Hurt/Injured Cat: Tryin' to get him to vet

Good morningood all. This past Monday I hear a cat meowing loudly in the flower bed right behind the house. It's the big black cat I've seen several times before. He's never let me get close but that day he did and I immediately saw a big open wound just below his right jaw. It looked so very bad. I gave him some food with a dose of clindamycin drops I had. He devoured all the food. I tried to get him in a carrier to take him to the vet but had no luck. That evening I gave him a clavamox tablet with his food. He has been eating a lot, five three ounce cans last night for instance. Given him the clavamox twice daily with his food.

This a.m. I notice the wound looks like it has a kinda yellow scab or crust on it. Not sure. I've been tryin to get him to the vet every day. Spoke with the doc yesterday and he gave me some med to put in his food in order to hopefully make it possible to put him into a carrier and get him to the hospital. I haven't been able to do so yet and I am just so worried he may get away from me before the med fully takes effect.

I am tryin so very hard to get him the care he so desperately needs. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

It sounds to me you are doing all you can (and more then most). He may have had an abscess that has burst, or got into a fight. As long as he is eating THAT is a very good sign, I think the antibiotics in his food is the way to go and see if he gets better. I would wear heavy gloves if you get to handle him, any cat will fight a stranger. Setting the carrier 'up', so the door is straight up on top, and lowering him down into it sometimes works a lot better then trying to shove them into it and they can get their claws into the ground. Just make sure someone is holding it tight or it is held firm. I've had cats that have lived through horrific injuries, I had one feral that was hit by a car and 'skinned' down his leg, my own Burt got in a fan motor and had the skin pulled off of his legs too, and with antibiotics and care they are both fine. Thank you for caring for this sweet one, he knew who to go to!

Thanks so much Di and Bob. I just can't bear to see a hurt cat or dog or any animal and will do all I can to help them. I wish more people cared as much as ya'll and I do, but sadly that doesn't seem to be the case especially nowadays. Cash's (I've decided to call him Cash as he is a big tom and solid black) wound just looks so awful. Yesterday it didn't have anything on it, it was just open and looked like, well, raw meat. It was and had been, since I first saw him, open and deep and bright red. It just looks really deep and maybe two inches or so across and an inch and a half or more wide.it looks to start right at his bottom jaw line. I can't really tell if his teeth are affected or not,but by the way he is eating...well I just don't know. I've been feeding him canned food and making sure it will be easier for him to chew. He is a big cat and wolf's everything down fast then wants more.

He meows and trills a lot, rubs up against my legs and now lets me pet him. It does seem like every cat that is in need of help comes to me. I guess word gets around.

Maybe you just have an internal cat beacon - if I were at cat I would want to keep the goodies all to myself!