Growth on Cat Paw

[Black&White]

Hello everyone,
I just noticed this black growth on my cats paw, its shaped like a claw but soft and like a growth of some kind. Any ideas?
Thank you!

 

[di and bob]

It's either a fungus or necrotic (dead) tissue, either would need to be seen by the vet. any other symptoms, acting/eating fine?

 

[Black&White]

Thank you for your reply, yes it certainly looks like dead tissue. She does have bowen's disease, but typically the lesions she gets are on her face/neck, and this does not look related. She also has a heart murmur, but otherwise she is acting/eating well. We are going to book an appointment tomorrow with our vet...

 

[fionasmom]

It looks like necrotic tissue to me, from having seen it on ferals I have dealt with; however, that does not mean that I am correct. Glad you are going to the vet.

 

[Black&White]

Thank you, I just sent our vet a note about it, how would necrotic tissue like this be treated?

 

[fionasmom]

Tissue necrosis is usually treated by excision; however, I am not necessarily up on any new techniques which might be available.

 

[Black&White]

We went to our vet yesterday, and it was just some 'tar' stuck on her fur, he shaved it off...
Her weight was stable, her loss of muscle mass seems to be age related, shes about 13.
He checked her heart, and said he could no longer hear her heart murmur, it was level 3 six months ago, and we had an ultra sound done. Now he said he just hears an arrhythmia.
She has three very resistant lesions that I have been treating with imiquimod for the past 8 months, she has bowens, with one large one on her neck. We discussed cutting it out, incision and so forth, I didn't realize this was an option, we were trying to have laser ablation done in Vancouver, but they refused due to her heart murmur...
So, now there doesn't appear to be a heart murmur, and an incision procedure seems like a viable alternative.
Does anyone have experience with this type of procedure with their cat?

 

[fionasmom]

I am glad that the marks on the foot were tar, and resolved by the vet. Did the imiquimod produce any results? I do not have experience with this particular type of surgery although in the case of an older animal with other medical conditions I would look for a specialize clinic which has had a lot of success with surgery in that population. My dog is a melanoma survivor, very elderly and with other conditions, and I asked for a referral to a special hospital in the area with a very skilled surgeon rather than letting his vet perform it in her office.

 

[Black&White]

Thank you for your reply, the imiquimod works well for new outbreaks, usually red dots that appear, and resolve after 2-3 applications. The most resistant 3 though have not resolved after 8 months so we will most likely have them surgically removed since that is our only option now. Yes, we do have a specialist hospital, I will see about that after I receive the estimate from our vet. He has been quite good, I have no idea about his ability with a knife and what there would be to consider when doing this type of procedure, the lesions are in the skin, and the largest one is on her neck where the skin is quite lax so he thought that one would work, but I will see about considering other options.

 

[fionasmom]

I am no expert, but you definitely have to get clean margins if you remove the lesions which is where a specialist might come in. Please let us know how this works out.