Base housing & stray cats.. Also ? on kitty BooBoo

[4boys1princess]

This is long: Sorry!
We moved her at the end of Aug. In Sept. a very friendly adult cat came to our porch. You can tell he has been fixed, so I assumed he was someone's pet. Made calls and asked a few neighbors. Well, the neighbors said he's been around for a long time.
We decided to keep him. My kids named him Smokey. I have to say, he is such an amazing cat. So loving, but I CAN NOT get him to be an inside cat. He keeps getting out, but ALWAYS comes back. He just comes in and out. I even have a note posted on the door for the kids to try & remember not to let him out, he's fast.... LOL
SO... in early Nov., my husband was outside having a cig on our porch at about 1:30am. A KITTEN showed up. It was cold so he brought the cat in, woke me up & took care of her. Made calls, asked neighbors. No one seems to be missing a kitten. (I say kitten, but think she might be about 4-6mos old)
My kids fell in love with her as well. She is very spunky... funny as heck. Her name is Ms. Kitty.
(and I also own a cat named Harley. I rescued him from a lady who found a box of kittens, so I took one. He is now 2yrs old.)
Amazing enough, they all seem to get along well.
I am already over my limit on pets on base. So please don't tell!!! Shhhhhhh...

Now, my problem:
I was waiting for our taxes to take both in for shots, and to get the female fixed. (taking 2 cats in is going to be expensive)
But, my adult cat Smokey got out (again) This time he got into a bad fight.
I cleaned his wound that is on his head between his ear & eye. A couple days ago. Noticed swelling on that right side of face. Last night I found his other wound. I feel so bad, if I would've noticed it before, he wouldn't have this infection. This one is near mouth. So 1 on top of head, 1 on bottom. This is the infected one, I cleaned it and got lots of pus out of it.
I am still broke. A vet is going to cost me lots for this. The Well Clinic I believe only takes cash & checks. There is one on Great Mills that takes the Care Credit credit card I have.
Any suggestions????

 

[frequentflier]

This is long: Sorry!
We moved her at the end of Aug. In Sept. a very friendly adult cat came to our porch. You can tell he has been fixed, so I assumed he was someone's pet. Made calls and asked a few neighbors. Well, the neighbors said he's been around for a long time.
We decided to keep him. My kids named him Smokey. I have to say, he is such an amazing cat. So loving, but I CAN NOT get him to be an inside cat. He keeps getting out, but ALWAYS comes back. He just comes in and out. I even have a note posted on the door for the kids to try & remember not to let him out, he's fast.... LOL
SO... in early Nov., my husband was outside having a cig on our porch at about 1:30am. A KITTEN showed up. It was cold so he brought the cat in, woke me up & took care of her. Made calls, asked neighbors. No one seems to be missing a kitten. (I say kitten, but think she might be about 4-6mos old)
My kids fell in love with her as well. She is very spunky... funny as heck. Her name is Ms. Kitty.
(and I also own a cat named Harley. I rescued him from a lady who found a box of kittens, so I took one. He is now 2yrs old.)
Amazing enough, they all seem to get along well.
I am already over my limit on pets on base. So please don't tell!!! Shhhhhhh...

Now, my problem:
I was waiting for our taxes to take both in for shots, and to get the female fixed. (taking 2 cats in is going to be expensive)
But, my adult cat Smokey got out (again) This time he got into a bad fight.
I cleaned his wound that is on his head between his ear & eye. A couple days ago. Noticed swelling on that right side of face. Last night I found his other wound. I feel so bad, if I would've noticed it before, he wouldn't have this infection. This one is near mouth. So 1 on top of head, 1 on bottom. This is the infected one, I cleaned it and got lots of pus out of it.
I am still broke. A vet is going to cost me lots for this. The Well Clinic I believe only takes cash & checks. There is one on Great Mills that takes the Care Credit credit card I have.
Any suggestions????

This is not a solution but an opinion. It is a damn shame they do not have a vet on base anymore. I was told it is because the building didn't have heat in it.
Try calling All Kinds in Callaway- they seem a lot less expensive than other vets.

 

[migtig]

I've always used a credit card at the Well Clinic.

Call them to confirm, but they will still be less expensive than All Kinds or any other vet.

