Cats foot keeps getting infected and I'm not sure why? Help!

[Tay567]

So my kitten is 6 months old. Hes and indoor cat. Super energetic but a month ago he got an infection between his toes on his back left foot. We had no idea what it was from and took him to the vet. They didn't really look at it very well and just gave us an antibiotic and said he probably cut his foot on something?

It definitely wasn't a cut. It was deep inbetween his toes, it was swollen and red and smelt bad and had yellow stuff on the surface too. We cleaned it, have him antibiotics and out ointment on it and after about 2 weeks it healed and went away. Now about 3 weeks after finishing with the one foot today I saw he was limping. So I checked his foot and once again he now has the same problem on his FRONT left foot.

It's once again red, swollen and mostly inbetween his toes between the pads. It's also got yellow stuff on it.

I'm just not sure what to make of this since it now seems like it's a recurring problem? It seems to escalate so quickly too. We trimmed his nails recently and his pads were all fine. Now his foot is swollen and gunky in just a few days?

I have tried to find information online and will be taking him to a vet on Monday again to get tests. But I wanted to find out if anyone knew what this was or why it could be happening?

It doesn't look like a yeast infection cause there isn't black gunk between the toes. It could be an allergic reaction to our floor cleaner? I cleaned the floor last week after a long time and suddenly this happened? It could be something else? I'm just at a loss for what's going on and why it always seems to be infected so quickly

 

[kittyprincesss]

Some questions, what kind of litter do you use? I would be worried about litter getting into his paw, that looks very painful. Poor guy, I am sure he is hurting. What floor cleaner did you use? Could he be fighting with the other cat? How is his energy, appetite? If there is that yellow pus, I would definitely suspect a possible abscess that burst. You said you trimmed his nails, was this done by you? If so maybe you cut too short and thus it allowed bacteria to get into the paw pad. I would also consider a second opinion from a different vet, if this is the same vet you went to, you state that they did not really give a good look at it. If it were me, this would upset me and I would be eager to seek out help from a vet who cares more.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Absolutely, I would suggest getting another opinion. Tell the new vet what your old vet prescribed, and where the original issue was.

 

[Tay567]

Some questions, what kind of litter do you use? I would be worried about litter getting into his paw, that looks very painful. Poor guy, I am sure he is hurting. What floor cleaner did you use? Could he be fighting with the other cat? How is his energy, appetite? If there is that yellow pus, I would definitely suspect a possible abscess that burst. You said you trimmed his nails, was this done by you? If so maybe you cut too short and thus it allowed bacteria to get into the paw pad. I would also consider a second opinion from a different vet, if this is the same vet you went to, you state that they did not really give a good look at it. If it were me, this would upset me and I would be eager to seek out help from a vet who cares more.

- We use a grass based cat litter. So it's non scented and a little more natural. It's not like a hard clay litter thank goodness.

- We use the Lysol multipurpose cleaner (citrus) but I'm going to stop that for sure. We don't mop often but last weekend I mopped and now his other foot is sore? So it could be this?

- he doesn't fight the other cats, he bullies them sometimes! Because he wants to play and they don't Haha. But it's never any fighting.

- he eats like a horse. His appetite Is 100%, he also is still high energy. Running around jumping, just last night was the first indicator with the limp something was wrong. And it was the same with the other foot too! I'd never have known something was wrong unless I'd accidentally seen the first one.

- we have 5 cats and trim their. Nas every so often so they don't hurt each other. We only take the very sharp tip off and NEVER cut near the pink in the nail. So I don't think it is related to this at least especially since it's affecting just the inbetween of his toes and not his nail at all.

- we are taking him to a different vet. I am very very frustrated that the first vet didn't really check. Even as someone who's not a vet myself I can see it's not what they said it was and I want a proper in depth opinion on whats going on here! Especially since it came back I'm worried it could be an underlying health issue or allergy

 

[LTS3]

- We use the Lysol multipurpose cleaner (citrus) but I'm going to stop that for sure. We don't mop often but last weekend I mopped and now his other foot is sore? So it could be this?

Yes, stop using Lysol and all Lysol and similar products. Lysol and many household cleaners contain phenols which are known to be toxic to cats and other pets. At the very least, the phenols are irritating to cats.

