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I have 3 cats, all healthy. The problem is their is a neighbors cat who is very friendly but doesnt get along with my cats. That cat has recently been infected with eyes that have pus in them. It started in 1 eye & now is in both. It is a a lot of pus, gray looking ooze and I know it is very contagious. I am not sure who this cat belongs to and am very afraid he will infect my cats. I am thinking to go door to door and ask who he belongs to & if no one claims him, to catch him & take him to the humane society. ( he begs at my door every night for food) . I cannot afford to have him treated and I cant afford for him to infect MY cats. & I do love cats and feel bad that his owner is so negligent. but.... am I doing the right thing?
Do you have a local humane society or rescue? If so, call them & see if they can help. If someone does own the cat, they are neglecting it to the point of cruelty and someone needs to step in for the cats sake.
I understand about financial resources being limited, but make some calls & do what you can.
In the meantime, keeping your cats indoors and away from the sick one is what you should do. And it's not a bad idea to do that permanently anyway. Good luck.
Can you trap him to have him off the street and away from your cats? Then go door to door during daylight or with a friend. Local shelters often work with rescue groups so taking him there may be his ticket to a good home. Thank you for feeding a stray!
I many states, if not all, an emergency vet HAS to medically help an injured and/or sick STRAY animal. If the cat isn't chipped or wearing tags or a collar... sounds like a stray.
We have three cats, two of them have red, watery eyes which I think is cat's conjunctivitus. I have just had one financial "crisis" after another recently and just can't afford to pay $40 to take them to a vet.
Can someone recommend a treatment, or a website where I can order something that will fix this? Does anyone know whether we can get it ourselves from the cats?
Thanks!
I know this thread is really old, but I have to say something.
1. If you can't afford $40 to take your cat to the vet, don't own a cat. To be truthful, it would probably cost more than that anyways because I get the feeling they are not vaccinated or on flea preventative. Conjunctivitis is extremely common in kittens, and can be caused by several different things. If it is not treated properly, it has a good chance of recurring. If it occurs in an adult cat, that's often due to a lack of proper vaccination.
2. DO NOT use topical cream such as Neosporin. Many of those ointments contain Zinc or Polymixin B, both of which can cause adverse reactions, especially when used on the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva absorbs things much easier and faster than the skin. That would be off-label use, which could be legal grounds for negligence in addition to refusing to get medical treatment for a sick animal.
3. You can get insurance for your pet, you can get a CareCredit card, there are options out there. Refusing to take a sick animal to the vet is unacceptable. If you had conjunctivitis would you not go to the doctor? If you honestly cannot afford it, how can you afford litter, food, flea preventative, etc? Flea preventative is a necessity, not a commodity, despite popular belief. Without it your cars can get all kinds of intestinal parasites or even become anemic, especially if it's a small cat or kitten.
If you've made it this far, then great. Please people, if you cannot take care of a companion animal, then do not own one. I know what it's like to be broke, I've been broke most of my life. But if I have to miss a meal to make sure my cat is healthy and fed, I will and I have, because I made a commitment to that animal. They did not choose to suffer because of my lack of financial preparation.
I have a story from a time when I worked in a vet clinic. This lady's dog got hit by a car, so she brought it in about 8 hours later. The dog had never seen a vet before. It was covered in fleas, poor thing, and had never been vaccinated. That dog could not be taken into the back with the other dogs, because it could have gotten the other dogs sick or infested with fleas. The vet told the lady it would cost $200 just to get the dog into isolation, started on fluids, and imaging done to see the extent of it's injuries. That does not include surgery or treatment costs. The lady thought that was absolutely outrageous, left with the dog and never came back. My guess is, the dog probably died, it appeared to be in pretty poor shape when she brought it in. What people don't understand, is veterinary medicine is extremely similar to human medicine. Vets use a lot of the same diagnostic equipment, medications, surgical procedures, etc., just tweaked to fit the anatomical and physiological differences of different animals. So people will pay so much money on their own health, but refuse to come off with even $40 for the pets they committed to caring for. It blows my mind. For those of you who do visit your vets regularly, I hope you appreciate them. They could have went into human medicine and made two or three times what they're actually making. Vet school is harder to get into, because pets are harder to diagnose. A dog can't tell you his throat is sore. A cat often hides clinical signs because it is a prey (and predator) species. Vets are living saints. They work 80+ hours a week because they care about your Fluffy. They often care about pets as much as the owners do. Think about that next time you take Rascal to the vet.