Well Pet Clinic

 

[pearlie369]

Sounds like it's abscessed. He needs to be sedated, have the wounds opened, drained and possibly a drainage tube placed. And of course a good 2 weeks worth of antibiotics. Well Pet is a WELL pet clinic meaning vaccines, and sterilization. You can go there but more than likely they will send you somewhere else and you'll pay an exam fee 2 times. All clinics take care credit, and if you have it and no money then I'd say you need to use it. All Kinds is good and so is VCA of St. Mary's. Either one can help you, but be prepared to drop them off for sedation, anyone who would try to clean out an abscess on an awake cat is insane, and I'd question their veterinary knowledge. I've been a vet tech for over 6 years and trust me these do literally swell up overnight so don't beat yourself up too bad, just break down and charge it to your card.

 

[4boys1princess]

Sounds like it's abscessed. He needs to be sedated, have the wounds opened, drained and possibly a drainage tube placed. And of course a good 2 weeks worth of antibiotics. Well Pet is a WELL pet clinic meaning vaccines, and sterilization. You can go there but more than likely they will send you somewhere else and you'll pay an exam fee 2 times. All clinics take care credit, and if you have it and no money then I'd say you need to use it. All Kinds is good and so is VCA of St. Mary's. Either one can help you, but be prepared to drop them off for sedation, anyone who would try to clean out an abscess on an awake cat is insane, and I'd question their veterinary knowledge. I've been a vet tech for over 6 years and trust me these do literally swell up overnight so don't beat yourself up too bad, just break down and charge it to your card.

Trying not to beat myself up too bad. Just feel bad for him.
With sedation, surgery, a tube placement, antibiotics..... This is going cost cost big bucks, huh?

 

[crazykitty]

The Well Pet Clinic does take credit cards. You can call them at 301-866-0303. Hope kitty is better!

This is long: Sorry!
We moved her at the end of Aug. In Sept. a very friendly adult cat came to our porch. You can tell he has been fixed, so I assumed he was someone's pet. Made calls and asked a few neighbors. Well, the neighbors said he's been around for a long time.
We decided to keep him. My kids named him Smokey. I have to say, he is such an amazing cat. So loving, but I CAN NOT get him to be an inside cat. He keeps getting out, but ALWAYS comes back. He just comes in and out. I even have a note posted on the door for the kids to try & remember not to let him out, he's fast.... LOL
SO... in early Nov., my husband was outside having a cig on our porch at about 1:30am. A KITTEN showed up. It was cold so he brought the cat in, woke me up & took care of her. Made calls, asked neighbors. No one seems to be missing a kitten. (I say kitten, but think she might be about 4-6mos old)
My kids fell in love with her as well. She is very spunky... funny as heck. Her name is Ms. Kitty.
(and I also own a cat named Harley. I rescued him from a lady who found a box of kittens, so I took one. He is now 2yrs old.)
Amazing enough, they all seem to get along well.
I am already over my limit on pets on base. So please don't tell!!! Shhhhhhh...

Now, my problem:
I was waiting for our taxes to take both in for shots, and to get the female fixed. (taking 2 cats in is going to be expensive)
But, my adult cat Smokey got out (again) This time he got into a bad fight.
I cleaned his wound that is on his head between his ear & eye. A couple days ago. Noticed swelling on that right side of face. Last night I found his other wound. I feel so bad, if I would've noticed it before, he wouldn't have this infection. This one is near mouth. So 1 on top of head, 1 on bottom. This is the infected one, I cleaned it and got lots of pus out of it.
I am still broke. A vet is going to cost me lots for this. The Well Clinic I believe only takes cash & checks. There is one on Great Mills that takes the Care Credit credit card I have.
Any suggestions????

 

[pearlie369]

Yeah it's going to go at least to $150.00 if not more depending on the kind of meds they send you home with and how big the abscess really is. They can 'snake' around a pretty big area under the skin. Hopefully I am wrong and they will just send you home with meds, but it really doesn't seem like that will take care of it from what I read. I take care of the stray's around my house and had one that had the same thing a few weeks ago, but it was a really really bad wound and cost me about $200.00, plus have to do a rabies quarantine on him. (Not really though because I gave him his rabies shots every year but that's a hush hush thing since I don't have a degree from an over priced school)

 

[4boys1princess]

OK, well, I am really trying not to use my credit card.
But, I cleaned the wounds again just now.
And it was a fight, BUT.... crazy thing. His wound starting hissing, then ruptured---- across the counter. It was nasty. Thank god I didn't eat lunch yet.
His swelling has actually gone down a bit.
Am I wrong to keep treating him at home? He is still acting fine, eating, drinking, using litter box. Maybe a touch more sleeping, but I do have him confined to my room a lot...

