control officer or veterinary professional that saw them would automatically know they're castrated, from a distance, without closely examining them.

Cats don't get pinkeye, and don't spread an eye infection the way children do. Buddy may have an ocular ulcer. If no corneal abrasion or ulcer, then conjuctivitis secondary to herpesvirus flare-up is the second most likely cause of his recurring red, swollen eye. We use tobramycin opthalmic drops for both, and erythromycin ointment for herpesvirus, both of which are prescriptions available on the $4 and $10 lists. If he's been seen by a vet in the last 2 months they may call this Rx in to a pharmacy and you can pick up to treat his eye. From all your posts I can't discern if he's actually been to a vet yet.  He and any cats he's around should have 500mg L-lysine twice daily. Viralys powder and paste is OTC, and has the lysine advertised on the label. Chews may be more palatable for the cats that refuse bated food. Optixcare and Vetriscience make tasty treats but they aren't as cost-effective as the powder and paste. lysine limits viral replication, so Buddy should stay on it, since he had flare-ups so close together. Other cats should discontinue a week after resolved symptoms. Herpesvirus cats stay on it. Any cat about to endure stress, such as traveling or going to vets, should start it 2 days prior to stress-inducing event and continue at least 7 days after.

Nebulization therapy, poorman's method being steamy bathroom, also helps with any ocular and nasal congestion, easing inflammation and promoting drainage. Ten to fifteen minutes 4-5 times a day helps open nostrils, trachea, and maintain appetite. Meat baby food buffet is a prime option for inappetance. If willing to eat, canned food mixed with extra water, offered fresh 4x/day will help maintain hydration while the daily moisture requirement is higher during illness. Antibiotics are started if a cat has a history of bacterial rhinitis secondary to herpesvirus, or once green discharge is noted, continuing for at least 7 days, often upwards of 3 weeks.

Having a good consistent relationship with a small, regular day practice veterinarian can be a great value for viral flare ups, so you can just call them, and they can prescribe meds and recommendations via phone/email without seeing your cat(s) again. But that initial exam and consistent annual are important to maintain such a client/patient/doctor relationship.

Deworming prior to future planned surgery can limit your expenses once at the low cost clinic. Strongid or Nemex dewormer, 1mL per 5lb as any cat, even indoor only, can have intestinal parasitic worms. Every 2 weeks for 3 doses can ensure you cover the life cycle of rounds and hooks. Tapeworms need different class dewormer, with praziquantel, such as TapeTabs, topical Rx Profender, Rx Droncit or Drontal tabs.

I've worked for many hospitals that would work with clients to control a feral cat population, and we'd offer just those clients' colony cats a deeply discounted alter surgery rate. Research your local vets on yelp and neighborhood listservs, ask who the rescue programs use, etc and compare costs, service reputation, and feline vet med knowledge. Some aren't comfortable handling unvaccinated scared feral cats, or don't have the staff/equipment to do so. Some staff don't know how to open box traps commonly used by TNR feral cat colony managers.

While you have them there for neutering, getting any cats over 6 months age tested via the SNAP FeLV/FIV test would be valuable information.  Getting as much done as possible in a single visit seems best since your transport is limited, and you may not be able to catch them again after the stress of their first transport and vetting experience. For colonies, most people managing it get a single littermate tested, for cost-effective diagnosing. IF one is positive, they hold on investing in altering that litter, and many opt to euthanize an infected litter, so the infectious disease is contained and culled from the current population. If you don't know the FIV/FeLV status of colony cats, they should stay out, separate from your own indoor cats.

^ Thank you. I'm going to be asking the neighbor to help me get buddy to the vet tomorrow so I'm hoping he can swing it. The appointment isn't until later in the afternoon tomorrow. If not I can try asking another friend to help with transportation. The problem with cabs is they charge me $40 to $50 round trip to come out here not counting extra cost if I have to stop at a bank or ATM. When I wanted to go out one day one cab company kept me waiting four hours before telling me they didn't have anyone to come out here. Thank goodness that day I didn't have any appointments and was going out at my leisure. My father is my main option of transportation and I give him or their neighbor gas money to take me places.

