Originally Posted by
big john
My noisy neighbors have 2 small dogs (they had 3 but I complained so much about the barking they got rid of the worst one) and a skinny male cat. They had 2 cats but 1 disappeared. Monday their cat came over begging for food and he looked in bad shape. His left eye was swollen shut and he had scabs all over his head from other cats scratching him. Plus, he looked skinnier than ever. He was so hungry that he slinked past my cat to get to the door. My cat doesn't bother him anymore but he used to chase him. He looked a little better today but his eye is still messed up and he should see a doc. What can I do? I can't take him to the vet. I keep feeding him hoping they see me doing it and get with it.
Will he let you hold him? You can use saline solution (like for contacts) to clean out the eye. I'd hesitate to recommend any otc medication for the eye cause there might be an ulceration- you'll can see that once the eye is rinsed- and then he really does need to go to a vet. My thoughts:
Leave the scabs alone, keep him cool, plenty of fresh water and food. Cats can be pretty resilient barring underlying viruses. Give him a couple of days of care if possible (lol). Congratulations ..you now have a cat!