cat lifting paw but not limping

[shebaa]

my 1 year old cat has been lifting his paw (not all the time) for about 4 days. i will catch him doing it maybe 5x a day. but hes not limping. i first noticed it when i was feeding him and thought "aww hes telling me to hurry up!" but then noticed he will also doing that when just standing and he lifts his paw a bit, just enoough not to put pressure on it, for a few seconds, hes eating, playing, walking, running, doing everything normal. i held him the other day and put pressure to see if he cried out in pain, he didnt. i know cats are good with pain tolerance. maybe its nothing, just wanted to know what other people think

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
This makes me wonder if he sprained something? His paw pads are all ok?

 

[shebaa]

i just took a look since i had only checked for pain, he has something there but cant tell if its dirt or blood/cut. hes playing right now so once he calms down im gonna get a soaked wipe and wipe to see if it comes out dirt or blood, him being medium hair doesnt help either! cant get a good view. his other paw/paw pad is completely clean.

 

[shebaa]

this is the best view i can get. also gonna try again tomorrow when its daylight

 

[Furballsmom]

That looks like some kind of sticky gunk, as best as I can tell .. ..? That better explains his behavior of lifting his paw but not limping. Hopefully it's something that you can remove for him without causing a problem

 

[shebaa]

Maybe with tweezers? Ugh he's not gonna like that! All this is gonna have to wait till tomorrow when I have better lighting and someone to help me hold him down. Hopefully it's something easily rremovable and not a cut

 

[shebaa]

I got a better look, so now it doesnt look like somethings stuck. looks like the pad is peeling? what do i do? vet?

 

[artiemom]

Could it be the beginnings of Pillow Paw? Only a Vet can tell. I would contact your Vet, to take a look.
good luck!

 

[shebaa]

i called a couple places. soonest i can get him in is 9 days. we do have a urgent care, so it will be more expensive but not as expensive than an emergency visit. im worried about infection. since he does go outside (supervised) and then of course litter boxes, yuck! but hes eating playing and walking just fine. idk what to do!

 

[Furballsmom]

Try gently dabbing chamomile tea on it. It's anti fungal, anti bacterial, will ease any discomfort and is safe if he licks it.

Get some that's in the regular grocery store, plain unflavored and unblended, brew it, cool it and apply regularly throughout the day 'til you can get to the vet. If it worsens however, you may need to try and get him in sooner

 

[shebaa]

i took him to the urgent care. they cleaned it, gave pain pill with extra to give the next couple days. on top of that, he was mildly dehydrated. his stomatitis might be coming back which means surgery, and also possibly having a heart problem since i mentioned he gets tired easily. so they recommended a chest and/or a pro bnp to make sure he can handle surgery and then of course bloodwork before surgery. UGH!!! MY POOR BABY!!! he just turned 1!! got lots of research to do

 

[Furballsmom]

This might help with the dehyydration;
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

 

[shebaa]

paw healed.
today i noticed same thing with another paw. havent taken a pic yet but looks pretty much the same as last time. maybe a tad bit less ugly. he has a dental on the 26th. figured i would keep an eye on it and have them look at it then. unless it gets worse before then.
any ideas on how to clean, whats safe for cats?

 

[Furballsmom]

Coconut oil? Store bought chamomile tea?

 

[shebaa]

I have neither. I just cleaned it with Saline. This is the best pic I could get. Unlike last time he's not lifting it, it a back foot. I noticed cause he kept licking it. Its a little swollen when comparing it to the good foot. And he kept moving when I touched it but was fine when I touched the good foot so obviously it hurts him. Ugh he's gonna make me take him to the vet again! Spent $450 last time

 

[Alldara]

S shebaa Magnus had ongoing toe issues and it turned out to be allergies. One to grass for starts so we have to limit outside time to the patio. One is to beef and cow byproducts.

For stomachitis, new research has been showing that Omega suppliments help, especially subcutaneous ones. Daily teeth brushing is recommended by my vet too.Efficacy of Omega-3 in Treatment of Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis: A Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study - PubMed

We had Magnus on taurine suppliments to help his heart murmur after heart blood work came back as it not being congestive heart failure. He was a kitten, so he did grow out of it with support. I'm not sure if an older cat will.

Just something to keep in mind while you go through the process. I hope it turns out not too costly for you!

 

[shebaa]

he is a door dasher. im thinking hes getting into some kind of trouble out there. but i always go out find as soon he goes out. did you cats paw also look like either of the pics i attached?
he had a heart ultrasound and everything looks good!
has a dental cleaning later this month. extractions will be determine during cleaning. right now vet is just not sure. thinking its best to take the teeth since hes only a year old and already needs a cleaning.

 

[Furballsmom]

hes only a year old and already needs a cleaning.

Hi - what are you feeding him?

More water is good for all parts of the body
Tips To Increase Your Cat’s Water Intake – TheCatSite Articles

Also, you might look into this product, there's a water additive as well as a gel - I'm very tempted to try it

TropicClean Fresh Breath works

 

[Alldara]

he is a door dasher. im thinking hes getting into some kind of trouble out there. but i always go out find as soon he goes out. did you cats paw also look like either of the pics i attached?
he had a heart ultrasound and everything looks good!
has a dental cleaning later this month. extractions will be determine during cleaning. right now vet is just not sure. thinking its best to take the teeth since hes only a year old and already needs a cleaning.

With Stomachitis, they may need yearly cleaning. Magnus had one at a year old as well. However, the vet didn't want to remove anything unnecessary when it can be treated with regular brushing and OMEGA suppliments. Your vet will have to advise based on how severe your cat's stomachitis is.

Magnus's swelling was around his toe nail beds but the discharge looked the same. He had antibiotics which cleared an infection first, then dug in a plant and got a fungal infection in his not quite healthy toes and then it turned to white and light yellow crusts which was biopsied and we discovered it was allergies.

Have you tried the 'treat at door' trick for your cat? Basically, having people toss a treat or toy down a hallway or the like to distract your door dasher. This worked for our late cat. We were able to teach Magnus "sit" and "back" and basically have all humans trained to set their bags down near the door opening so he runs into those and turns around.

PS. The water additive above is great. Tropiclean makes great teeth cleaning products. I use the gel for my cats. I also clean Magnus's teeth with a q-tip once a day (compostable kind). And a few times a week I use the malt flavoured enzymatic toothpaste and a human's infant toothbrush. I just wait until he's napping and rub it along his teeth. He's quite used to it so it doesn't bug him anymore. He likes to bite the q-tip sometimes.

 

[shebaa]

he gets a can of friskies wet with added water and 1/3 cup of purina one indoor dry. a couple times a week, i split a can between my 2 cats so they get more water cause of this hot summer.

gonna have to look into tropicclean. i thought about the greenies dental treats, any experience with that?

he prefers outside over treats. I started a thread a while back about his door dashing. i live with other people and not everyone respects my wishes. a certain someone will sometimes leave back door open, doesnt have a window screen in his room and refuses to shut the window or put a screen up. his bedroom door is messed up so my cat sometimes can just push it open and jumps out the window. im disabled, otherwise i would board up his window no matter how mad this person got. im on a waiting list for apartments but it can be a while. then we can move out and my kitties will be safe. ive been having good luck with bribing my cat in with squeeze ups. so at least theres that! and we have spray bottles all over. and my other family members does what they can to keep him in. its just that one selfish person i happen to live with