Traci, davet...opinions please - feral in a bad way -update

[Tina B and crew]

And of course anyone else is welcome to chime in on this one...

You might remember "Gimpy" the cat at work with the messed up leg? Well, I was able to trap him today. He was really fairly easy to trap but isn't a happy camper right now. He had disappeared for quite a while after we acquired the trap and when he came back he looked awful. His skin looks bad, he has several spots that are bloody and scabbed over, his leg has blood and pus running out of an open wound...the skin around his ears is crusty. Anyway, to make a long story short (or shorter) we have had several people offer to chip in on vet care for him if we wanted to take him and have his leg fixed. I spoke to a client who works with a rescue/adoption organization and her concern was that even if the leg could be fixed it would mean several weeks or months of recoup time...in which he would have to be confined. I don't have the means to confine a feral cat myself and no one else I know does either. So, our initial plan is to take him into the Humane Society tomorrow morning, have him tested for FeLV/FIV. If he tests + of course our only choice is euthanasia IF...and it's a big IF given we've had one cat test + and Gimpy's state of physical health...IF he test neg. we plan to have him neutered, vaccinated, ear clipped and treated for fleas...and his wounds cleaned IF they will do that for us. We have no way of administering antibiotics that I know...he's too feral. I'm posting pics of his leg

My questions are:

Are we doing him a favor by letting him back out there even if he's fixed and vaccinated?

Should be try to have his leg fixed?

If indeed we are doing the right think by having him fixed and released, is there any easy way to administer antibiotics if he needs them?




Not a happy camper


I can't tell if this is due to a fight or just bad skin problems??



This is the bad leg...it's almost like a big knot on the joint..it stays raw and bleeding a lot.

Thanks...I hope someone can give me some reassurance...I want to do the right thing for Gimpy...he's taught us all compassion

[davet]

lots of questions and will start with the leg...depening on the cause of the crooked leg, if is is a totally healed fracture in that position i would not put the cat through rebreaking etc and resetting..that would take weeks...if he is getting around and not scraping the leg on the ground causing lesions i wouold have a tendency to tdo nothing or amputate..amputation is much more humane than tring the rebreaking and resetting...there are many many three leged cats who still climb trees and act normal in every way except their gate...again this is supposition but rebreaking just to make a more esthetic leg is not fair to the cat---again all this is subject to radiology....now lets see whats next

feluke testing, if positive then you are right that he cannot be taken home and it would not be fair to the rest of the feral world to send him back out

sending him back out after all that surgury, i think would not be fair but at the same time if that is your only choice there is not much you can do..

i think the leg problem should be your last decisions after an x-ray is taken...

re giving the antibiotics, there are very good ones in liquid form that are pretty tasty and if he gets hungry enough they will usually take it or if he is "handleaable" (new word), you can just squirt it in his mouth....

not much help am I? but the ball is in your court....

obviously i have not corrected this for errrors...

[Tina B and crew]

thanks davet...no he is not handleable....at least I'm not willing to try at this point. He usually hisses at you and swats if you try to get to close. He does get around fairly well, but the leg keeps a lesion on it where it scrapes the ground. My thought was amputation too...

I guess the first line of action is the FeLK/FIV test and then we will go from there....this never gets easy you know

[Traci]

Tina, is he extending that leg at all, and putting weight on it? If not and it's a fixed position like that, chances are there is a callus, meaning every time he drags it, it will be an open sore. If he isn't dragging it, and it's only an abcess wound, no break or fracture, then ask the vet to clean it up, debride it if necessary and try to get at least a pen-G injection for him if you feel you can't get oral antibiotics given to him.

Can't tell all that well with the pic, but I'd be willing to bet he has earmites and this can be easily treated (at least once). Your vet can clean out his ears good, put in tresaderm if necessary and hope for the best. Ideally, he should be watched for a couple days to ensure that the ear cleaning didn't cause damage or too much fluid in the ears.

I think any medical treatment you can do for him is giving him a great chance, I wouldn't give up.

[Tina B and crew]

Well...all my questions were for naught anyway. He tested FeLV positive....I swear it never gets easy to get that phone call....at least Gimpy is in a better place now where he feels no pain.

FYI Traci...the leg had no movement at all in it...he kept a sore there all the time where it dragged. They HS said he was in pretty bad shape overall...he must have banged against the carrier door or something trying to get out, he had a pretty banged up nose that wasn't like that when I trapped him...and his ear was all bloody too...poor fellow, at least he knew someone loved him in the end and while I do shed tears over this loss I'm at least comforted to know he will no longer suffer

[Traci]

Darn, Tina, I was really hoping/praying for a better outcome. I'm so very sorry, I know this hurts......(((HUGS)))

[Tina B and crew]

Traci...I was too...I really was hoping we could help him The good news is we are down to two strays at the office...for now anyway. Redboy and Batman have both been fixed and vaccinated...they are both healthy and doing well. Keep your fingers crossed...

[kk]

Tina,
I'm so sorry. Bless you for caring so much.

(hugs),,
kk

[LisaLisa]

Tina,

I'm so sorry to hear this news.....you really are an incredibly special person..

Take care,
Lisa