Viruses in the feral cat population were something unavoidable; they were generally untreatable as antibiotics were ineffective and medicating a large number of cats was impractical, as was separating ill cats from healthy ones.

One of the conditions which it was possible to treat (if the cat in question was reasonably friendly) was abscesses (don’t worry, non-gory photos have been used as illustrations).

Soon after we first met her, The Cat suffered what looked like an abscess. This was before she was friendly, so we could do nothing to help. But we observed how she intuitively cleaned the wound every few hours, clearing the fur off the surrounding area to make it easier to keep clean.

It was a big gash at the top of her leg, but with her self-care, it healed.

Next was Blackfur whose story has been told here (you’ll find the link at the bottom) who developed a huge abscess as a young kitten. This necessitated a trip to the vet’s clinic to have the abscess drained, which undoubtedly saved his life. The vet marveled at the amount of pus which came out of his face, neck, jaw and head – he must have been feeling terribly ill.

After one night in the house (during which his abscess burst again, spontaneously) and an early-morning return visit to the vet, Blackfur returned to his family in the garden, and the abscess healed with the help of antibiotics.

A few months later, Blackfur’s brother Greyfur (pictured behind his sister Whitefur) also developed an abscess. It is obvious from the photo how swollen his neck and jawline was, and he was in a lot of pain.

The following morning he came to the kitchen door early. He must have rubbed the abscess until it burst; his usually white bib was streaked with blood and pus, but his neck and jaw were back to their normal size and shape, and he wanted to show us how much better he felt. Antibiotics followed, and he healed well.

A year or so later, The Cat’s son Furrileesa also needed medicating for an abscess; he was only a few months old and it took a while to clear with the help of antibiotics.

We would not have been able to help The Cat’s family had they not been friendly, and medicating feral cats from the fields was a very different matter, although we did try with many of them.

And then there was the surprise of the ‘accidental cure’. Greyfur had a painful abscess between his toes, so painful that he would not allow the humans to take a look. One day in the crowd of hungry cats at feeding time, I accidentally stood on his paw. He shrieked in pain. His foot was covered in blood as, quite by chance the abscess had burst. He immediately started to feel better, and with a follow-up course of antibiotics, recovered completely. Needless to say, I was hugely relieved (although still feeling very guilty and apologising repeatedly to poor Greyfur).

This is the link to Blackfur’s story https://thecatisbusy.blog/2025/07/04/blackfurs-night-out/