 

[onelove6366]

Idea??

There used to be a cheap vet clinic in NE DC years ago. I cannot remember the name now - maybe somebody else on here knows what I am talking about and even if it is still in existence. You can try Friends of Felines or The Lucky Ones I suppose.

There is a vet in Accokeek - Dr. Cook - Accokeek Animal Hospital and she is not too costly. I don't know the number but she does give cost breaks for rescues.

In the meantime keep cleaning it - if it is draining then that should be a good sign.

 

[onelove6366]

It sounds to me like your care is helping. If the swelling is going down and it's draining after rupturing then it should be okay. He may need antibiotics but you may want to monitor him for a short time before making that decision. Don't beat yourself up over it hun - you can only do so much and if you can't locate any resources through internet research or here to offer affordable assistance then you are doing all that you can for him - it's a lot more then most others would give him.

My boy cat is an outside/inside cat like yours no matter how much I want him to stay inside and even though he is fixed, he is aggressive with my ferals outside and protects his little piece of territory. This is their nature and you can't change that! Right after this cat arrived at our home and became part of the family I took him to Dr. Cook in Accokeek for shots, check up, etc. and he had an abcessed wound on his chest and I didn't even know it until I was holding him for the vet and it ruptured. She gave him some antibiotics and the whole visit was like $95 and included rabies and some other shots, worming too.

I hope he continues to improve!

OK, well, I am really trying not to use my credit card.
But, I cleaned the wounds again just now.
And it was a fight, BUT.... crazy thing. His wound starting hissing, then ruptured---- across the counter. It was nasty. Thank god I didn't eat lunch yet.
His swelling has actually gone down a bit.
Am I wrong to keep treating him at home? He is still acting fine, eating, drinking, using litter box. Maybe a touch more sleeping, but I do have him confined to my room a lot...

 

[Roman]

Vetting

I agree that Vetting expences are off the roof, and understand you not wanting to go in there just yet. However, make sure that you get the scab off every day, and continue trying to express the puss, and maybe add a warm/hot compress to the area. My X-Feral had a simular wound, but I ended up having to take him to the Vet, where they placed a drainage-tube, an E-Collar, and sent us home with antibiotic. He refuses to stay in the house all the time too, so that's something that can't be bred out of them I guess. When you clean the area(s), maybe soak a cotton ball in Hydrogen Peroxide, and soak it. If you decide to take him to the Vet, the Well Pet Clinic is the best bet, however I did hear some good stuff about All Kinds Vetrinary Hospital.

 

[4boys1princess]

Update

My kitty seems to be doing better.
The swelling has gone down a lot.
I dip cotton balls in peroxide which helps remove the scab gently. The I use a medicine syringe with peroxide & inject it into the two puncture wounds.
Each time, the wound expells yucky stuff (medical term...LOL) But the stuff has been less and less. The I put Neosporin on them.
He looks so much better. Balding a bit around the worse wound on the top of his head.
He is driving us nuts on trying to get out. Non stop howling at the door. I've had to lock him up at times.
There is no winning with him changing his mind about going out... *UGH*

 

[Roman]

wound care

Huray!! That sounds good to me, that he's doing better. I just remembered something that I forgot to mention. A few years ago, our Chicken Rocky had an abcess on his foot. My Husband was talking to an Argiculture Vet on-line, and he recomended we go to a Farm Supply Store, like Southern States in Charlotte Hall, to get some Penicillin Injectable. It had to be reconstituted, and injected I think, once a day. You might want to check that out, and ask them how much to give to your cat. Instructions are probably on the bottle. Like I told you before, our Feral gets bit, i guess, by the prey he catches, and they do get abscessed too, and sometimes, it will lay dormant for awhile, and then pop back up again.