I'm going to be calling the Fingerlakes SPCA tomorrow to see about openings for April. I was going to get the females in since theres very few females compared to so many males. The other cats seem fine as far as I can tell except a mild cold with some sniffling or sneezing. One of the feral kittens that have been neutered was sick with a respiratory infection or cold a couple months back and I helped nurse him back to health. I'd get them all tested but am trying to find any place that can assist in alleviating costs and as far as I'm aware no vet in the area can offer payment arrangements. I am going to be taking them to the same vet as my parents take their cats as all the vets within the city are far too expensive. The local SPCA doesn't have any vets on staff and anywhere else is out of the way and more expensive to go by cab.

I've made so much progress with socializing these feral cats. The initial two that I already got neutered I can pet and get up close to them, they are receptive of petting and purr. One of the cats Oreo gets in bed with me even though he doesn't stay long, he'll get on my chest and roll over. The other feral male Milkdud took a while but he recently came around, I can pet him and he'll purr. He's a tad bit skittish still especially when I get up close to his face. I nearly fell over when he got up in my lap so I could pet him, he also likes rubbing against my legs. The females were are the most difficult but they're slowly trusting me more. I'm able to pet them and even get them to purr, they don't run or hiss and spit like they used to. You know when a feral trusts you when they let you kiss them  and scratch their bellies lol. I'm trying to gt them used to other human contact, they run when anyone else comes in or they try to pet them. Except Oreo since he's a glutton for attention now.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with the one that may be pregnant. I'm going to have to try putting an ad in the paper for the kittens when they're ready. Pretty sure she is pregnant, she went into heat and got back outside. She disappeared for a few days and examining her backside something seemed different, I had initially examined them to determine their sex. Her belly is getting wider and her teats are protruding.

Few of them had human contact over the summer, my mom would pet them when she put food out for them. Buddy was one of the first or the first to come around so he's kind of special and he's a pretty boy. I wish I had a good camera so I could snap a picture and post it. Any pictures would come out very grainy or blurry.

This is better than them being taken and dropped somewhere. The landlord here was done dealing with feral cats and the problem was only going to grow. I had to save a kitten from being killed, they were going to trap him for rabies testing. He didn't have rabies it was the fault of the husband of the landlord for grabbing a feral cat by the tail, you just don't do that to any cat and especially not a feral. That particular cat is with me and doing well, he is one of the feral males that came around more recently and is becoming very affectionate.

I have to try reaching out to the SPCA, one for getting more cats in and another for help locating a cat that disappeared in October last year. I tried reaching out to them back then but they had a personal Facebook account rather than a private page for businesses/organizations. They never responded to my friend request or messages. I had asked everyone around here I could think of and no one seen him or knew what happened to him. There was no evidence he was killed as someone would have found him in the road unless there was a wild animal but that's doubtful. I'm afraid and constantly worry his brother Midnight is going to come up missing but they were indoor/outdoor cats so it's hard to keep them inside. I tried reaching out the the SPCA again by sending a Facebook message only to find out they disabled messaging. Mentioning something in a comment hasn't been responded to yet nor has directly posting to their page. I think I'm not going to be able to get through to them unless I call.

I'll keep everyone posted on Buddy after I get him into the vet. Crossing my fingers I can find a ride tomorrow so I don't have to pay $50+ for a cab.

Edit: The SPCA did not explain to me about clipping their ear. I was shocked when I noticed Thor's ear after he got neutered and thought he got into a fight outside and I was just noticing the ear then. Oreo's ear didn't looked clipped, only last night I became aware of ear clipping after coming across an article that with TNR they clip the ear for the ferals. Upon closer examination today it does look like Oreo's was clipped, they clipped a bit too much off Thor's ear so it was more noticeable.

