As a caretaker for a feral and stray cat colony, we always watch for injury or sickness. If a cat shows signs that something is wrong we do trap them for medical care. One cat was viewed with blood in their eye and we did not hesitate to trap this cat and take to the veterinarian.
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The cat had been scratched and the veterinarian gave the cat a shot for infection and for pain. Along with the shot we were told to keep the cat indoors and that the cat must wear a collar. This fabric collar would prevent the cat from scratching its eye. We also had to take care of the cat by administering drops into the injured eye twice a day.
While at the veterinarian we had the cat's nails trimmed as this would make handling the cat easier.
Adding the eye drops to the cat was something I could not do alone. My husband had to hold the cat as this treatment wasn’t quick or easy. The cat thought we were trying to hurt him and each time it was time for treatment the cat would hiss at us and try to escape its cage.
We cared for the injured cat for two weeks then took him back to the veterinarian for his check-up. The eye healed well and vision was fine.
Note: The injured cat was kept in a cat cage that was located in a room where there was a Feliway diffuser. This cat product is a good choice especially when the cat is suffering from anxiety or stress. It helps to comfort and reassure a cat when it is coping with a challenging situation. It helps to prevent stress associated with any change to a cat's environment.
Follow-up The Feliway enabled us to handle the cat and to socialize the cat to be comfortable around humans. We were able to find adopters that had experience with feral and stray cats.