A vinegar and baking soda solution is safe to use around pets and works for most general household cleaning. Some people use the wet Swiffer on floors around their pets and have no issues. For heavy duty messes, use a household cleaner if you must but definitely rinse with plenty of water afterwards to remove residue and keep the cats out of the area until it dries.

I second a new vet. Some vets just aren't very good and brush off questions and give out band aid fixes without getting to the bottom of the issue.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I use the Swiffer Wet Jet, but NEVER with the citrus scent. Lysol could be the culprit, actually.

 

[susanm9006]

Take him back to the vet and ask if they can biopsy the infected area, just in case there is something bigger than a single infection going on.

 

[Tay567]

Take him back to the vet and ask if they can biopsy the infected area, just in case there is something bigger than a single infection going on.

We have him booked for his neuter on Monday. I doubt they will go ahead with it if he has an infection (this is a different vet who hasn't seen his foot yet but we couldn't get an appointment for him when we needed the foot checked the first time) so hopefully we can go in anyway and they can check his foot correctly and run tests to figure out what's going on. The fact that it came back on another foot worries me a bit so i will definitely ask them to do tests

 

[tarasgirl06]

We have him booked for his neuter on Monday. I doubt they will go ahead with it if he has an infection (this is a different vet who hasn't seen his foot yet but we couldn't get an appointment for him when we needed the foot checked the first time) so hopefully we can go in anyway and they can check his foot correctly and run tests to figure out what's going on. The fact that it came back on another foot worries me a bit so i will definitely ask them to do tests

It sounds as if he is stepping on something or coming into contact with something that is cutting him and causing an infection. I'm not a vet but that's my guess, as it happened first on one foot and then on another.
Cruelty-free, more natural cleaners are better. You can even get those steam cleaning mops that use only hot water to clean. For any kind of cat "accident" I rely on Nature's Miracle-Just For Cats which is an enzymatic cleaner that is safe and that destroys the molecules of the "accident" leaving a clean surface. It is available widely, at "pet" supply venues online and otherwise, such as Petco. For really bad "accidents" I have a Bissell SpotBot "Pet" which is a robotic spot shampooer. You use it in conjunction with the cleaners made for the unit. They are widely available including at places like Target.
Another good safe cleaner is Dr. Bronner's. You can use it for bathing, shampoo, teeth cleaning (!), household cleaning. It is cruelty free and safe, available where "health food" products are sold, and comes in a variety of formulas/scents which are all gentle.
Please let us know what his checkup yields! and best wishes for him!

 

[Draco]

my cat would get red sore feet from running and skidding on my hardwood floor, he's that energetic. Im wondering if its the same? or why it's not healing? looks similar from constant friction on floor

 

[Caspers Human]

I'm afraid you're going to have to bite the bullet and give the place a good cleanout with Clorox bleach and hot water.

It sounds, to me, like you've got a pocket of bacteria or some other infectious agent, lurking in the corners, somewhere. You're going to have to knock it down and, I'm sorry to say that this is not a job for "natural" cleaners.

I love Dr. Bronner's soap. I use it every day but it's not a disinfectant. Neither is vinegar and baking soda. It's time to bring out the big guns!

Mix 1/4 cup of bleach with a gallon of warm water. Wear rubber gloves. Wear eye protection.

Wash out your cat's litter box with soap and hot water, followed by bleach water. Dry thoroughly and replace the litter with all brand new.
Clean and mop the area where your cat's litter box is and, again, use bleach to kill germs.
Do the same for any area where the cat goes frequently, such as the kitchen floors.

Just make sure to keep your cat out of the areas being disinfected until everything is clean and dry. A little bit of bleach smell left over after cleaning is okay, just so long as all surfaces where the cat touches are clean and dry.

If you don't do something to clean and disinfect things you could be setting yourself up for problems.
The cat will get an infected paw and spread bacteria all around the house but every time you think he's getting better, he'll accidentally get reinfected then the cycle will just keep repeating.

The only way to get rid of this is to take your cat to the vet to get this infection treated then come home and clean the living crap out of your house.

When I was a kid, my father used to breed hunting dogs. I've seen this same thing happen with the dogs. A dog gets an infection and it starts spreading to all the other dogs. The only way to stop it is to take all the dogs out of their kennels and strip everything down to the bare floors. The whole kennel would be cleaned with a pressure washer loaded with chlorine bleach. All the bedding and things would be replaced. Food bowls, water buckets and anything that's not tied down would be removed, cleaned and disinfected before being replaced.

