New to board

[Guest]

Hello everyone

Just found the board *looks great* and wanted to register and say hi.

My wife and I are also in need of some help for our 1 year old cat *Cole* He is got a serious infection going on between the pads of his rear left foot. We noticed it a few weeks ago because he was licking and biteing it a lot. Noticed red areas between the pads, and it turned into one of the 4 upper pads being very swelled up also.

I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do. This happened a month or so ago with his FRONT left paw, and we got him to a vet right away. Vet put him on amoxicillan(sp?) and hit cleared up after a week. Did fungus tests and were all negative. Never really found out WHY he had this, but it went away.

Now it's happening again with his rear foot The vet we went to also happens to be a friend of my dads. We couldn't get Cole into see him right away but my dad talked to him on the phone and he said to try spraying Bactine on it to keep him from licking and biting at it, and or rub it with 20/1 bleach. Well the Bactine did not keep him from licking it, and the bleach though very dilluted must have still stung bad, so we're not doing that again.

Because we couldn't get him in for a actual visit right away we took him to another vet where we got him in same day. The new vet put him on Baytril for a week and said he has cysts(sp?) between pads and some cats are prone to this and that's probably why he bites and licks them. Give him the antibiotic and try soakin it in warm water.

Well it's been a week and the pads are still red between them and swollen. I don't know who or what to believe anymore. I thought he was chewing them and creating the problems by doing so *possibly nerves* and the next vet says he's chewing them cause of cysts.

I just want two things.....1. For him to get better and 2. To find out whats causing this? I've even heard or been told "clumping" litter will stick up in his feet and cause him to bite them, so I've switched him to non-clumping kind last day or two.

Sorry this post is long as hell and probably bored you. If ANYONE has experianced anything like this, please let me know

Rick

[davet]

i always found it was best to bandage these things to keep the dogs from licking at them...moisture is usually the culprit so bandagein, with changing daily, will help. also some times a powder medication, if antibiotics or even bacteriastatic foot powder jhelp..but dryness is the most important...wait for Traci she may have som newer and better ideas...good luck---oh by bandage i mean several wraps with ace bandage....but not too tight and changed daily

[Traci]

Rick, I strongly suggest getting a new opinion from a feline-only vet or even a veterinary university vet. I know you said testing for fungals was done, but perhaps its time to do that again, as well as a cytology to determine other possibilities.

I would rule out cryptococcosis, pemphigus, eosinophilic granuloma complex, immune-mediated diseases as such. Ask the vets for a feline serology to rule out immune-mediated problems. You may be faced with removal of the cysts for pathology (biopsy), as this may be the only way to determine the type. Its important they are identified (i.e, fungal vs neoplastic) so that you are ensuring treatment is appropriate to the problem in particular, not treating blindly.

Please don't use bactine or bleach again, despite your vet's instructions, that wouldn't be an approach I wouldn't suggest, not to mention how excruciatingly painful that must have been! I would instead, talk about using betadine soaks, and maybe even temporary use of prednisone, but full bloodwork should be done prior to any use of prednisone (this is where the serology comes in handy, to rule out immune-mediated conditions, whereas pred may or may not be contraindicated)...if primary bloodwork has not been done, this should be a priority (chem screens and hematology, CBC)

I think it's really important that you investigate this further with advanced testing as mentioned above. Obviously it is not responding to the usual antibiotic approach, meaning it could be aggressive in nature and if it is immune-mediated, the treatment approach would be aggressive and quite varied than simple antibiotic use.

Again, I strongly suggest a pro opinion because it doesn't sound like your vets have much experience with this, let alone able to diagnose it clearly.

[Auntie Debbie]

I'm sorry your kitty has such a condition and I agre with Traci that maybe someone with more experience in this field could be more helpful.
Here is a link that lists some possibilities you may be interested in reading:

http://www.vetmedcenter.com/Consumer/di ... =8496&dt=p

Other possibilites

http://www.vetmedcenter.com/Consumer/vm ... ermatology

http://www.peteducation.com/category_su ... 1&cat=1338

I hope you can get to the bottom of Cole's pad problem.[/url]

[doubleR]

i always found it was best to bandage these things to keep the dogs from licking at them...moisture is usually the culprit so bandagein, with changing daily, will help. also some times a powder medication, if antibiotics or even bacteriastatic foot powder jhelp..but dryness is the most important...wait for Traci she may have som newer and better ideas...good luck---oh by bandage i mean several wraps with ace bandage....but not too tight and changed daily

Thanks for the reply davet Unfortunatly Cole is a cat and at least I'm told they are very tempermental about foot wrapings.

[doubleR]

Traci,

Wow...thanks for your input! That's alot of stuff I got no real idea about or really heard of. I have no idea of any feline-only vets in my area, but will be looking as well as searching for answers.

Rick

[doubleR]

Auntie Debbie,

Thank You very much for the links!!

[Traci]

Rick, check in your local phone book and look for any listing (yellow pages) that may state professional organizations, specialties, etc in feline medicine. If you can't find anything, then ask your vet to refer you to a feline specialist, it is incumbent upon him to do so, given the lack of a clear diagnosis, I do suspect he hasn't treated this before and may not be looking for the obvious. Even a local emergency vet hospital can probably help you much more with this situation. It's important you rule these things out before they manifest into worsening problems. Some of them can be life-long conditions that may wax and wane during times of stress, etc, so it's paramount to get a diagnosis and initiate effective treatment right away. Cole is only a year old, so getting the upper hand on this ASAP is truly in his best interests.

Keep us updated....