Can anyone identify what this may be on the bottom of the paw?

Telaeus

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This is the paw of a stray we've been helping out the past year. Last week he showed up hopping on three legs. After a few days we managed to get him in the garage and took him to the vet the next morning. The vet said he has an infection and gave him antibiotics. However, my wife got a good picture today (he started on antibiotics three days ago now) and it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen.

I know the antibiotics will take time to work. He still won't put any weight on it though, and the appearance is just so strange. Thanks if anyone has any ideas. You'll have to zoom in to get a better look. He got up and moved when my wife tried to get a closer pic.

Thanks all!
 

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Willowy

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It looks badly injured. Did the vet do any x-rays or were they able to do a thorough exam? Is he supposed to go back in a couple weeks? It might be that the vet wanted to get rid of the infection before doing anything else.
 
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Telaeus

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The vet didn't do x-rays. She said she didn't think anything was broken. He has an appointment to go back in two weeks. He was given a 14 day antibiotic shot.

I don't know how thorough the exam was. Due to Covid-19 it was a drop-off situation and I spoke with the vet over the phone from outside.

It looks really odd though... I don't know what those white shards could be. They look like they'd stick right into his foot if he put weight on them.
 

Leomc123

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could it be bone fragments that has come through the paw? looks like as if something ran over the paw as split it open and the bones in the paw has come through. or they are shards of plastic or ceramic stuck in the paw when the paw got ran over.
 
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Telaeus

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I thought about bone. But the vet told me she didn't think anything was broken. Seems like that would be hard to miss with even a cursory examination.

He obviously doesn't like us touching anywhere near there, and he is a stray, so we try and be careful. He trusts my twelve year old daughter the most, but even the nicest cat can bite when they are in pain.

He is, truth be told, about the most relaxed cat I've ever seen, stray or indoor. He's never so much as hissed in the more than a year we've known him. And this included trying to get him out from under my van with this injury to take him to the vet. Prodding, car alarm, ramp deployment and water spraying was required. And he still let us pick him up and didn't fight or hiss.

I hope it isn't bone. For his sake and because I doubt I could trust this vet anymore for missing it.
 

Leomc123

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This is interesting., i saw the pic on the mobile phone and couldn't enlarge the photo well enough to see properly, now I am on the pc, but it looks like shards of something or small pebble gravel stuck in an existing injury or infection? A piece of it looks squared
Capture.JPG
 

IndyJones

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Looks like a foreign object to me. Possibly gravel, ceramic, or plastic shards. Can't tell without touching it though

It looks like the shards are somewhat embedded in the infected wound making it worse. Are the vets able to knock him out and remove the shards?

The wound also looks quite dirty or like he stepped in tar or wet cement or something.

Will he let you soak it in an epsom salt solution? Just dip the paw in a bowl of water with dissolved epsom salt. A few minutes is ideal but do it for as long as he will tolerate it. The epsom salt will draw out the infection.
 
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Telaeus

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I don't know if he'd tolerate us doing something like that. This is the first time we've let him inside anywhere, and he is a stray. He jerks away if you touch that leg in general. I can't imagine he'd have less of a reaction trying to dip a wound in salt.

What I don't understand is why the vet wouldn't have removed them if they were foreign objects when I took him in Saturday.

I would send this picture to my vet but they are closed until Thursday for Covid deep-cleaning. Just to see what she says they are.
 

di and bob

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That is definitely something foreign embedded in the paw. It needs to come out. Send that photo to the original vet and say you don't think the cat got examined very well to have missed this. Or say it nicer then I would. Or bring the cat to another vet that will examine closer. if it was me, I would try to examine it a little closer to determine what it is. Maybe your daughter could offer him treats and try to get him to relax so you could get closer? Stroking him so he would lay down would help. Whatever it is it looks horrible!
 
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Telaeus

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I did try calling today, even knowing they vet would be closed for cleaning. No answer. I also sent an email with the picture attached. They open back up tomorrow so I'm hoping to get some movement on this issue.

I'll let you know what they say, since everyone's been kind enough to take a look and offer advice.
 

DreamerRose

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Please do. It looks to me like one toe is gone, and then there's all that other stuff. That poor kitty needs some serious attention. Maybe a different vet? Could be the claw got torn off. This happened to Lily a few weeks ago, and after the vet treated it, her wound looked something like your kitty's, but without all that extra gravel or whatever. There wasn't a big hole in Lily's paw, either. That's what makes me think the toe might be gone.
 

IndyJones

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Please ignore the overlay but here is the best image I can find of what I suspect is caked on that paw. Asphalt is my best guess.
 
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Telaeus

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I was able to take Dusty back to the vet today now that they are open again. The vet said she was unable to see any of that when I first took him in last week because his foot was so swollen.

She cleaned out the wound today. It is still infected though after six days on antibiotics, so he is now going to get a second antibiotic along with the first.

Here is an updated picture.
 

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Telaeus

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Well hopefully it heals. It's definitely going slowly. Unfortunately, we found out today he also is FIV+. So that could be part of why this infection won't clear.

And is complicating whether or not we are going to let him into our home with two other FIV- cats.

It's always something... lol.
 
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