Because female cats stay in heat until mated, and tomcats will come from 5 miles away to get to a female in heat, with cats, I feel it's better to spay the females first. With other species who have more limited heat periods and who are less mobile, castrating the males might be an effective population control technique, but in my experience, there will always be a tomcat who will find a female cat in heat, even if you think all the males in the area are fixed :/. Unless you live on a sparsely-populated island or on a farm 10 miles from anywhere, it's not likely that fixing the males will prevent the females from getting pregnant.

And, yes, any female who has been outdoors/near a tomcat will almost certainly be pregnant this time of year. So you are going to have to formulate a plan for that. If the kitty isn't too far along, a spay/abort may be best. If she's too far along, try to find a way to keep her indoors until the babies are weaned and she's spayed. Cats can get pregnant again very soon after giving birth and you don't want it to turn into a never-ending cycle.

TO crazycatfellow:

Try using the internet more.

There are groups on the internet who offer help with animal transport.  And, feral cat groups, who can help with resources, advice, and more (eg. Transport, if they're nearby).

They don't have to be in your area - to give advice.

There are also groups that will help with Food, Vet financing, etc.  It's good to become familiar with these groups before you really need them, to understand how they operate.

It's good to "get in the loop" with other rescue people. 

Keep up the good work!

Jackie

PS:  For your SPCA $10 neuters - maybe you could bring cats in under different names (eg.  Yours, Your Mother's, Your friends).

They may be allowed to do this.

To Willowy:

Feline Leukemia is very contagious.  There are SOME cats who are naturally resistant to it.  But, most are not.

Any cat sharing Food, Water, Litter, Saliva (even sneezes), etc. with a Leuk-Positive cat - is at risk of contracting it.

Please research this more thoroughly.

Jackie

^ Thanks. I'm not sure there's anyone around here though. Certainly not the SPCA. The problem with the SPCA is they do not have the resources or funding nor any vets on staff. I could get cats in but there needs to be openings, they claim they are booked. Me and my mother looked into rescue groups, my mother tried reaching out without a response or told they couldn't help. Not sure where else to look.

I've searched the net. The area is not that big, the city itself is more like a larger village than a city and I live eight miles outside the nearest city and village. I'm always online, it's just a matter of nothing turning up when looking around. I live in CNY, Cayuga county.

The other cats are fine. Just a bit of sneezing due to a cold or allergies. Buddy is the only one in need of vet care right now, money is not so much the issue as a way to get there is. He is not contagious as none of the other cats have contracted what he has. My guess that makes any sense is he was in a scuff with another cat and got an infection. Like I said it was dark out so I couldn't tell it was him involved in the fight I broke up back then. He was fine the previous day and after that fight he contracted this. I've been doing all I could for him, hopefully the neighbor is able to bring me to the appointment tomorrow.

Sterilizing males is less expensive, less invasive, and one male can father many litters in a single day, versus a female produces one litter per 2 months, thus males are targeted to control a population. A spay/neuter clinic can fit many castrations in the time alotted for a single spay, so we do many of these per hour than spays.

Castration uses less supplies as well as time, and no intubation, thus such less cost and faster recovery;  females have general anesthesia and a large abdominal incision, so pain management, as well as surgical time and supplies, lead to a double cost per head compared to castration.  They will need confinement post-op more than the males, to ensure their abdominal incisions stay closed and pedicles that are ligated don't slip out of their suture knots and hematomas/seromas form. Males have an open castration incision over their scrotum, just a tiny skin laceration that needs to heal, versus every layer of abdominal wall is cut and needs to slowly heal in female spay surgeries. Males are less restricted, can easily come and go to eat while still outside in their colony, with easy postop care.

