Feral Vet Visit

Saturday morning, the hubby and I managed to trap both Patty and Sweetie, using the drop trap.  My ruse of placing the trap, covered in landscape fabric, over the feeding station worked again!  Fortunately, the veterinarian could fit both cat exams into her schedule.

Sweetie, wrapped in a sheet

Under the cover

Patty, after his turn

Back home again!

Patty was quiet, and acquiesced to his exam without using a tooth or claw.  His lump turned out to be a bite wound as I thought, but it has pretty much healed.  No abscess, thankfully.  He received an antibiotic shot for good measure, as well as a rabies shot, a dewormer and flea treatment.  He's about three years old.

Sweetie was true to her feral instincts, and was too fractious for taking her weight or a good listen to her heart and lungs.  She...um...expressed her anal glands instead of being Patty-like...that'll teach us humans to mess with her!  She was given a rabies shot, the dewormer and flea stuff too.  The vet said her teeth were terrible, and placed her age closer to seven years.

Both were ear-mite-less and flea-less, which was a pleasant surprise.  We discussed Patty's scratching and the vet figured he's allergic to flea bites.  She figures that Sweetie could have either asthma or some lung complaint, but there isn't much one can do for either issue in an outside cat.  Both cats sang the song of their people...one at a time...on the way home.  I placed the traps-turned-carriers onto the back deck, and opened them.  Sweetie ran off quickly, but Patty just walked around meowing.  I placed a bowl of cat tuna and another of kibble on the feeding station, and left them alone to recover.  Within 20 minutes, both were eating.  Last night and again today, they are behaving normally.  

YAY!!

Pretty much good news, for ferals living outside.  Am considering another trapping expedition this summer, to get Sweetie's teeth worked on.   I would never have tried trapping in the winter due to the cold temperatures, if it hadn't been for that lump on Patty's chest.  Seriously, the best $149.49 I've spent, although I was pretty much knackered for the rest of the day, from the stress and the physical intensity of crawling on the deck while coaxing each cat from the drop trap into the metal carrier-traps.  The hubby was the perfect wing man, and he cleaned up the deck while I was at the vet's.  I treated him to lunch at our favorite place for his help, and I fell asleep in the car as he drove home.