Word to the above wise: She can get in touch with a County or City Animal Hospital and they have the names of veterinarians who will gladly help out with the drops or what is needed for the cats' eyes and preventative innoculations if necessary.
.
It is much nicer to be nice to someone who is down on their luck, when it comes to innocent pets whom she loves dearly. No one plans to be poor or helpless.
I know this thread is really old, but I have to say something.
1. If you can't afford $40 to take your cat to the vet, don't own a cat. To be truthful, it would probably cost more than that anyways because I get the feeling they are not vaccinated or on flea preventative. Conjunctivitis is extremely common in kittens, and can be caused by several different things. If it is not treated properly, it has a good chance of recurring. If it occurs in an adult cat, that's often due to a lack of proper vaccination.
2. DO NOT use topical cream such as Neosporin. Many of those ointments contain Zinc or Polymixin B, both of which can cause adverse reactions, especially when used on the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva absorbs things much easier and faster than the skin. That would be off-label use, which could be legal grounds for negligence in addition to refusing to get medical treatment for a sick animal.
3. You can get insurance for your pet, you can get a CareCredit card, there are options out there. Refusing to take a sick animal to the vet is unacceptable. If you had conjunctivitis would you not go to the doctor? If you honestly cannot afford it, how can you afford litter, food, flea preventative, etc? Flea preventative is a necessity, not a commodity, despite popular belief. Without it your cars can get all kinds of intestinal parasites or even become anemic, especially if it's a small cat or kitten.
If you've made it this far, then great. Please people, if you cannot take care of a companion animal, then do not own one. I know what it's like to be broke, I've been broke most of my life. But if I have to miss a meal to make sure my cat is healthy and fed, I will and I have, because I made a commitment to that animal. They did not choose to suffer because of my lack of financial preparation.
I have a story from a time when I worked in a vet clinic. This lady's dog got hit by a car, so she brought it in about 8 hours later. The dog had never seen a vet before. It was covered in fleas, poor thing, and had never been vaccinated. That dog could not be taken into the back with the other dogs, because it could have gotten the other dogs sick or infested with fleas. The vet told the lady it would cost $200 just to get the dog into isolation, started on fluids, and imaging done to see the extent of it's injuries. That does not include surgery or treatment costs. The lady thought that was absolutely outrageous, left with the dog and never came back. My guess is, the dog probably died, it appeared to be in pretty poor shape when she brought it in. What people don't understand, is veterinary medicine is extremely similar to human medicine. Vets use a lot of the same diagnostic equipment, medications, surgical procedures, etc., just tweaked to fit the anatomical and physiological differences of different animals. So people will pay so much money on their own health, but refuse to come off with even $40 for the pets they committed to caring for. It blows my mind. For those of you who do visit your vets regularly, I hope you appreciate them. They could have went into human medicine and made two or three times what they're actually making. Vet school is harder to get into, because pets are harder to diagnose. A dog can't tell you his throat is sore. A cat often hides clinical signs because it is a prey (and predator) species. Vets are living saints. They work 80+ hours a week because they care about your Fluffy. They often care about pets as much as the owners do. Think about that next time you take Rascal to the vet.
Although I agree with you in theory, if you'll notice, this took place during the worst year of The Great Recession. Plenty of people were financially blindsided at that time. A lot of people in my area who were pretty financially stable in 2008 ended up being broke as a joke a year or two later.
Okay I will probably get shot for this, but if you can't afford the vet then some advice is hopefully better than none at all. If it were me in the same situation I would try getting a bottle of polysporin eyedrops or neosporin eye ointment - in fact the pontment is what a vet gave me once for one of my cats. Hope the kitties are better soon.
[URL="http://ask.metafilter.com/44799/Damage-to-cats-eye-emergency"]Damage to cat's eye: emergency? | Ask MetaFilter[/URL]
[URL]http://www.medicinenet.com/pets/cat-health/conjunctivitis_or_pinkeye_in_cats.htm[/URL]
I have used Neosporin for my kittens and it works great ! Save yourself some money paying a vet for the same thing they use ...
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