If you only have 2 females though, and 4 males, and don't live in an urban area where more females won't join the colony fast, increasing your odds for a litter with so many males present, invest in spaying the girls first if you prefer. Spaying a pregnant female has a slightly higher cost than non-pregnant due to increased surgical time and more ligation of vessels needed. If you are going to wait for the litter to come, and her to wean them in 8 weeks, castrating the others in the next 4 weeks is best. Keeping her and the litter separate from males will be necessary until they're weaned if you don't want her fertilized during that time by a male. If she can't be isolated from males, she'll wind up with back to back litters, and endless cycle of "waiting" for her to be clear of nursing and in utero litters.

If you can neuter 3 males for the cost of spaying one female ($35 neuter vs $100 spay at the largest resource I posted above), doing the males first will be your best option, especially if the clinic schedule allows this sooner than waiting for the 2nd female to clear her litter.

Kitten season is coming soon and you'll want to get all of them done either by May or after August, as the schedule will be booked months in advance during kitten season this spring/summer.  Care Credit is accepted by many clinics, and you can apply online for a limit. The first 6 months are interest free. It's another payment option that won't limit you to only the funds you have available at present, with affordable minimum payments. Many clients have been approved when they thought their credit score too low. It's worth a try.

I have a ride to the vet. Have to stop and withdraw cash, this vet doesn't take debit or credit and only cash or check. Will update everyone on his diagnosis and regular updates on his status.

Hello, got back from the vet. Diagnosis is an ulcerated eye. It didn't seem that bad at first and up until the weekend seemed okay. Something happened when he was outside that worsened it. Vet said some kind of secondary trauma, glad I got him in once it started getting worse. Wish I was able to get him in before but my friend never responded. Neighbor didn't seem too happy about taking me but paid gas money.

Eye or the cornea was bulging and the inside of the eye was pushing outward or something like that. Vet said best case scenario is he recovers and is partially blind out of that one eye. Worse case is either permanent blindness out of that one eye or surgery to remove the eye if it gets too bad. He wants Buddy back for a second check up in a couple weeks.

Not in a good mood. My cat Midnight has been missing since this morning. He was lying on the railing of my deck watching something this morning. I tried to call him in but he wouldn't budge. I lied back down to sleep a bit longer and haven't seen him since then. I'm so worried because his brother Tiger vanished back in October without a trace. Midnight is just too affectionate to lose as well, me and him bonded so he is essentially mine or is it the other way lol. No other cats cuddles with me like him and he even grooms my face so I don't have to! lol.

The vet gave me something called clavamox (I think) for the eye and some kind of gel or ointment to put in the eye. How long is it going to take for the eye to heal? Will the bulge heal and go down? Will his eye ever look like a normal eye again. What are the chances he will retain or regain any of his vision? I'm wondering too if he'll have color in his eye or will his eye be glazed over or cloudy? Will the redness go away?

I can only guess he was in a scruff with another neighborhood cat. It was dark out so hard for me to accurately make out that it was him. It could be coincidence but that fight coincides with when he contracted this. Previous day he was fine, the next he contracted this. The one eye healed, I wonder why the other didn't?

Vet mentioned something about secondary trauma. Vet didn't mention what could have caused this, if there was an infection or what.

For being feral kittens/cats they are easy to handle. I think the SPCA and vet didn't believe they were feral for this reason but I was telling them the truth. These cats don't really put up much of a fight to give them medicine. My parents cats that weren't feral are really difficult and even impossible to give medication to. It's really surprising and my mother can't believe how easy it is for me to give them medicine.

Hello, anyone know what I've asked above about his eye? I hope it heals up and the bulging goes away. I hope his eye returns to normals and retains some vision. In a worse case scenario would they completely remove the eye or would there be some kind of surgery they could do? How much does such surgery run? The vet I took him to is fairly decent with prices but he told my parents they would have to take their cat elsewhere if their cat needed to have his eye removed. My parents cat is partially blind since he was a kitten, his eyes are cloudy and had conjunctivitis until the vet prescribed Clavamox and his eyes healed up quite nicely. The vet said the conjunctivitis was caused by allergies, my parents couldn't figure out what he was allergic to. Liquid Amoxicillin did nothing to treat him but that Clavamox worked like magic. I'm hoping Buddy's eye can heal up as well as my parents cat did. 

