Hi,
My husband and I have been feeding feral cats for a few months now and we recently noticed a young cat about a year old who didn't seem as scared or skittish as the other cats. We have been TNR'ing the cats and we caught this young cat yesterday, and we are hoping that we can adopt her if it turns out that she has no owner and she is not feral. At any rate, we transferred her to a bigger cage and when I was putting food in the cage, she lashed out and scratched me on my thumb. It felt deep and bled a little, but it is a small area of skin. I washed it immediately and put antibiotic cream on it. Now I am concerned for my health. I have been reading about cat diseases and am a little worried. Does anyone have any experience of being scratched by a stray/feral cat and what did you do about it?
Also, does the fact that she lashed out mean that she is feral? Up to that point, she was very calm and wasn't aggressive at all. I just checked on her a short time ago, and she is sitting at the front of the cage, very quietly staring out. She didn't move when I approached her, although when I moved my hand towards the cage door (to fix the towel which is partially covering that area) I saw her paw move upwards as if she was getting ready to strike. I definitely feel aggressiveness from her now, probably because I was the one who trapped her. I have also noticed that she is shaking a little, and I didn't see that when I first trapped her.
Our local animal shelter only does neutering/vaccinations for strays on Tuesdays, so our options are to wait until then (five days) or pay to get her neutered and vaccinated at our locat vet which is costly. However, we have two cats of our own and, even though we are keeping this cat downstairs away from our other animals, I am still concerned about their wellbeing. I would appreciate any advice, thanks.
My husband and I have been feeding feral cats for a few months now and we recently noticed a young cat about a year old who didn't seem as scared or skittish as the other cats. We have been TNR'ing the cats and we caught this young cat yesterday, and we are hoping that we can adopt her if it turns out that she has no owner and she is not feral. At any rate, we transferred her to a bigger cage and when I was putting food in the cage, she lashed out and scratched me on my thumb. It felt deep and bled a little, but it is a small area of skin. I washed it immediately and put antibiotic cream on it. Now I am concerned for my health. I have been reading about cat diseases and am a little worried. Does anyone have any experience of being scratched by a stray/feral cat and what did you do about it?
Also, does the fact that she lashed out mean that she is feral? Up to that point, she was very calm and wasn't aggressive at all. I just checked on her a short time ago, and she is sitting at the front of the cage, very quietly staring out. She didn't move when I approached her, although when I moved my hand towards the cage door (to fix the towel which is partially covering that area) I saw her paw move upwards as if she was getting ready to strike. I definitely feel aggressiveness from her now, probably because I was the one who trapped her. I have also noticed that she is shaking a little, and I didn't see that when I first trapped her.
Our local animal shelter only does neutering/vaccinations for strays on Tuesdays, so our options are to wait until then (five days) or pay to get her neutered and vaccinated at our locat vet which is costly. However, we have two cats of our own and, even though we are keeping this cat downstairs away from our other animals, I am still concerned about their wellbeing. I would appreciate any advice, thanks.