Free-roaming Cat - Abscess

Hi! So a few weeks ago we trapped a cat to get him into the vet - he had been really beat up in at least one fight, but probably several.  He was pretty tame (but seemed like he may have been on his own for a long time) so we kept him at our house for about a week to recuperate, and actually thought we might keep him. He was treated by the vet for his scratches, and a minor abscess on one leg, and was fixed, vaccinated, tested, etc.

He got along with our formerly feral cat, Chopper.  The last couple of days he was with us, they both were hanging together, after a couple of days of semi-slow intros.  All good.  We have an enclosed catio that Chopper uses, and Winston was going out there and enjoying it too.  Well, one evening he broke out (he's bigger than Chopper, and was able to access a corner of the deer fencing roof, and tore it away from the support beam).  We haven't been able to get him back; I tried to get him that same night when he showed up for food, but when I picked him up to put in the carrier (had no issue with that when he was in our house), he went wild and took off.  Now, he will not let me get too close.

I am worried because since then, he was in at least one other catfight, and now is limping.  It's the leg that he had the abscess on.  When he was treated by our vet on May 7th, they gave him a big dose of antibiotic that was supposed to cover him for approximately two weeks, since at that point we did not know if he was feral or tame, and if we would have to release him quickly after treatment.  They said it didn't require draining as it had not progressed very far. 

Do you think he might have either "reinfected" it, or perhaps re-injured the area in the subsequent cat fight he was in after he got out, around May 17-18?  He's coming regularly to be fed, but will not go into the trap again, and will not let me get too close still.  I was going to dose him with Fish Mox if need be, but I am leery of just hitting with him with antibiotics if he's not infected.  Or should I err on the side of getting antibiotic in him, since there is no real way of knowing?  I am currently adding some Lysine to his food to try to help boost his immune system. 

Hi, AZTrish.  Welcome to The Cat Site!

Thanks for your question.  My opinion is that if he is eating regularly at your house, the Fish Mox would not be a bad idea in case the infection he had is still active.  Just make sure he gets it for at LEAST 7 days and better still 10 days or you risk him developing a strain of antibiotic resistant bugs.  If he eats twice a day at your house, then 1/2 capsule twice a day is enough.  If he only eats there once a day, then the whole capsule should be mixed into his food. 

Since he is neutered now, he is less likely to fight other males. but he was obviously used to having his freedom and being outside in the catio reminded him of that.  Given time and regular feeding, chances are he will stay close to home since he doesn't have the drive to mate or fight, but he still wants to own his territory.  My Grey Boy took a LONG time to decide that inside wasn't so bad after all (see album below my signature for his story).

Your boy may well be the same, given some rainy or cold nights.  He and Chopper may also communicate through the catio fence.  If you pet him while feeding but don't try to pick him up and put him in a carrier, given time your relationship may improve.  I've done the same thing with a couple of males that have been coming around this year.  One is now neutered and the other allows me to pet him while he's eating, which is new.  Within a couple of weeks I am hoping I can get him iinto a carrier and off to the vet for neutering, vaccines etc. but will then let him run free again.  The two boys appear to be brothers and think they came from a herd across the street.

Let us kow how things go with Winston.  He will know when you are no longer trying to catch  him and he will be more friendly.  They DO read our minds!

Since he was just seen by the vet within the past few weeks, you might want to call the vet and ask if he needs the antibiotics. You could take a picture of his injury and email it to your vet. The vet might want to prescribe something different than Amoxycillin, and might do so without insisting that he see the cat again.

If you give the Fishmox, you should check on the proper dose. I've read that vets recommend you give 5-10 mg per cat pound once or twice a day. That would be 50-100mg once or twice a day for a 10 pound cat. I recently went through this with my feral who had a puncture wound in his foot paw that was becoming infected. I gave him about a half cap of Fishmox 250 capsule (about 100 mg) once a day for 7 days (he went AWOL for two days after that or I would have given it to him for 10 days) and his foot healed up nicely. At any rate, I suggest you ask your vet about this or do the research yourself about the proper dose.

It takes 4-6 weeks for a male cat's hormones to settle down after he's neutered. I suspect he may hang around more often once he's settled and even come inside sometimes. Many ferals don't adjust to life and an indoor only cat. Since he's neutered and has you for a caregiver, it's probably less stressful for him to be outside with the option to come inside if he pleases in the future. It's great that you're taking such great care of the little guy.    

So you think that there is a possibility the antibiotic shot may not have taken care of the infection?  I was a little worried about that.  I will give him a course of fish mox. 

