oh boy.....feral kitten

My roomie caught a feral kitten tonight and will be bringing him home late this evening. She thinks he is around 8wks old and says he has gooey eyes and when he breathes snot bubbles come out of his nose. :shock:
Does this sound like a URI? He will be quaranteened in the front hallway and I will close the french doors between the living room and dining room to keep my cats at a greater distance from him. I know to wash up and change clothes after coming in contact with him but are there any other precautions I need to take? In knowing that he is sick I'm extra paranoid about my cats getting something from him.
She is going to try to get him a vet appointment for this Saturday which leads me to another question....
Do you think it will be a problem getting a vet to look at him if he is feral? I'm not sure how feral he is because I have'nt seen him yet but I guess there are alot of ferals around her work and one of the woman there feeds them so some of them have gotten somewhat friendly with her which is how they were able to get close enough to catch this little one.

 

He's here!
His eyes look really bad and it almost looks like his nose is burnt. I did'nt get too close to him because he's really scared and he was hiding in the corner behind the broom...I did'nt want to scare him anymore than he already is. He's black and white and looks about 8 -10wks old. Poor little thing.
I have some Rescue Remedy do you think it would be okay to add a few drops to his water?

 

Hi Nern. Before I got to your second post I was going to suggest the Rescue Remedy. It's perfectly okay if you give him some in the water. It's a safe product and it will not affect other possible medical conditions. I would put a few drops in his mouth right before his vet visit, as well. It sounds like he has conjunctivitis and a possible respiratory infection. Poor kitty. Although, he is pretty lucky your roommate found him. He's in good hands now. Let us know how the vet visit goes.

p.s. If you can, try and wipe away all the ick from his eyes and nose with a clean damp, warm washcloth.

 

if he stops eating due to not being able to smell his food you can get your bathroom steaming and put him in there for a few mintues - not very long though....15 minutes tops. Any chance of getting the kitten into the vet before Saturday?

 

Thanks for the tips!
I'm going to put a few drops of Rescue Remedy in his water. He has a vet appointment on Saturday at 11:30am. I will attempt to put some in his mouth before the vet visit if possible. It looks like he ate some dry food during the day today and when I got home from work today I gave him a 1/2 can of Nutro. I just snuck out there to see if he had eaten any of the canned food and he ran away from the dish and hid...but he was eating it. I'm glad that he is at least eating. He also urinated on an old shirt that I put out there for him to lay on....I'm sure he has no idea what the litter box is for yet but hopefully he will pick up on that eventually.
I still have'nt touched him yet and I'm not sure I will be able to without wearing some kind of thick gloves so I'm not sure that I will be able to wipe his eyes tonight....they are really red looking today but less gooey than yesterday. I have'nt noticed any discharge coming from his nose today but if he loses interest in his food I will definately try the shower trick.
I stood out there talked softy to him when I first got home. He was just sitting in the top of a box with some junk in it acting like he was a statue...I almost did'nt even notice him in there. I know he is really scared and confused right now so I'm trying to be quiet and slow moving around him. I hope he warms up to me and that there is nothing too serious wrong with him when he goes to the vet.
Keep your fingers crossed.

I will post some pictures of him when I get a chance if I can take some without scaring the heck out of him. BTW, I'm not even sure that he is really a "he" because I have'nt gotten close enough to check.

 

oh the poor little kitty i know you will take good care of him nern hope he gets used to you soon

 

Hi Nern. That's good that he/she is eating. :y_the_best: Poor kitty must just be so scared. Do you have any idea/guess how old he/she might be (your roomate thought maybe 8 wks)? I think you're doing a great job. I hope the vet visit goes well and he/she doesn't have any really serious health issues.

 

nern...vene private posted me earlier today and was talking about an orange stray that comes around her house, which she named "ginger"...and she says...(i paraphrase) "i wish nern were here...she'd be able to catch him". or "if i were nern...i bet he'd come to me"....something along those lines. :wink:

if anyone can do it....you can nern!!!! i am sure he will come to you soon...you are so good with the kitties...

hope he'll be okay...

i also put a towel under the door, so they cant exchange air with each other...or footises.

 

If I were a stray Nern, I'd want to live in your house/ apartment. That litte stray boy is in great hands! I was thinking about you whenever I feed this cute little orange marbled stray in my backyard. I love this little fur fluff and I have no idea why. I don't know if its male or female. I've been feeding it since last winter and it comes to my place on a evening basis for chow and spends longer and longer time staring at Monty. Monty stares back too through the window screen and this can go on for an hour or more. I think they like each other. It's not any bigger than 5-6 lbs. I was telling Lynn that Nern would be able to catch him/her easily. I've gotten to the point where it'll tolerate me being in the same yard, but won't let me approch it. It just hides in the bushes until I leave. So I'm thinking it's probably a stray because it comes over to eat dinner every evening and never fails. Good luck with the vet appointment! Sorry for rambling.

