Semi-Feral Cat Has Gotten Sick on Her Moving Day

[Chasm]

People here were very helpful when I posted about an issue last year. I was hoping you may have some advice for this situation.

A friend of mine is moving states. He was supposed to leave yesterday, but had to delay because Scratchy, the outdoor, semi-feral cat he was planning on taking with him has gotten sick.

Backstory: Over the past few months, my friend Nate has bonded with 'Scratchy', one of the feral cats in his apartment complex. Scratchy has warmed up to Nate, and started allowing him to pet her, and apply topical flea medication. Nate is moving to a rural area in another state. He wants to take Scratchy with him. He is hoping she can become an indoor cat and live inside with him and his partner. However if that is not possible, there is a large barn she can live in at his new place. He has a crate, ect for her for the move. This is not going to be easy (it is a 30+ hour car drive), but Nate feels like this is the best option for a number of reasons, including the fact that some people in the apartment complex have started complaining about Scratchy.

Nate was supposed to leave yesterday, but delayed because he couldn't find Scratchy. This is what Nate has texted me:

"Hey...so I put off leaving last night cuz I couldn't find Scratchy (been going up every 20min to see if she was there cuz she didn't eat since early yesterday). She finally came around a min ago and is throwing up brown, baby shit looking, foamy brown/yellow, thick sludge. I took her water, she ran away from it and tried sucking water out of the rain gutter

Was oddly hissing at me when I bent down to feed her, walked away, was dry heaving so got her fresh water. She ran back as soon as I sat it down then went to the downspout of the gutter trying to lick water out of it."

Nate is concerned that (a) He now might not be able to catch her for the move, (b) If he can catch her, he is concerned about the 30+ hour drive with a sick cat (c) there might be something wrong with her health.

I have posted the photos of Scratchy's vomit. Both the hissing/running away and the throwing up are unusual for Scratchy.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Furballsmom]

Can he trap her as soon as possible and check in with a vet? I realize there's a trip/move involved, but I'm concerned she ingested something.

He can use mackerel and sardines, and kentucky fried chicken works as well.

 

[white shadow]

Hi C Chasm !

Good on your friend for bringing her along - her fate might seem ominous if she remains in unfriendly territory.

Frankly, from his description of 'heaving' and from the images, my 'gut' take is that this was a 'simple' hairball-related puke.

Naturally, feeling nauseous, her behaviour will be different from her usual presentation to him - I'd expect that, that she'd back off.

A hairball incident shouldn't be considered a major sick event/sign of illness, nor reason to reconsider his taking her away.

The nausea around expelling a hairball doesn't last long - cats will usually take food shortly afterwards.

As for catching her, it would be waaaaaaay easier to deal with your friend directly. Could you ask him to join the forum and post on this thread?
.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Oh my! I am in agreement with much of the above. However, my first reaction is that somebody tried to poison her. Did the people around him know he was leaving? Do they know he was planning on taking her with him?

Nate needs to trap her and take her to an ER vet. He doesn't need to tell anyone that she is at least semi-feral, some vets will refuse to see her. He can just tell them that she is hard to handle, but that she spends time outdoors and he suspects she may have been poisoned or ingested something toxic. (I am not opposed to a 'little white lie' if it means the difference between her getting help or not)

I hope Nate can delay his trip even longer.

 

[GoldyCat]

The foamy vomit looks like what my cat does shortly before she brings up a huge hairball.

It would still be good if he can get her to a vet to make sure it’s not something more serious going on.

 

[Chasm]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies and advice. I sent Nate a link to this thread so he can read it directly.

Unfortunately shortly after Nate saw her vomiting, Scratchy disappeared. Nate and his brother have been looking for her all day. We are asking everyone we know at the apartment complex to keep an eye out for her. Nate has further delayed leaving in order to look for her, and says he is not going anywhere for the moment.

I am really hoping no one poisoned her- I had that concern too. Hopefully she is just lying low until she feels better.

I will post an update once we get more news. Thanks everyone.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Any news???

 

[Chasm]

I will give a more detailed update once I know more, but yes, there is good news! Nate found her, caught her, and brought her to an emergency vet clinic.

The vet said she had ingested something toxic which had severely irritated her throat and intestines. They flushed her out and rehydrated her and gave her an antibiotic.

She is doing much better now. Nate has even further delayed his move to make sure she is well before the drive. I will post another update once we hear from him again.

I didn't want to post unnecessary details in my initial post, but my fiance and I also used to live at that apartment complex for years. There are multiple feral cats there, and Scratchy was one of our favorites. We were unable to take her with us when we moved (it was an international move and we have two territorial cats already). We are incredibly grateful to Nate for his heroic efforts in going above and beyond for Scratchy.

Thank you so much to everyone who posted here- and I will give a more detailed update once we know more.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thank you for the update and thrilled that Scratchy is doing better! I, too, am grateful for Nate. What a wonderful person!!