Winky's paws bleeding, foul smell, looks like a toe has rotted off

Rescued this cat as a tiny wild kitten 2 years ago.  Had to have enucleation of one eye at that time due to severe eye infection.  Named him 'Winky' because his eye was sewn shut & he appears to be winking.  Neutered him when he was old enough.  Been fine until this past summer.  He began favoring hind foot but couldn't get him to come to me.  (You know how territorial cats are - have 15 other rescues.)

 

Showed up on my back porch a couple of weeks ago - scrawny - feeding with the other rescues.  Was able to get him this time & brought him in. 

 

Phew!  Smelled like rotting flesh.  Left rear paw swollen & left a bloody foot print from it when he walked on it.  Front paw on opposite side swollen, bloody.  Looked like a toe on his front paw was in the process of rotting off.  I'm 60 & never seen anything like this in my life.  Like something out of a sci-fi movie.

 

Poured 3% H202 on his feet while he was standing at food bowl.  Gave him 1 dose of probiotics in some wet food.  Gave him colloidal silver in his drinking water daily.  Looked like he'd gained a little weight.  Feet seemed MUCH better.  Toe on front foot IS missing - now - but healing nicely  (Could he have finished chewing it off?)  Foul smell had cleared up.  Seemed like he was going to be okay.

 

Ran out of colloidal silver several days ago so he hasn't had any for several days now.

 

Today THOSE 2 paws are swollen and bloody again - as well as the REMAINING 2 paws - and foul smell has returned.  Put gobs of Manuka honey on them last night to kill bacteria and ease any discomfort in his feet.  As I was leaving him to go to bed he was licking the honey off his paws.

 

Anyone ever heard of anything like this happening in a cat?  Not asking for medical advice - just what the heck this could possibly be attacking little Winky.

Gee . . thanks for your caring response.  Winky thanks you, too.

 

I didn't have much colloidal silver to begin with - maybe enough for a few days.  I'll get some more tomorrow (actually, today since it's after midnight now).  In the mean time I have him on H202 therapy (3% made from 35% H202).  Added some to his water bowl  - which he lapped right up - and poured some on his paws.  I've also got him on a multi-vitamin, a pro-biotic & supplements to boost his immune system.  Thankfully he's eating and drinking well.

 

Manuka honey is the "mac daddy" of all honeys.  It's even proven to be more effective against MRSA (flesh-eating bacteria) than all the antibiotics in conventional medicine (bacteria can't live in the presence of Manuka).  It has a LONG list of health all sorts of health / dental / beauty benefits. 

 

I put some more on his paws this morning and put an e-collar on him.  I took it off for the night to give him a break from it.  He seems a little better but I'm still going to get a refill on the CS.

 

I'm going to give him a good bath in the morning (THAT ought to be a fun way to start the day!), mist him with H202 when he dries, apply some more manuka honey to his paws, bandage them and put the e-collar back on him.

 

Apparently the Manuka honey seems to have helped because the smell seems to have dissipated. It also seems to have helped with the discomfort because he wasn't limping this evening.

 

He won't use the litter box (reminded me WHY I put him outside in the first place) but that's just as well because the litter would stick to his paws but I found a solution - card board box tops from wholesale shopping stores (i.e., Sam's, Costco).  Either a small one (about 12" x 16") or a piece of brown paper does the trick and is actually MUCH easier than the litter box.  As soon as I see he's soiled it, I toss it in the trash and put down another.

 

Once again, thanks.

 

kat

Not all . . . your "two cents worth" is greatly valued and appreciated.

 

I bathed Winky in some organic soap to get rid of that horrid smell of rotting flesh!   Poor thing's paw pads are so inflamed he couldn't put up much of  fight and did wonderfully.  Got a good look at the one paw that looked like the toe had rotted off.  That wasn't the case at all (thank God) but what I saw may have been almost as bad.  The nail of his middle toe was FLAT, WIDE (about the width of a piece of macaroni), curved in a perfect "U" shape growing sideways and into either the toe next to it.  Sent shivers up my spine!