I know it's drastic but drastic times call for drastic measures.

 

[l1ne13]

Tay

So my kitten is 6 months old. Hes and indoor cat. Super energetic but a month ago he got an infection between his toes on his back left foot. We had no idea what it was from and took him to the vet. They didn't really look at it very well and just gave us an antibiotic and said he probably cut his foot on something?

It definitely wasn't a cut. It was deep inbetween his toes, it was swollen and red and smelt bad and had yellow stuff on the surface too. We cleaned it, have him antibiotics and out ointment on it and after about 2 weeks it healed and went away. Now about 3 weeks after finishing with the one foot today I saw he was limping. So I checked his foot and once again he now has the same problem on his FRONT left foot.

It's once again red, swollen and mostly inbetween his toes between the pads. It's also got yellow stuff on it.

I'm just not sure what to make of this since it now seems like it's a recurring problem? It seems to escalate so quickly too. We trimmed his nails recently and his pads were all fine. Now his foot is swollen and gunky in just a few days?

I have tried to find information online and will be taking him to a vet on Monday again to get tests. But I wanted to find out if anyone knew what this was or why it could be happening?

It doesn't look like a yeast infection cause there isn't black gunk between the toes. It could be an allergic reaction to our floor cleaner? I cleaned the floor last week after a long time and suddenly this happened? It could be something else? I'm just at a loss for what's going on and why it always seems to be infected so quickly

View attachment 409112

Hi, did you find out what the problem was? I'm having the same issue, my vet is saying it's come in contact with something that's burned the paw.
567

 

[fionasmom]

This is an older thread and T Tay567 has not been back for well over a year. The cat in question did not have a burn, as far as this reads.

Cat Jumped on Hot Stove =(
This thread contains information about other TCS posts about burned feet.

Did you mean a burn from a stove or heat source or a chemical burn?

 

[tarasgirl06]

This is an older thread and T Tay567 has not been back for well over a year. The cat in question did not have a burn, as far as this reads.

Cat Jumped on Hot Stove =(
This thread contains information about other TCS posts about burned feet.

Did you mean a burn from a stove or heat source or a chemical burn?

EEEH! Thanks for the update post, fionasmom . We'll just need to hope and pray that T Tay567 's sweet cat is healed, well, safe, and being given the best loving care.

 

[Tay567]

Hi guys!!
Sorry it's been a looong time but I have an update and I now know what was happening to biscuit!

Turns out he has a food allergy! He's allergic to everything other than turkey. And he has something called eosinophilic granuloma. Basically he's autoimmune and his immune system reacts to allergies by attacking his body. So when he has an allergic reaction to food he gets sores inbetween his feet. And he even gotten a sore on his lip which is how we finally figured it out.

The wounds don't heal properly because the allergic reaction needs to stop first and then they need something like a corticosteroid to take down the swelling. The infection is a secondary thing that happens because they take long to heal.

Hopefully if anyone else who has mystery sores on their kitty might see this and look into the allergies as a possible cause!

 

[fionasmom]

T Tay567 Thanks so much for replying! Glad that Biscuit is better.

 

[l1ne13]

Hi Fionasmom,

Thanks for replying! I can see that Tay567 has written an update. I think this is what's happening to my Leo. Everything that she's described is what's happening and the vets haven't diagnosed it properly yet. I just googled eosinophilic granuloma from Tay567's update and one of the symptoms is fat lips. My Leo also had this and I just thought our other cat Luna got him when they play fight or he scratches his face too much.

He could not have burned his foot as what my vet says as it's in between the paws and now I can see his other foot is starting to wound in between the paws. If it was contact contact burn it would've been mostly on the pad.

Thank you!

 

[fionasmom]

Your logic is really correct. A burn definitely looks like a burn and would be on the pad. I would try to get the vet to help you with this and consider that it is something like an allergy or skin condition. If your vet is not willing to work with you, maybe someone locally can recommend another one, or you can find a cat only (not just cat friendly) vet.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Thanking you for the UPdate with that helpful info, T Tay567 and hope & pray Biscuit will heal completely and be healthy and well. There are so many, often mysterious, things that can affect cats (and people, and others) -- some of them can be found, explained and treated, others, not so much. Very glad you've isolated the problem and hoping Biscuit loves turkey!