Feral kitten in my house. HELP!

BH Yom Yom

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 10:30 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

He's already raided Nessiyah's food bowl!

I can't find Feliway in Israel, I've tried. I have catnip, but cats generally don't respond to it until they are several months old, and some cats don't even have the receptors for catnip.

He's yowling his head off right now. Sad

Poor little guy. I would definitely recommend feeding him kitten food. Dog food can be difficult for cats to digest (depends on the ingredients). Kittens also have less developed digestive systems than adult cats, so kal v’chomer.

Does he have a blanket or towel to snuggle on?

He probably is lost and scared and confused and wants his mom. Poor baby.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 10:36 am

BH Yom Yom wrote:

He has a blanket. I'll keep giving him kitten food until a trap arrives, and then not feed him as much so he'll want to go in.

I am sure he's lost and scared. I can hear it in his meow that he's calling for his mom to come rescue him. It's really sad.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 10:57 am

He seems perfectly healthy to me.

He just got up on top of my bookcase. I managed to come up behind him and grab him, and I was almost to the door when he swung around and bit me. HARD! Drew blood and everything.

I dropped him, and he doubled back. Now he's under the china cabinet again.

I just emailed the iryah to see if they loan out traps.

I don't care how cute this little dude is, I am DONE. If I had a car, I'd drive him up to the Lebanon border and let him lose over there. Mad

amother

Hosta

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:36 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Cat bite could cause illness please get to the doctor asap!!

Success10

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:42 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

If I had a car, I'd drive him up to the Lebanon border and let him lose over there. Mad

Doesn't matter. He'll be back waiting on your doorstep before you even get home.

Last edited by Success10 on Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:45 am; edited 1 time in total

chanatron1000

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:44 am

Cat bites often get infected from bacteria in the cat's mouth (about 50% of the time) and doctors often prescribe antibiotics immediately, even without symptoms. There is also some level of rabies risk, though it isn't likely considering that the kitten was provoked (sort of).

BH Yom Yom

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:46 am

amother [ Hosta ] wrote:

Cat bite could cause illness please get to the doctor asap!!

I wouldn’t be too worried - clean the wound really well and bandage it. If you get other symptoms then yeah, get it looked out, but cats are far less likely to transmit serious diseases to humans through a bite than are squirrels or raccoons.

Thank you FF for giving him a blanket and feeding him!

I hope the iriyah or a rescue group can provide you with a humane trap. Poor baby. If I lived in RBS I would come get him.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 12:13 pm

I let the bite bleed as much as I could to help push the bacteria out, and then washed it well with soap and water. I have super strong triple antibiotic that I got from the pharmacy. At the first sign of redness I'll run straight to the doctor, trust me.

I've had tons of cat bites and scratches over the years, and I haven't died yet. Still, I know it takes just once if it gets into your bloodstream.

"It's merely a flesh wound!"

amother

Snowdrop

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:22 pm

You need Mupirocin or something for the bite. Can you get someone to prescribe something?

Another idea for getting him out, though I don't know how practical: put the food bowl, maybe with wet food or something enticing, outside the door and don't leave any other food out.

BH Yom Yom

Mon, Jul 12 2021, 11:27 pm

amother [ Snowdrop ] wrote:

Another idea for getting him out, though I don't know how practical: put the food bowl, maybe with wet food or something enticing, outside the door and don't leave any other food out.

I would advise doing this gradually - each time you put out food, move it about a foot closer to the door, until it’s outside.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Jul 13 2021, 5:43 am

amother [ cornflower ] wrote:

FF please take care of yourself. My friend was in Yerushalayim a was petting and feeding a stray cat. The cat bit her and she needed rabies shots.

Did they catch the cat and do a necropsy, or did they give the shots prophylactically? Did she have any symptoms before she went to the doctor, or did she go straight to the doctor because she was worried?

FranticFrummie

Tue, Jul 13 2021, 5:53 am

Oy, I just talked to my landlord, and asked him if he had a humane trap, or knew someone who did.

He asked me what the kitten looked like, and then told me it was in his house a couple of weeks ago. He has a wife and 6 kids, so they were able to corner the kitten and shoo it out the door.

He asked me if I fed it. I said "Of course, it's been here for 5 days! I can't let it starve to death."

He laughed and said "You have a cat now." I told him I didn't want a cat, and he said "Too late!"

Thanks a lot. Confused

If he's been on his own for this long, at this age, I'm starting to think that his mother abandoned him. It's crazy hot outside. If mom is dehydrated she probably doesn't have enough milk for everyone, so the weak link had to go. Nature is cruel like that. It would also explain why I don't hear any adult cats calling for a missing kitten.

Sigh.

So now I have to keep him alive long enough to catch him, AND find someone to foster him. This time of year we're up to our eyeballs in feral kittens, and I don't know anyone who is taking in extras. Everyone is desperately trying to find homes for the kittens they already have.

PS: I have super strong prescription antibiotic cream from the doctor. I would have worn gloves to try and catch him, but I didn't have time and wanted to use the opportunity.

So what do I do now, call pest control? Have the cat euthanized and examined for rabies?

Elfrida

Tue, Jul 13 2021, 6:03 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

It's the official nohal of Misrad HaBriut that anyone bitten by any wild animal, including street cats, should get rabies shots, because if there is any risk it is important to have them as soon as possible.

In practice relatively few people do this. I've been bitten by street cats a couple of times, and I didn't do anything. (When my vaccinated house cat bit me, I got an infected hand and needed a week of antibiotics, but that's another story.) Every so often the announce on the news that an animal, normally in the north, has been found to have rabies, and anyone who might have come into contact with it should report to their doctor for further instructions. I don't remember hearing of any cases recently around the centre of the country. (And I would have been informed through work, because the instant there is a local case I would have to make sure all my patients were much more aware of it, and would react appropriately.)

Rabies becomes symptomatic when it reaches the brain. There can be a relatively long incubation period, but this largely depends on the size of the bearer. In a tiny kitten, there is not much distance from the entry site to the brain, so the likelihood of it being an asymptomatic bearer is minimal. If you would rather feel safe and take the shots there is nothing stopping you, but I wouldn't say it was essential that you do it.