Feral Cat has swollen head

Usually if it's a male, he has gotten an abscess from another cat bite while fighting.  If he is eating for you, you could treat him with clavamox or amoxicillin by sneaking it into his food.  If he were tame, a vet would lance it and drain it and give him antibiotics.  In the wild, they usually burst and drain by themselves eventually.  It is probably very painful.

Thank you, he ate well but has now left my property, I'll see if I can sneak some amox. in his food if he comes back tonight

Good plan.  If you can get him on an eating schedule using wet food he loves, it should help him.  It would help if it were a tooth abscess also, but chances are it's from a fight. 

He's the alpha cat around here and is always fighting so your probably correct, he ate 2 cans of wet food today already so I don't expect him back this evening but I will definitely get some amox. in his food next time he's here. Thank you very much for your assistance! I'm very fond of the 2 ferals I feed and wish I could do more!

Is this alpha male neutered?  I am surprised he is still fighting if he is neutered?  If he is not neutered, that should be a step.  Neutering will reduce the fighting. 

I would find a way to get a trap if he has not been neutered.

No he is not neutered, someone from a cat rescue has tried for a long time to trap him but has never been able to. 

Manalapan66 said:

 
No he is not neutered, someone from a cat rescue has tried for a long time to trap him but has never been able to. 

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He must get trapped.

Either you can use a drop trap on him, or a regular trap can be used if using a zip tie, fasten the door to stay open and start only feeding him in there.

Once he decides it must be safe and is eating in it, set the door so it will shut when the plate is stepped on, then cover it up fast.

Getting him neutered is the very best thing you can do for him and the rest of his life.

Not to mention the other cats in the area.

The abcess is painful while it's swollen, and will burst, giving him great relief, it will drain all the crud fluid out, and he will be okay.

But the only prevention is to neuter him.

Poor guy, not his fault

I had a feral a few years ago enter my sunroom through a cat door. I noticed his side was ripped open like a raccoon or something had attacked him. I wanted to save him, but was afraid he had an illness that he might give my other cats. I wanted him to get vet care and perhaps a home if he could be saved. I called the animal shelter and they brought a trap over free of charge. 

I have been told that in this area if AC finds a sick feral they euthanize it. 

He just showed up at 4:30am and I put some Amox. in his food, hopefully this will help him.

Going to get a trap and see if I can trap and have him neutered. wish me luck.

i hope your able to trap the cat so you can have it neutered or spayed. Sometimes it's very easy if they are hungry and then there are certain cats that are very hard to trap no matter how hungry they get. Let us know how things go.

Manalapan66 said:

 
I have been told that in this area if AC finds a sick feral they euthanize it. 

He just showed up at 4:30am and I put some Amox. in his food, hopefully this will help him.

Going to get a trap and see if I can trap and have him neutered. wish me luck.

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Here's a tip that most don't realize and is the reason why a cat is so hard to trap.

If the trap has been used, the last cat has left smells of fear and adrenaline behind, the next cat can smell this and will not go in it no matter how hungry.

The solution is to take a spray household cleaner like 409 or any other, spray it down well, let it sit for a couple minutes and hose it off very well and let dry.

Good luck!

Be sure if/when the trap shuts you cover it fast with a large towel or he will really injure himself trying to push his way out with his nose.

They can beat themselves up pretty good if not.

Do NOT quit the amoxi before a minimum of 7 days.  Otherwise you risk creating bad bugs!  Just like the doctor says, FINISH ALL YOUR MEDICINE EVEN IF YOU SEEM TO GET BETTER.

Also, getting him into a routine of being fed is a good way to get him trapped in the long run.  Once you have the trap, start leaving it out by his food.  Leve it open so he cnan check it out but don't set it.  If you try to trap one and he escapes, you will probably never get him into a trap again.  I usually get them eating in the open trap for several days before I set it to spring.

I'll continue to give him the amox for the rest of the week, as far as the trap it will take a while because he's very leery of anything that he's not used too, the last time a cat rescue organization tried to trap him we all had a good laugh as he was sleeping on top of the trap and not bothering with the food at all. This is a street wise cat so I expect it to take awhile until he feels comfortable seeing the trap were he eats, I'll let the board know when successful.