Hi, All-
I've been here quite some time ago. Last year we adopted a senior kitty, Salty, but he left us last March (cancer) so we adopted two more kitties in his honor: Stella (a beautiful black tuxedo girl who loves to talk) and Stewie (a handsome, sweet lad who strangely has similar markings as Salty except he's orange instead of black).
Anyhow, I come with a question. Has anyone here experienced foot problems on their kitties? Can cat litter be a contributer to this (we use the multiple cat Tidy Cat)? Do diabetic cats have foot problems like diabetic humans?
Our Stewie has had dry skin on his feet since we adopted him last year. I thought maybe he just gets chapped skin since he was once a starving stray in the winter (all bones when we adopted him) and was probably malnourished as a kitten...maybe it was frostbite?
Well, it just kept getting worse. We noticed him limping and he had pus on his feet. It's like the skin keeps dying and scaling off--sometimes a whole layer at a time--sometimes getting infected and causing him to limp from the pus. Poor little guy.
When we discovered this last week, we rushed him to the vet. She is really boggled by it. She said cats normally get infections between their toes and in the nailbed, but Stew's is all over his toes. No where else on his body is scaly or pussy--he has very healthy skin except on his feet. She even called a feline dermitologist and prescribed us antibiotics and a shampoo to wash those feet once every other week for about two weeks (not fun).
To top it off, his blood sugar was high--but she is going to take a urine sample from him when they clean his teeth this month to be sure. She said the blood sugar goes up in some cats when they get scared in the clinic so he may not have diabetes (I'm thinking it may be responsible for foot problems if he did). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Well, I washed his feet tonight for the first time. It was a chore, but thank goodness he has a sweet disposition. When I rinsed his toes I ended up sticking him in the tub with the water up a few inches so we didn't have to deal with squirming. All this litter came off in the tub--I never saw it sticking to his feet (he's long-haired)...so we were wondering if maybe the Tidy Cat is causing his foot problems?
It's a mystery and we just want our little boy to get better, and I welcome input. Thanks!
I've been here quite some time ago. Last year we adopted a senior kitty, Salty, but he left us last March (cancer) so we adopted two more kitties in his honor: Stella (a beautiful black tuxedo girl who loves to talk) and Stewie (a handsome, sweet lad who strangely has similar markings as Salty except he's orange instead of black).
Anyhow, I come with a question. Has anyone here experienced foot problems on their kitties? Can cat litter be a contributer to this (we use the multiple cat Tidy Cat)? Do diabetic cats have foot problems like diabetic humans?
Our Stewie has had dry skin on his feet since we adopted him last year. I thought maybe he just gets chapped skin since he was once a starving stray in the winter (all bones when we adopted him) and was probably malnourished as a kitten...maybe it was frostbite?
Well, it just kept getting worse. We noticed him limping and he had pus on his feet. It's like the skin keeps dying and scaling off--sometimes a whole layer at a time--sometimes getting infected and causing him to limp from the pus. Poor little guy.
When we discovered this last week, we rushed him to the vet. She is really boggled by it. She said cats normally get infections between their toes and in the nailbed, but Stew's is all over his toes. No where else on his body is scaly or pussy--he has very healthy skin except on his feet. She even called a feline dermitologist and prescribed us antibiotics and a shampoo to wash those feet once every other week for about two weeks (not fun).
To top it off, his blood sugar was high--but she is going to take a urine sample from him when they clean his teeth this month to be sure. She said the blood sugar goes up in some cats when they get scared in the clinic so he may not have diabetes (I'm thinking it may be responsible for foot problems if he did). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Well, I washed his feet tonight for the first time. It was a chore, but thank goodness he has a sweet disposition. When I rinsed his toes I ended up sticking him in the tub with the water up a few inches so we didn't have to deal with squirming. All this litter came off in the tub--I never saw it sticking to his feet (he's long-haired)...so we were wondering if maybe the Tidy Cat is causing his foot problems?
It's a mystery and we just want our little boy to get better, and I welcome input. Thanks!
