neighborhood cat advice
Okay so long story short, someone that lived in my neighborhood just before I moved here abandoned their cat. They moved, left their indoor/outdoor cat behind, came back to get him, changed their mind, and then dumped him back knowing that I would take care of him because when he stopped showing up I had posted in the neighborhood group concerned for his safety. For over a year this cat basically lived on my porch, going as far as to sneak inside my house a handful of times, but recently he has been only coming around maybe once or twice a week. He’s getting skinny and has been showing signs of some kind of ear situation, and today he showed up with a huge, red, open scab behind one of his ears. (I would add a photo but it doesn’t let) And before everyone suggests, I would love to get him fixed/vetted and take him inside. However, I am struggling financially and I already have 2 strictly inside cats who are my whole world. As much as I love this little guy with my whole heart, I cannot and do not want to risk the health and wellbeing of the animals I actually chose to take on.
That being said, it would break my heart if something happened to this baby. I assume that it’s ear mites potentially, so is there anything that I can do over the counter? Electricity was late last month so I have absolutely no wiggle room to get him to a vet. Is it even worth it since he stopped coming around regularly, and whatever meds won’t be able to be given consistently enough?