Apparently that's why it appeared the toe was missing because the deformed nail had shifted the toe next to it creating the gap making it appear like a toe was missing.  The nail was so embedded in the flesh of his other toe (or his foot - was very difficult to tell - was such a horrid mess) was difficult to tell which nail was growing into which toe.  Tried to cut the nail as close to the tip as possible to minimize bleeding but couldn't tell which was the tip and which was the bed of the nail.

Figured, what the heck, just cut the dang thing with small pair of wire cutters - it'd hurt, yes - but would still be an improvement over the current situation but the dang nail was unbelievably thick and hard.  Poor thing.  Couldn't bear to try to force the cutters and cause him even more agony.

After he was mostly dry, applied Argentyne colloidal silver gel to his paws, gently massaged in between toes and pads.  To prevent his paws from collecting debris (i.e., litter box) cut the thumb portions off clean vinyl gloves used for food preparation, slipped those over the paws and secured with tape.  Applied a home made soft e-collar around his neck to prevent him from chewing the vinyl off his paws (one that also allowed him to drink, eat and sleep comfortably).

Fed him his favorite wet food laced with a powdered nutritional supplement, Beta Glucan, probiotic, vitamin C (which he greedily gobbled up).

Next morning the vet said she'd NEVER seen anything like it and surmised the same as I - an autoimmune disorder - but had NO clue WHAT  She said if she didn't have his medical records from when he was a kitten, she would never have believed he was only 2 years old.  she said physically Winky looks MUCH older.  She gave him steroid injection, cut his toe nail off (Winky's such a trooper - although it HAD to be excruciating, he never made a sound or put up a struggle).  Poor little fellow has had such a hard life - abandoned or orphaned at such a young age, having to have one eye removed as a small kitten and now this. His brother is large, hefty, muscular tom cat - TWICE Winky's size.

Arrived home, took him out of his pet carrier, loved on him and he pressed into my bosom, clinging to me with his paws as if he was trying to hug me and tell me he was SO glad to finally be home again.

You're right . . I do NOT approve of RX drugs except as a last resort.  Didn't feel that way my entire life until having a catastrophic event from taking properly prescribed what docs call "maintenance" medications PLUS my sister's doc gave her a cortisone shot and within 4 hours she went from a normal healthy person to having a blood sugar reading of over 400! 

Have since learned to control everything with nutrition and healthy lifestyle changes.

 

After a night time fast Winky gets food grade H202 and distilled water in his water bowl (which he readily laps up).  Couple of hours later a fresh bowl with distilled water and Argentyne colloidal silver along with his favorite wet food with the powdered supplement, skin & coat formula, Beta Glucan, a probiotic, vitamin C, Ecchenacia, and propolis - sometimes a little Manuka honey.  The rest of the time he gets raw organic beef or raw organic chicken - especially the organs.  (I may get some dandelion, Ashwagandha and milk thistle to help give his immune system an added boost.)

I sprayed his pads / toes generously with 3% food grade H202.  When that dried I alternate colloidal gel in A.M. with Manuka Honey in P.M. - no bandages - and keep him in a huge wire dog crate with brown paper lining which gets changed out twice daily - no litter box - just a small cardboard box or cardboard box top to wee in.  Once I notice it's soiled gets tossed out and replaced with a new one.

Although all washed up his fur retained some of the horrid smell but that was eliminated by a thorough spraying of food grade H202 until his fur is damp, then a good rub down with a paper towel.  His fur looked much healthier yesterday (2 days after his bath, 1 day after the vet visit).

Thanks for all your and everyone else here on The Cat Site's concern.  Winky's a little trooper.  He won't use a litter box and not sure how I'm going to deal with that but I'm not EVER letting him out of the house again. 

Don't know what happened with him.  Cats are territorial.  Maybe he just went back to the woods because he didn't like all the other rescues and ferals here. 

 

I'll keep you guys posted on his progress and maybe even post a few pix.