I didn't realize you needed to give for that long.  I feel terrible - I administered awhile back to another feral cat and only gave him for 4 days, I believe, because he took off for a few days, and I didn't see him (I was only giving it to him when I saw him, so that the other cats wouldn't get it). Hope I didn't make him antibiotic resistant.

@AZTrish   Is he still limping?

The cat that I gave the fish mox to previously?  No...he had some really deep scratches on his neck and face from being attacked by an unfixed Tom in our area (we have since caught that guy and fixed him!); they are better now.

If you mean the current cat, from the initial post above, yes, he was limping today - has been limping for several days now. 

He may have something embeded in his foot then.  Is there any way you can trap that kitty? Possibly a drop trap? I am glad you have the other kitty fixed. Maybe it'll mellow him out.

A cat won't become antibiotic resistant from you giving it only 4 days of antibiotics on one occasion. There are people who have posted on this forum who have talked about putting it in their cats' water every day--now that will result in antibiotic resistance. I've found from experience that even  4-5 days of antibiotics can be effective (though this is not the ideal--7 days is better--but ferals don't always comply with the medication schedule) in warding off a new skin infection in a cat, so I wouldn't worry about it.

I've been through this same situation recently and posted about it. My feral developed a limp and I thought perhaps he had strained a muscle. Then one morning he laid down in front of me and I saw that there was a puncture wound in the paw of his right foot--I think he stepped on a tulip tree thorn and it went right through his paw. Once I saw what was wrong, I gave him the FishMox and it healed up in a week. It's hard to know how to treat unless you can see what's actually wrong. Is there a way you can get a close look at his paws and legs? A binocular could help, Dick's sporting stores sell some for 5 bucks.   

That's actually a great idea.  I have some little binoculars; I will take them out with me in the a.m., when I usually see him, and check.

My feeling was that it more than likely was the abscess he had treated - since it is the same leg. But that could be a coincidence, certainly...

I am very grateful for everyone's input.  I am fairly new to this site.

I recommended that FishMox since (1) you had experience with it and (2) you said the vet gave him a shot to last approximately 2 weeks, but you didn't say what antibiotic it was.  The most commonly used antibiotic given by injection and said to last for two weeks is NOT as broad-spectrum as amoxicillin and in fact is best prescribed for skin infections, not deep bite wounds that might actually involve the bone.  It is called "Convenia" because it is convenient -- the vet gives it, and the owner doesn't have to give any more medicines.  Unlike amoxicillin which is best given twice a day, the injectable lasts as an antibiotic for two weeks but persists in the cat's system even longer.  If that much time has passed and the cat is still limping, chances are he needs a different antibiotic, and amoxicillin is one of the best for cat bites.  Clavamox, which is amoxicillin plus clavulen, is the very best.  The liquid form from the vet tastes terrible, but if you get the pills and dissolve them in water and add a little cream and mix with their food, they gobble it right down.  That's even better than FishMox but you do need a prescription from your vet.  It is very safe, however, and easy to give in that form as long as you have a cat willing to eat wet food.

Thanks! That info is super helpful about the antibiotics.  I just checked his records, and they did give him Convenia.

There is a chance that it is not the infection, and that he sprained/hurt his paw in one of the tussles with the other tom cat.  But since it's the same leg he had his abscess, I am concerned about the infection not clearing up...

As for trapping him again - I actually put the trap out last week hoping to re-trap him, and he was not falling for it again.  I don't have a droptrap, but I imagine I could find one, just not really sure I am experience enough to pull that off. 

Saw him again this morning - I found proper dosing instructions on the amoxicillin and dosed his food last night, and this morning, since I won't be able to watch him eat this evening (make sure he's eating from the right bowl!).  I don't if I am imagining things, but he seemed to be a bit better. Paws crossed that he is. 

Will keep dosing him and keeping an eye out.  I tried to get a good look at his leg with the binoculars, but couldn't see much but fur, plus he kept laying down. At least I saw no signs of pus/blood, etc.

This is him while he was convalescing with us...just adore him.  We're pretty convinced that he was owned at some point -- he seemed pretty comfortable in the house, not put off by any noises or anything (our formerly feral housecat still jumps at any new noise - fan, etc.) but has been on his own for a long time - whether he was lost or dumped, not sure.  But one of our neighbors says he has been coming by their house for at least a couple of years to feed, but he just recently started coming over to our house - we think because that tom cat he's been fighting with drove him off.  We are working with that neighbor to fix some of their free-roaming cats.  We got the tom he fights with last week, and last night they trapped a mama cat.  Will have to start on the kittens over there as soon as they are big enough.