 

Awe, thanks.....you guys are so sweet. :wink:

vene: Its so nice that you are feeding the orange stray. I really love the orangies. Matter of fact, I've been wanting an orange kitty for so long...when I got Rhiannon I actually went there with the intention of bringing home an orange and white kitten that I saw a picture of at the store. The idiot that I got her from "could'nt find" the other eight kittens. :?
When I went camping last month there was an orange tabby polydactyl cat there! He came in the guys cottage through the doggy door and was eating dog food. I asked the guy if I could take him home ( I'd had quite a few drinks so it seemed like a good idea at the time). LOL. I think he was a stray that the guys neighbors had been taking care for the last couple years but he was so cute.

Update on the feral kitten -
He peed and pooped in the litter box!!
When I got home from work today he was sleeping on top of a pile of sleeping bags and looked suprised when I walked in. As I walked up the stairs he started looking defensive and looked like he was about to bolt as I got closer but I moved slowly and stayed at short distance talking softly to him and he stayed where he was. Last night he slept in the crate and then later on top of it and did'nt try to run away when I sat a short distance from him. I think he's begining to realize that I supply him with yummy canned food and mean him no harm....however, I think that will change after the struggle I'm going to have with him trying to get him in the crate for the vet appt. tomorrow.
If I'm lucky he will already be in the crate (like he was last night) when its time for the vets and I can just close the crate door without causing as much stress.
I took a few pictures of him today....I will try to post them later on.

 

good news nern cant wait to see him

I have an orange tabby cat (Oscar) he is about 4 years old i love him to death he weighs about 15 lbs and when i walk the dogs he goes to its so cute and the neighbors get a kick out of it also

 

Too funny Rene! :lol:

Okay, here are some pictures of him. I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures but he has a gash on his cheek and while I was taking pictures I noticed a large wound or something on his neck! It does'nt look bloody but he's missing a big chunk of hair there and the hair around it is wet looking. I'm not sure if its a wound thats healing or what. I'm so anxious to get him to the vet.

This is the one where his wound (look next to his ear in the photo) is somewhat visible.

 

*wimpers, fingers grasping vainly at the screen* ooooooooo! He's so cute!! What a sin! Nern u are doing an awsome job! *hugz*

i wish u all the best luck with him, tho i get a feeling it's a girl *shrugs*

but please keep us updated and good luck with the crate!

 

He is so cute Nern. How did the vet appoint. go?

 

Well, guess what that wound turned out to be? A very large deep hole filled with maggots!! :shock: I just about passed out when I saw it. The cause of the wound was likely a "bot fly". I think the bot fly eggs are carried and transfered under the skin from misquitos? The larvae lives under the skin for a while poking a small hole through the skin to breathe and then turns into a fly and comes out leaving a large hole which then flies have the opportunity to lay egss in. Yuck!
The vet cut the wound open a little more and removed 30 - 40 maggots, cleaned it out real good and gave me a solution to flush it out every 8hrs at home.
He (and he really is a "he") also has a hernia which will be repaired when he is neutered in about a month if he makes it. The vet said that he is a little fighter and has a good feeling that he will pull through. She sent me home with Clavamox, a/d canned food and some vitamins to put on his food. She thinks he is 3 - 4 months old but is small because he was sickly.
They have an animal emergency fund and are going to give us money from it towards his hernia operation and neuter since he is a rescue and it is an emergency. I thought that was so kind of them. He is resting now and seems exhausted. I really hope he heals up quickly...I hate to think about how painful that hole in his neck must be.

 

Poor little guy and Nern too. No, not maggots! :shock: :x :0024: How long will it be before he is completely healed? Thank goodness he had you to care for him. The hernia can wait until he is all better and fattened up. Lots of hugs heading your way to you and the little guy! Keep us updated of his condition. [-o<

 

Yeah maggots...so gross. One fell out on the table while they were looking at him. The vet even looked like she was going to gag when she saw that. I think its going to take about a month for him to heal up...he will probably have to go in for a recheck in the next few weeks to see how he's healing.
BTW, he also tested negative for Felv/FIV.

 

*sits there with a look of grotesque horror on her face.. twitches* oh thats SO nasty!!! the poor little fella! i woulda been cranky too with those under my skin! EWWW *shivers*

That was super nice of the vet to do that for you! :y_the_best: yay for the vet! SHould make up a lil 'thank u' card from the kitty to give to her.

We are sending out strength for the lil guy. :kiss_heart:

 

Hi Nern. That was very kind of the vet! I'm glad he's going to be okay and that he tested negative. I wasn't grossed out by the maggots, as they are used a lot now to keep large wounds clean. Of course these are special maggots grown in a lab. They will put these maggots on people's deep wounds and the maggots eat away at the infection and do a great job of keeping the area clean. Maggot therapy has helped a lot of people. I wonder if there is a possibility that even though these maggots were not sterile from a lab, if it may have helped keep the infection down in his neck?

 

*gasp* *picks jaw up off floor* OMG that is soooo gross. It has to be, i've seen vets do many really disgusting things, but never seen them even flinch at doing them. Yuckyyyyyy!!!! Good for you for going through with all this. Good luck and lots of hugs are sent your way.