How can I help a skinny stray cat with a new mark and seems unwell?

It would be impossible to tell what's wrong without an exam. If he will let you handle him, catching him and bringing him to a vet so he can be sedated, checked for illness or injuries, dewormed, vaccinated, etc can help ensure he stays healthy, and doesn't get ill or spread disease to other pets once re-released. If you can't handle him, most humane societies have humane traps you can rent and smelly wet food or warmed up chicken can be used as bait to entice him to enter. As for food, any [commercial adult cat food](https://www.petco.com/category/cat/cat-food) should be good for helping him gain weight and stay healthy once he's been seen by a vet. Science Diet, Nutro, Royal Canin, Purina, etc all offer great options for food.

How lovely of you to look after this stray! There are a number of things that could cause him to lose weight, such as intestinal worms, diabetes, kidney disease, or hyperthyroidism to name a few. He could also possibly have fleas. It's important to make sure your cats are up to date on their flea treatments and deworming treatments. As for the stray, I would take him into the SPCA if you don't want to assume financial responsibility for him. They can get him the veterinary attention he needs and find him a home. Otherwise, you can take him into the vet yourself :-)

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. This cat could be malnourished or could have some type of systemic disease or infection. It is hard to say just by looking at him. If you plan on caring for him, you could take him to the veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. 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.

I don't think I can help very much. I can't really tell what is wrong with the skin. Thin, weak, poor appetite, those are things that more likely indicate internal illness. In a stray, unvaccinated cat, FeLV or FIV would be on the top of my list. There is no cure for these viruses. We also can't prescribe medications, even OTC, as it is illegal.

I would recommend you contact your local charities to source a cage cage which you can trap him with. He requires a full examination and antibiotics and should also be tested for FELV/FIV as he may have a weakened immune system also

It could be that Brute wandered far away and didn't have access to food, causing him to lose weight. It could also be that he is sick causing him to lose weight, or he may have a heavy intestinal worm burden. If you can catch him, I'd take him into a vet for a health check. I hope this helps!

Hello. Weight loss of that amount is, unfortunately, going to require some investigation. If the cat’s feeding routine has basically remained unchanged, he has been dewormed....then we need to be looking for other, more serious problems. A thorough physical exam, bloodwork and possibly x-rays. He will likely need sedation for all of this, so presenting him to the vet in a humane trap that he can be sedated while still in the trap is the safest method for all involved. Reasons for dramatic weight loss could include diabetes, intestinal diseases, kidney or liver issues, cancer, etc. I deal with feral cats all the time and it is relatively simple to sedate them through the trap in order to do any procedures necessary. Good luck