Thanks for caring and sharing.  Winky says to thank you for caring and sharing as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopefully this is a final posting.  Winky is doing marvelously.  A moderate exam of his paws a few days ago revealed the paw that was in the WORST condition (the right front with the huge nail growing into his foot or adjacent toe - all bloody and RAW) looked almost normal.  (During the exam he gave a mild growl which I believe is a good sign because, on the initial exam - when he was in severe distress - he resisted very little.)  He walks without limping now.  His right rear paw pads looked normal except for one that was still red but no longer bloody.  Greedy on the food a week ago made it easy to spike his meals with lots of immune-boosting supplements.  Now he's getting more finicky forcing me to become more creative.  He still guzzles the water making it easy to continue administing his Colloidal Silver and H202 therapy.

Still keep him confined to the huge wire doggie crate lined with a LARGE sheet of brown paper (partly due to his raw paw pads, partly because of litter box avoidance). Since the raw spots on his foot pads appear to be healing, a litter box with scoopable litter has been added in hopes to get him to use it.  Litter box avoidance was the reason I had to put him outside to begin with.  Don't know what I'll do now but I know I'll NEVER let him go outside again.

Miracle upon miracle, on two separate occasions, I scooped a huge urine ball from the litter-filled litter box but he'd also still wee'd on the brown paper.  He seems to like to wee in the cardboard box lids I put down so, when he's allowed free run of the sun room once again, I'll keep using those and see how that works.  Until the litter box avoidance situation is resolved he won't be allowed free run of the house.

The other kitties are allowed in the sun room to socialize with Winky now that he's recovering so nicely and no longer the fear of cross contamination.  Although he pretty much ignores them, he's also got plenty of Parrots to keep him company

Winky gives the biggest bear hugs and face rubs during our 'hug' sessions - a dramatic improvement over a couple of weeks ago when one could barely stand to be in the same room with him because of the smell and he was in so much pain he found little enjoyment in anything.

Barely two weeks ago the vet practically issued him a death sentence so this is indescribable relief. 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 11/12/2011

Thanks for everyone's concern. It's very difficult to write this without breaking down in tears. It was a roller coaster with Winky. He'd seem like he was recovering then relapse. He always had horrendous bad breath (another sign of illness). When he passed he was very thin, his nail growh was under control - in fact I only had to cut them twice after the vet had removed that horrendous one growing back into his foot. The pads on one foot seemed to be almost completely healed, two that would go through a circle of flaring up (but not as bad as they were when I found him) then somewhat healing then somewhat flaring up again and one foot that would get really bad where he could barely walk on it then heal somewhat but with a certain amount of inflammation but be able to walk on it. He was severely anemic (his lips were almost white and gums were gray), I fed him raw chicken livers (organic when I could find them), some REALLY expensive cat food I'd had shipped in from California just for him which he liked at first then wouldn't eat it, so I put him back on his favorite canned cat food, healthy dry cat food, whatever healthy food I ate that he liked, vitamins, an iron supplement, colloidal silver and a pro-biotic. One morning 2 weeks ago I'd put him in his outside crate, as usual so he could absorb some natural vitamin D and when I took him his breakfast he'd passed away. Winky was laid to rest in a fern garden here surrounded by multi-colored bromeliads. The center of his grave is adorned with a VERY NICE antique stone statue of St. Christopher one of my neighbors blessed him with. His brother is still here - a hefty black/white tux kitty who's such a baby but has to stay outside because he SPRAYS (litter box issues must run in their family). I appreciate all y'all's concern and prayers - those of you who prayed for Winky..

He was a little trooper from the first day I found him & his brother - running wild, barely old enough to be weaned, his eye had to be removed because it was so badly infected. His eye sewn shut, he looked like he was winking, therefore the name Winky. He was a hugger - try to put his paw around your neck and press his little face to your shoulder. One couldn't help but love him. He's surely missed. At least I have the consolation Tuxie, his brother, is still alive - such a stark contrast to Winky - hefty and robust, the same affectionate personality but he sprays the house so has to stay outside. Thanks for your kind words.