Injured Barn Cat - Need Advice

[MuddyBootsPA]

Hi everyone,

We have two barn cats that adopted our home as their own, who used to be strays.

This morning, I noticed that one of the cats was limping pretty bad when he came to get his breakfast. He barely ate anything before retreating back to his favorite sleeping spot (under my husbands tractor). The other cat followed & looked concerned and didn't finish his breakfast either.

I tried to rush out & get a good look at what was wrong, but he got under the tractor before I could see. I can't tell if it's a break or if it's a bad flesh wound (he will get into fights with the other neighboring barn cats on a pretty regular basis). Unfortunately since these two started as strays, they do not let us near them to inspect injuries or give them better medical care.

If it just appears to be a flesh injury, I am thinking I can pick up some antibiotics at the feed store & possibly pain killer and sneak it in their food.

Can anyone more experienced with a vet background, tell me if there is any way I can tell if it's a break by not touching it? Closest I can usually get is 2-3 feet away before they scurry. If it just looks like a flesh wound, what kind of treatments can I pick up at the feed store & put in his food that won't be harmful to the other cat.

Worse case scenario, I will have to call animal control to come pick him up. He is a sweet baby & I would rather not do that since he will probably be put to sleep instead of rehabilitated.

Any advice or opinions appreciated! Thank you!

 

[IrishAcreFarm]

Unfortunately if it is a break, or a bite wound, either would need to be seen by a vet. Bite wounds will often cause extreme pain, and most times even a tame cat will be need to be sedated to have it examined and flushed out. The good news is, that they now have long acting antibiotic injections that once given, you wont need to medicate daily if it is a bite wound. Hope someone can help you out with her, so you can at least have her seen by a vet.

 

[2DogsFarm]

I've had "volunteer" barncats too.
One little intact male who was so well-behaved I thought it was a spayed female - no spraying in the year he stayed & no bothering my resident female barncat. He showed up for food often enough so I got him his own bowl, but never allowed me to touch him except for once when he got stuck on top of a stall.
Sadly he sustained a saddle thrombosis injury and I had to have him euthed by the emergency vet - only his injury allowed me to cage him for that.

You can try setting a Hav-a-Hart trap with cat food and see if you could trap him this way.
Or you may have to wait this out until the injury disables him so you can catch & bring to your vet.
I wouldn't try feeding antibiotics as you won't know which cat ate them or the correct dosage.

I hope it turns out well!

 

[MuddyBootsPA]

Thank you everyone for the advice!

Just a quick update to let you know that every day the cat has been getting better. His limp is barely noticeable now. I did not do anything special to help him out. I decided to give it a few days & see if it looked better or worse. It got better a little every day. I am thinking just a bad sprain.