I have two previous feral cats that have no teeth, and they have no problem eating dry food, but I prefer not to give it to them because they swallow it whole and it doesn't stay down very well. Both of them had to have all their teeth pulled but are pain free and doing well. I had to leave one at the vets after having the extractions for a week so he could give him his meds. I wasn't going to attempt that every day, I still have the scars from just getting him to the vets. Its one less injury I have to worry about now when I take him for a check up, he can try biting me all he wants but gets nowhere. He's 13 so he's even gotten slower on attempting to scratch me, but still is so much faster than me when trying to grab him for the carrier. Good Luck.
PS. The loose feces seems to have presently cleared up, too. I think he was just literally starving before my eyes. His hair got real dry, too, probably from the malnutrition. So sad. Presently, he's being fed like royalty to make up for it!! I can't help but feel so guilty, and if anyone else has an animal who won't eat, please take tooth problems into serious consideration!
Thank you, I appreciate your help - we must think alike because that's just what I did to catch him for the groomers - I had to go through 3 different cage-traps and it took half year to catch him! Thanks for understanding how different feral cats are, they are shy, timid, easily traumatized, and do NOT want to be caught! Yet most are very sweet and non-aggressive, unless they fear for their lives (such as being caught). Thankfully, my feral boy seems to finally be filling-out after a month of lots of canned cat food, dry food soaked in water and mixed with probiotics and enzyme supplements. I feel so guilty for not having noticed his losing so much weight due to all his fur, obviously, he lost some teeth and couldn't eat the dry food. He must have just helplessly watched my other cat (who has grown much fatter!) gorge himself, while he sat by unable to eat. Breaks my heart to think that such thing happened to him, as he takes life so hard anyway. A long time ago a vet told me no dog or cat will starve itself, it will eventually eat even food it dislikes (such as when trying to change the diet), but he never took into consideration animals who have no teeth!!! Not even considering the cat had no teeth, I just kept feeding him bowls of dry food everyday that he couldn't chew. I feel so guilt, but at least I don't think he has an illness, I think he's just toothless! Thanks for caring!!!
I don't have any good advice, I wish I did. I know how hard it is to try to catch a cat that doesn't want to be caught, it can end up being terrifying for him and bloody for you. I agree that it could be teeth problems, some of our ferals had to have all their teeth removed, and weren't eating very well before they did. My only suggestion is to keep the trap, unset, where he hangs out the most, for a week or two so he used to seeing it. After awhile, then set it with tuna. I had an agreement with my vet that if I was lucky enough to catch the cat I could bring him in at any time and they would keep him there until they could examine him and do the dental work, and I would pick him up when they were done. Good Luck.