Ulcerated eyes are tricky, some of them can heal with minimal scarring others can heal with a lot of scarring and a lot of damage to the eye, it really depends on the cat.  It can take quite a while for the eye to heal. Are there any veterinary eye doctors in your area?  They would be able to give your cat the best chance of keeping the eye as they specialize in treating eyes.  The surgery to remove an eye depends I have seen it cost around $700-$1500 depending on the vet.

Woah. I wouldn't be able to afford that on my own. I think it would greatly help me to list some of my options in the way of offsetting costs i.e. discounts, financing, any organizations able to assist with vet care and transportation to a vet and back. I've tried to search around, my mother has as well and we've asked the SPCA, vets and no one seems to know of anything around here. They couldn't help us out nor refer us anywhere that could.

So if it came to worse case scenario the eye would have to be removed, nothing like surgery to correct it? I don't know of any veterinary eye doctors off the top of my mind in my area so I'd have to look around. However that's too much for me to get into without some kind of assistance. I can cover vet costs out of pocket so long as it doesn't exceed $100. I can't do much on my own if it starts running into costly stuff like surgeries.

What am I to do? No one was going to do anything and the feral cat issue would have continued to grow. At least they have a chance now and won't be increasing the feral population. Been fighting to keep Buddy and the others inside.

Any idea what could've initially happened, why one eye healed fine and the other didn't? So even after the eye "heals" if it does it will be disfigured/deformed? It won't ever look like a normal eye like his good eye that healed does?

Edit: Vet makes giving them medicine, shots so easy. Buddy isn't too bad with me but it's a bit difficult to treat him when he's pulling away and cowering down. I'm only trying to help him but he doesn't know better. Giving the doses of Clavamox isn't too bad, the eye ointment is what I have trouble with.

Some low-cost spay/neuter clinics do minor surgeries as well. The one I took my ferals to would do eye removals and leg amputations if necessary. So call around. But hopefully his eye will heal up. It's hard to say if it'll ever be a normal eye again but unless it gets really nasty he shouldn't need it removed.

Clavamox is just amoxicillin with another drug added to make it stronger. So if you've already been giving him amoxicillin I'm not sure if the Clavamox will help either :/. I think the eye ointment will be the best hope for this. Is it terramycin or another kind?

I talked to the SPCA, the one here doesn't do that nor do they know anyone that would. The clavamox seems to have done the trick though. The infection is gone and he is back to his lively self, energetic again and very appreciative. The eye seems to have healed or healed as well as it could. I think he is fully blind, the eye is clouded or glazed over. The redness is gone, no more discharge from it. I'm so glad he is doing much better now. I was afraid when all this came about he was on his deathbed. With as weak as he seemed it was like he was dying. He pulled through although if it wasn't for me caring after him he might have not been so lucky. He was feral so he would have been outside with no vet care at all.

Edit: Sorry for the super late response. Had other things on my mind lately and preoccupied with other things.

This is a recent picture of Buddy. I know the picture is a bit fuzzy but as you can see his one eye isn't quite right. I think if his eye is like that he may be permanently blind and I'm not sure if there is an eye saving surgery to fix it. If there is, it's well out of my price range and the SPCA doesn't know of anyone that could offer financial assistance or perform the surgery as cheaply as possible. He is over the infection, regained his energy and has healed as well as I think he could without surgery on the eye. He went from being feral to very affectionate, he was the first to come around since my mom was feeding him over the summer and he had human contact. He is a stubborn one and litter training him has been impossible, he doesn't get it and is the only one that isn't litter trained out of all of them.