In the 'when it rains, it pours' department...
Buddy has always had what appeared to be dirty toenails ever since he was a stray that we took in a few years ago, and the vet has never expressed any concern about it before.
Well, to make a long story short, it has now been determined that it's possibly a fungal infection or pemphigus foliaceus. If it does indeed turn out to be PF, looks like we're going to be between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Buddy has FIV and FHV and his immune system is pretty much shot, and it's often hard to tell if he's still getting over the last infection, or has developed a new one.
From what we understand, these are our options:
1. If Buddy does have pemphigus foliaceus and the vet has to treat him with steroids, that's going to suppress his already fragile immune system even more, and he might not be able to fight off any more infections.
2. If he does have PF and we don't treat it, that could potentially be life-threatening, too.
3. If we give Buddy anything to try to improve his immune system and help fight off infections, that could make the PF worse.
So because we get easily flustered when we're at the vet's office, we just want to get our ducks in a row before we have to make any decisions.
Other than a small amount of black gunk around the nail sheath on some of Buddy's toes, he doesn't have any other symptoms of PF. The only reason it even became an issue recently was because we kept finding little clumps of what looked like dirt between a few toes after we got a weird batch of cat litter, and the clumps kept coming back after we cleaned his toenails and changed the litter boxes.
And despite the frequent herpes outbreaks, infections, etc., Buddy acts totally normal, has his usual hearty appetite, and plays with the exuberance of a kitten on speed. Also, from what we understand, stress can be a factor re: pemphigus foliaceus just like it is for the FLUTD that Buddy suffered from in the past (until we discovered catinfo.org). But the vet already has Buddy on Zylkene for that, and we have some Feliway diffusers that he recommended.
Is there such a thing as the lesser of three evils? We just want Buddy to enjoy the best quality of life that he can under the circumstances, and would greatly appreciate any suggestions (including holistic options), questions we need to be asking, etc.
Thanks in advance. :-)
Buddy has always had what appeared to be dirty toenails ever since he was a stray that we took in a few years ago, and the vet has never expressed any concern about it before.
Well, to make a long story short, it has now been determined that it's possibly a fungal infection or pemphigus foliaceus. If it does indeed turn out to be PF, looks like we're going to be between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Buddy has FIV and FHV and his immune system is pretty much shot, and it's often hard to tell if he's still getting over the last infection, or has developed a new one.
From what we understand, these are our options:
1. If Buddy does have pemphigus foliaceus and the vet has to treat him with steroids, that's going to suppress his already fragile immune system even more, and he might not be able to fight off any more infections.
2. If he does have PF and we don't treat it, that could potentially be life-threatening, too.
3. If we give Buddy anything to try to improve his immune system and help fight off infections, that could make the PF worse.
So because we get easily flustered when we're at the vet's office, we just want to get our ducks in a row before we have to make any decisions.
Other than a small amount of black gunk around the nail sheath on some of Buddy's toes, he doesn't have any other symptoms of PF. The only reason it even became an issue recently was because we kept finding little clumps of what looked like dirt between a few toes after we got a weird batch of cat litter, and the clumps kept coming back after we cleaned his toenails and changed the litter boxes.
And despite the frequent herpes outbreaks, infections, etc., Buddy acts totally normal, has his usual hearty appetite, and plays with the exuberance of a kitten on speed. Also, from what we understand, stress can be a factor re: pemphigus foliaceus just like it is for the FLUTD that Buddy suffered from in the past (until we discovered catinfo.org). But the vet already has Buddy on Zylkene for that, and we have some Feliway diffusers that he recommended.
Is there such a thing as the lesser of three evils? We just want Buddy to enjoy the best quality of life that he can under the circumstances, and would greatly appreciate any suggestions (including holistic options), questions we need to be asking, etc.
Thanks in advance. :-)
