Regular meds for feral cats?

[tandl]

We have entered the world of TNR—we have in the past fostered and adopted out a litter of ferals that someone else trapped, and trapped another litter on our own, tried to adopt them out but ended up keeping them. But this is our first time trapping, neutering and releasing. We are definitely learning as we go. Out of a litter of 5, we have 3 that we managed to TNVR so far. All 3 are fairly comfortable with us—they spend a decent amount of time lounging on our decks and patios and eating the food we put out—we have plenty of warmed houses for the winter and plenty of shade and water for the summer. We noticed 2 of them obviously encountering a good number of ticks. When they were spayed/neutered they did get a treatment, but I assume it was a 30 day treatment. I did get some frontline plus; is this appropriate? I think I can apply it as they are very receptive to petting most of the time.
Are there other regular treatments/meds that would be good for feral cats to have since we can probably interact enough to get a decent chance? Should a dewormer be given regularly? Heart worm? While they happily eat our food, they all definitely still eat mice and chipmunk.
We are happy to do what we can to keep them as healthy as possible—so trying to determine what can be done on our own. Obviously in case of injury/obv sickness we would try very hard to re-trap and get them to the vet, and I’m assuming a once yearly vet trip is a good idea to keep rabies and other vaccinations up to date? we had them spayed/neutered/basic vaccines thru a low cost clinic, so there’s no specific vet for these guys I can consult, and at the time I thought these guys might never come back to us after we had traumatized them with trapping and surgery the first time. I was very wrong! They def think of our property as theirs and I’m ok with that!
Thank you!

 

[fionasmom]

It is wonderful that you have taken on the responsibility of helping our feral friends. In your case, it sounds as if you are connecting with ferals who are amenable to a relationship of sorts with you which is great.

Since I have not seen your ferals personally, the first question is their behavior if they were to be taken to a vet. If they would need to be retrapped and taken in a Havahart, for example, you might need to find a feral friendly vet. Some vets will not deal with ferals at all. If your ferals are more like pets who live outside and could be brought in to a clinic in a carrier, they might be viewed as pets. Cats, for the most part, dislike the vet, so there is a fine line between an upset pet and a manageable feral. I brought one of my personal indoor cats to the vet two weeks ago for an ultrasound and I believe that the medical term that the dr used when she called to ask if she could sedate him was "flipped out."

Some of my ferals are willing to let me walk up behind them and apply flea and tick drop products. I have not used Frontline, but it does say that it kills ticks. I have no ticks here, so you would know best how often it needs to be applied and/or if they are encountering enough fleas from other wildlife, for example, that they need year round flea and tick control. A serious flea infestation could be very detrimental to your ferals. Most of these treatments are 30 days, so that would be your timeline.

If there is heartworm in your area of the country, you need to treat for that. I am less familiar with heartworm as I have not ever encountered it here but others will have advice on that. Watch for worms, if that is possible, and ask a local vet about how often worming needs to be done. I am in a very urban setting and there is much less wildlife here, especially the kind that could be eaten.

Once a year to the vet is a good idea, especially if you can retrap or get them into a carrier. Since it sounds as if these cats are somewhat docile, it might be a good idea to have a carrier somewhere in their general area where they could see it as non threatening, possibly even put treats in it so that they will enter if it they need to, or can be placed into it. Try to keep them socialized, at least with you, so that you avoid the "impossible to retrap" situation if someone appears to be ill. Keep up vaccinations if you can as well.

If these cats can be adopted, so much the better. It gets them homes and allows you to help more ferals.