Semi-feral Cat with Injured Rear Paw

Question
I take care of some feral cats in my development and have a semi-feral male with an injured rear paw.  He's limping, is obviously in pain and it's slightly swollen.  He will let me touch it gently but doesn't really stand still for me and he actually runs better than he walks and can still jump.  Any assistance is greatly appreciated since finding a vet to treat feral cats is next to impossible and being able to trap the right cat might take forever and also might injure him more.  I can pet this boy, Ardesia, but can't really hold on to him so soaks and wraps are not really an option although I will try them.  Any other OTC or other natural meds you can suggest?  I read in a homeopathy vet book that vitamin c might help at least boost his immune system, so will try to give him that in his food.  Would like to get him back to good health as soon as possible since he's outdoors all the time and needs to be at his best physically for any predators, etc.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer
Dtoo,

Well, your problem with the feral cat is going to be difficult to treat.  I would not recommend trying to do any soaks or wraps, since we don't know what's going on, and wrapping and soaking an injury can actually be counterproductive depending on if there's infection, the bacteria involved, and what else is going on.  

Obviously, the best thing you can do is to trap him and get him to a vet for treatment.  It's possible he has a fractured foot/leg, but not severe enough to prevent him from walking/running.  However, left untreated, the fx can worsen and infection can set in, leading to a very severe, debilitating, often fatal, injury.  I would caution against giving him any vit C or anything else since you don't know his hx.  I'm sure vit C isn't going to do him any harm, but it certainly won't heal a fx or any other injury.  In the whole big picture, when you're dealing with an animal that has any type of injury, vit C certainly isn't going to be strong enough to do much of anything.  Certainly, you don't know the purity of the vit C, either, so you could be giving him an inferior quality or potency of C, so again, you'd end up doing no good.  

I think in this situation, if you can trap him and bring him into a vet, that is the best action you can take.  He probably has a fx, a bite, or a laceration, all of which are going to require antibx, x-rays to dx it and to ensure there's nothing else going on, and FU care.  It's unlikely you would be able to follow through with the care due to him being feral, so I think in general, this cat is going to be very difficult to treat.  If you can trap him, get him to a vet, treat him, and keep him caged or in the garage or someplace safe and out of the wild, then you have a much better shot at getting him better and then releasing him (unless you grow to like him so much, and he you, that you keep him and socialize him!).  There is also a chance that what's going on is minor, and he has an acute injury that just hurts now, and in a few days or wks, it will be fine and he'll be walking like normal.  It's just so hard to say without getting an x-ray and a vet to look at it real good.  

I wish I could give you a better answer, but unfortunately, with ferals, there's never an easy answer.  Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Savannah