Help needed for a stray kitten

I'm new here and in need of some advice. First, I have 5 cats of my own all are spayed and neutered and well taken care of. All but one of my cats are strays that I have taken in. Today my mother in law called me and said that a stray kitten was in her yard and she wanted me to help her catch it. So I did and I brought it home. Now when I got it home I found that it was very hungry but semi friendly.. then I noticed it has a wound. I have a picture of it but I'm not sure if it's okay to post. The thing is, I live in an extremely small town. There are no after hours vets and at this time I am in the process of buying a house and all extra money that I have goes to paying on debt so I can get a house for my children. Anyways, I know without a doubt that this kitten needs to see a vet. It's not in pain and it eats well and plays and generally acts like a normal kitten would. I just can't afford it so my only option is to turn it over to animal control and hope for the best. But like the vets in my area animal control is open Monday through Friday and I have a day before I can contact anyone. So what I am needing is some advice on what I may be able to do to clean the wound. It looks and smells terrible but it's not bleeding.

Where is the wound located? You said it's not bleeding but is it oozing pus? Does it look like a bite (puncture wound)? You already know the kitten needs a vet and most likely antibiotics. If your just looking to clean it up a little till Monday you can go to the drugstore and buy some sterile saline solution. If it's a puncture wound that is open you should fill up a needle less syringe with the solution and forcefully squirt it in the wound. This will flush out some of the infection. If it's not a puncture wound you can flush it with the saline, lightly dry it with some gauze pads, and apply a very thin layer of neosporin. Again, the kitten needs a vet but hopefully cleaning it up a little will keep it from getting worse until Monday.

The wound is on it's throat. It very well could be a bite. I don't know anything about the kitten unfortunately. It's not a huge wound but it's a round hole and it looks like it has a black dot in it. I tried cleaning it with plain water and that kitten tolerated it well. The only odd thing I've noticed is that when the kitten cries no sound comes out. My husband is friends with the animal control officer and he said he can help us with vet care if we'd like to keep it, so we are discussing that option. Regardless I fully intend on making sure the kitten gets vet care because I know it needs it. It's a white kitten with one blue eye and one green and people have asked me if they can have it and I refused the offers.

Poor thing!! I hope there's nothing in the wound. I wonder if it could have been shot with a BB gun. Unfortunately there's a lot of cruel people out there. I would try to just keep it clean and get him vet care as soon as possible. Also make sure it's getting enough fluid even if you have to syringe some water into its mouth. Do you have any idea how old the kitten may be?

My first thought was a bb gun wound. I had a family member look at the picture and she said it looks like it may have a worm/maggot in the hole. It is drinking well thank goodness! I would assume it's probably 10-14 weeks old give or take. My sister has some 5 weeks old kittens and this kitten is probably double their size. I have it laying on bed right now and it's enjoying it. I found it outside hiding in a hydrangea bush but it took to being inside very well so I'm assuming it was a pet and someone didn't want to take it to vet :/

I hope you can find a way to keep the kitten and get the wound properly cleaned and healed. It sounds like a round of antibiotics would take care if it. So glad you are helping this little fellow and that he is safe, eating, drinking, and feeling loved!

The kitten has taken a turn for the worse. She's having trouble breathing and her eyes all crusted over. I really hope she makes it through the night as we called in a favor and the animal control officer is taking her to the vet and we will adopt her. I had to work today and when I got home she looked terrible. It breaks my heart. Last night she purred and wanted cuddles and tonight she's walking around d eating aND drinking a little but the wheezing is terrible and more holes have opened up on her face so she probably is infected with the maggot worms things. I am so hoping she will come through this.

L love4ever

Oh, dear! I hope she makes it through the night. She needs an antibiotic for sure. Perhaps you can gently bathe her face with a warm, damp cloth. It sounds as though the infection has reached her lungs. When is she seeing the vet?

L love4ever

Did you ever clean the wound as another poster suggested? Wondering how that went.

Your only other option would be an emergency vet. I cannot think of any home remedies that will help at this point.

I will say a prayer for your kitten.

She made it! She goes to the vet in abouy 2 hours. I have tried cleaning the big wound, the smaller ones keep appearing. I believe antibiotics would be a great help. We have no emergency vets here I think the closet is 2 hours away. I will update later as soon as I know something. Thank you all for you help.

Good luck at the vet. I hope they can get him fixed up. Please keep us updated.

Sending positive vibes your way for your baby girl. Please keep us informed on her progress.

She made it! Apparently she had a wound of some sort and then a type of fly laid eggs in the wound that developed into large larvae that poked holes in her so they could breathe. The vet pulled 4 worm/larvae things out of the holes and washed them out. She developed a respiratory infection as well. She is at her new home with my family and my daughter has decided to name her Snowy. I have to keep her isolated from my other cats so they don't catch the infection. But she is on antibiotics and a medication For the open wounds. So hopefully in a week or so she will be better!

I'm so glad she's gonna be ok. It's really awesome of you to take her in and take care of her. I bet she feels so much better with the worms out of her.

Hallelujah! This is fantastic news. Poor little thing - so glad she hung in there with your support, and is now on the mend. And big thanks to your animal control friend who got her into the vet for you. He truly saved the day.

I know the kitten must feel better already. Snowy is a sweet name, and she has a forever home now. All the best! I love happy endings!

We can't wait to see pictures of your sweet girl, Snowy.

I'm glad she will be better soon.

What a lucky kitten to have found a forever home. Good for you snowy.

Unfortunately when I got home from work today I found that Snowy had passed away.I don't know what happened. Maybe she was just to far gone even with the vet care. I'm waiting for my husband to get home so we can put her to rest. It's very sad and I feel terrible. I had so hoped I would see great improvement when I got home. My daughter is devasatated and I am too.

After talking with a vet friend we think that she may have died from the shock to her body. She was covered in ticks when we got her and we got them off and she had fleas.. my friend thinks she may have been anemic and the shock of having the worms removed and the respiratory infection may have been too much for her to handle. The only thing that comforts me is thay at least for her 4.5 days with us, she got to experience love and cuddles and petting . It still hurts and it's so sad to me but that makes me feel just a little better to know that she got to know what love is.

I am so sorry to hear about Snowy's passing. You are so right when you said she knew what love was. It's hard when those we love passes but you and your family was able to turn her life around even if it was just for a few days. You all will be in my thoughts and prayers.