AboutJessica Expertise I have bred Siamese cats and have years of experience caring for homeless, feral, orphaned, and terminally ill cats. I am knowledgeable in cat behavior, health, history, troubleshooting, breeds, coat patterns and colors, and trivia.
Experience I have extensive experience with cats ranging from breeding to at-home medical care to rescuing homeless cats and placing them in homes. I have assisted cats giving birth and hand-nursed kittens who were neglected by their mother from 2 days old through weaning. I have given supportive care to cats suffering from diabetes, terminal cancer, feline leukemia, feline infectious peritonits, and kidney, liver, and heart failure. I have been through chemotherapy with two of my cats who had lymphoma and have also been through many cutting edge surgeries with my special needs cats.
Question I have noticed a stray cat I have been caring for for 2 years being very sick this past week, I have his stool checked when he gets diarrhea for worms and it is okay, this past week he got a very bad case of diarrhea so bad that when he came to porch to eat he had it all over his tail (was soaked,watery) it was there whenever he got up , I tried to treat him for it but he wouldnt eat the med as he wasnt eating, he did start drinking, he sleeps alot, and at one point had something white coming out of behind, he walked funny with this, Then last night I thougt well if he is still here I will put his food out as usual and he came and I watched him eat half of it and sit on porch, i watched a bit and he ran (not to fast) after a baby rabbit, we come to find that most of the neighbors have said that he has been killing them all over nighborhood around me, I think he must have eaten some too, Then tonight I notice (after last night running after a rabbit when I thought he was dying) that his eyes are watery and he is very sluggish, WE HAVE TRIED 3 ATTEMPTS TO CATCH HIM , ONCE WITH BLANKET,ONCE WHERE HE SLEPT, AND ONE TIME WITH A NET, ALL TIME COULD NOT, WE ARE NOW AFRAID WE ARE STRESSING HIM IN HIS SITUATION, AND DOTN KNOW IF WE SHOULD TRY MORE (NEVER WORKS) HE WOULD HAVE TO BE PASSED OUT) OR LET NATURE TAKE ITS COURSE AND HOPE HE RECOVERS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, Thank You, please hurry, this is very stressful on me and my family.I cant trap him as he WILL NOT ENTER FOR ANY FOOD AT ALL!! Leary of boxes and cages and all sorts now due to trying to catch him in his box he slept in, wont go near them, sleeps in the shrubbery.
Answer Hi Cathy. I'm sorry to hear he's doing so poorly. Do you have an established relationship with a vet who knows about this kitty in particular? If so, perhaps the vet will prescribe a sedative so that you can catch him. One that works especially well to sedate wild cats is acepromazine. The only thing you have to be extremely careful of is that he's an outside cat, and he will have absolutely no defenses against any sort of people or predators, or if he wanders off after he receives the medication, he could fall and badly hurt himself, or easily walk into a road. The medication begins to work in about half an hour and takes about 2 hours to reach full effect, so you would need somebody to watch him from the time he took the medication to the time it took effect and you could put him in a carrier. Acepromazine disintegrates easily in canned food, and if he's eating a little, you should be able to get it into him.
Once at the vet, they should be able to let you know what's going on. If it's a gastrointestinal infection, he'll likely need to be on antibiotics for 10-14 days. The one most commonly recommended for adult cats is Flagyl (metronidazole). This one has a bitter taste, and I don't think you'll be able to give it to him mixed into food. If this is the diagnosis and prescribed medication, you will likely have to keep the kitty in a small room or cage during his treatment, in order to dose him. Then he can be let back outside once the antibiotics are finished. Sometimes vets prescribed Panacure (fenbendazole) for cats with stomach problems if dosing is an issue, because it can be mixed into food and is supposed to be tasteless. Most cats still pick up on it, though!
Something you may also want to consider is having him tested for the feline leukemia and AIDS viruses, as both of these can cause severe diarrhea.
