Comforting an old stray cat with diarrhea, lethargy, and swelling?

Sounds like the first thing I would do is try and deworm all these kitties, as this could very well be the reason for their diarrhea / general GI issues. There are many different oral dewormer products, some of which are pills while others are liquids. If you can't touch them but you are confident that you can feed each one individually (without another cat snagging food), you can sneak Drontal tablets into each of the cat's daily feeding in some wet food. The dose may be slightly different depending on weight - the product is over the counter with the doses written on the back of the bottle. Unfortunately, if this is the not the case and you can't be sure who is getting what, there really is no safe / fool proof way to treat this sort of thing. There are liquid products but you won't be sure if they got it all, or if they will take it at all because of the taste of the product. My suggestion would be to put out humane traps, catch them one by one, and deworm them this way. This would also give you the opportunity to get them to a low - cost spay / neuter facility to be fixed if that is an option. Hope this makes sense.

No, there are no over the counter medication safe for cats. You can add probiotics to the diet as this can help. They can be purchased at your vets or pet store. You may want to talk about adding cobalimine to him also. The B vitamins can be lacking with cats with diarrhea and supplementing that can help.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. If you can get a dewormer into Shadow, that would be a good start. There are many on the market that get roundworms, the most common one to plague cats. Then I would try a product called FortiFlora for cats. It is actually a probiotic, but it can help in some diarrheas, especially in cats. It comes as a box of 30 small packets, & you try to feed one per day in some wet food for a full 30 days. Give this a try & hopefully it will help with shadows problem. Take care..

I am so sorry Ginger is not feeling well. It sounds like Ginger is in serious condition and needs to see a vet as soon as you can get him there. There are no over the counter medications that are safe give cats that are as sick as Ginger. There are lots of medical problems than can cause a cat to stop eating and have vomiting and diarrhea, and most of them a pretty serious. Some examples are gastrointestinal infection, toxins, pancreatitis, foreign body, kidney issues, liver issues, infectious viruses, etc. He needs to see a doctor to get a diagnosis and get started on medications prescribed by a veterinarian. I hope he feels better!

She has received a lot of medications and this can upset the normal bacterial balance in the bowel. I would feed boiled chicken or fish plus a probiotic and fiber supplement such as fortiflora exclusively for 7-10days to allow the bowel to rest and recuperate. Investigation for chronic inflammatory conditions may be required if persisting

If no abnormalities were found on the x-rays but she is still lethargic despite treatment, I would recommend an abdominal ultrasound to see if there are any other abnormalities and then go from there. In older cats, I worry about intestinal lymphoma but it is possible this could be inflammatory bowel disease as well. However, there is still additional testing that needs to be done to help rule out other causes of Stella's symptoms. Changing the diet to a prescription low fat intestinal diet like Hills low fat I/D may be something to consider as well but I would discuss this with your veterinarian first. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

No, you cannot give him Imodium. He has to see a vet for this now. If paying for a vet is an issue, you can see if your vet accepts payment plans, if there is a low cost clinic in your area, or you can apply for Care Credit online. There is also an organization called Red Rover that give grants for treatment of sick animals, and you can see if you qualify for one of their grants. Best Friends also has a list of resources that offer financial assistance on their website. I'd also see if you can borrow money from family and friends. http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_pet.html?credit=web_id91754962 https://www.redrover.org https://www.carecredit.com http://bestfriends.org/resources/financial-aid-pets http://lessonsfromaparalyzeddog.com/when-pet-owners-cant-afford-veterinary-bills/ http://www.dogheirs.com/resources-affordable-veterinary-care/ If you truly cannot afford a vet for him, take him into the SPCA now. They can get him the veterinary treatment he needs, and find him a home.