Plasma cell pododermatitis - new diagnosis

[stellabug]

TLDR: seeking tips on how to best care for my newly diagnosed cat

Hi fellow cat people!

My sweet baby Stella was diagnosed with plasma cell pododermatitis last week. I am seeking advice from anyone with expertise or experience caring for a cat with the disease! I would appreciate any tips on what worked or didn't work for you as well as any comments on your experience with PCP. Some specific questions I have are:

• How can I help keep her comfortable?
  • Are paw balms helpful?
  • Should I change her litter to something more gentle? If so, recommendations?
  • Tips on nail care while her paws are sore? It has become nearly impossible to trim them!
  • Etc.
• Will spending time outside affect her PCP?
  • We live in the midwest (in case weather plays a role)
  • She does not have free reign outside- only supervised time with me!
• Treatment
  • My vet started Stella on a 10-day course of doxycycline and said if symptoms weren't improving, we would try steroids next. Did anyone else have such a short course of antibiotics or see improvement in that time? All the clinical trials I have read suggest that it commonly takes 4-8 weeks of treatment to see improvement. Can anyone comment on standard veterinary practice or on their experience with PCP treatment?
  • Do steroids improve symptoms faster?
  • Are specific diets helpful? My vet didn't mention this, but I've seen a few references to dietary modifications online. Wondering what this is all about!

In addition to any advice, I would love to hear about all aspects of your experience with PCP! It is so new to me, and I am trying to learn as much as I can so I can keep my Stella healthy and happy!

Thank you in advance for any thoughts. I have included pictures of her paws in case anyone is interested as well as of Stella- just because!

 

[chelsmarie]

My cat also has it. The doxy did help. We did about 10 weeks. Chose not to go onto steroids because of how harsh they can be. Switched her to Okocat soft litter because I heard clay can be painful if embedded in the paw. Time has really helped post doxy. Her paws aren’t entirely normal but much better. I wouldn’t let her outside just because of all the unknown things that might inflame the paws (like hot pavement, rocks etc). I’ve been told the disease is generally not painful to the cats unless they get sores. My cat is still a normal, hyper kitty so all hope is not lost.

 

[fionasmom]

Search Results for Query: pillow foot

These are previous threads about this condition.

 

[barbb]

My Lola was also recently diagnosed. I was given a week of doxy and was instructed to remove fish and beef from her diet, and vet also observed some inflammation in her mouth and recommended dental which I have tried to schedule w specialist but they are booked out. Am a bit concerned to do it at reg vet bc she is 15 w heart murmur but they said they have ways to make it safe for her.
Has anyone else had mouth involvement too? This illness was described as autoimmune. The only thing I can think of that may have triggered it was allowing her to sit outside with me this summer and somehow she was allergic to some thing in our yard even though we do not use any chemicals. But she was never out of our site and being 15 she normally just laid on the deck.

She had one toe on each foot that was inflamed in between toes, but not her actual foot pads. Now that I am writing this I’m thinking about maybe switching her litter

 

[stellabug]

My Lola was also recently diagnosed. I was given a week of doxy and was instructed to remove fish and beef from her diet, and vet also observed some inflammation in her mouth and recommended dental which I have tried to schedule w specialist but they are booked out. Am a bit concerned to do it at reg vet bc she is 15 w heart murmur but they said they have ways to make it safe for her.
Has anyone else had mouth involvement too? This illness was described as autoimmune. The only thing I can think of that may have triggered it was allowing her to sit outside with me this summer and somehow she was allergic to some thing in our yard even though we do not use any chemicals. But she was never out of our site and being 15 she normally just laid on the deck.

She had one toe on each foot that was inflamed in between toes, but not her actual foot pads. Now that I am writing this I’m thinking about maybe switching her litter

Poor Lola! My understanding is that it's not completely understood what triggers the disease. My Stella does not have mouth involvement, but our vet did say to watch out for it. I recently started giving Stella the Royal Canin dental food as treats for tooth discoloration. Not sure if it has any benefits for gum inflammation, but it has done wonders for her oral health!

 

[amyw]

My mother in laws cat, which I took in about two weeks ago, was diagnosed in November. He is five years old. All of his paws were completely raw and bleeding often. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this horrible condition to help him and share my experience to maybe help others.

My mother in laws vet gave him 2 rounds of the 2 week antibiotic shot and steroids with no improvement. About four weeks ago her vet prescribed orbax (antibiotic), azathioprine and a higher dose of steroids. There was no improvement with the orbax and continued use of steroids. He started the aziathioprine two weeks ago.

I took him to my vet about three weeks ago. Bloods tests show he likely has kidney issues and a heart problem (but no heart murmur), as well. He also has very bad teeth. The vet said many of his roots are exposed and will likely need most of them pulled but first, they want to address his paw issues. They said the heart issue may be heart disease but he will need to see a cardiologist but again, wants to focus on his paws first. Two weeks ago, I started using freshnews, a paper litter, and soaking his feet in chlorhexidine 2% and then rinsing well, three times a day.

My vet switched him from orbax to doxycycline last week, we are weening him off steroids and azathioprine starting today and starting a new auto immune suppressant next week.

With all this being said, his paws seem to be improving over the last two weeks. They are no longer raw, it seems the pads are starting to come back. However, this morning it seemed his paws were hurting him, a lot. He did not want to walk on them. I just picked up gabapentin from the vet and started him on that. Hoping this helps.

We see my vet again 02/28 for a checkup. She said that if what we are doing doesnt work, he will need to see an internist.

Look forward to reading others experiences on what works and what doesnt. I hate seeing animals suffer!

 

[amyw]

My mother in laws cat, which I took in about two weeks ago, was diagnosed in November. He is five years old. All of his paws were completely raw and bleeding often. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about this horrible condition to help him and share my experience to maybe help others.

My mother in laws vet gave him 2 rounds of the 2 week antibiotic shot and steroids with no improvement. About four weeks ago her vet prescribed orbax (antibiotic), azathioprine and a higher dose of steroids. There was no improvement with the orbax and continued use of steroids. He started the aziathioprine two weeks ago.

I took him to my vet about three weeks ago. Bloods tests show he likely has kidney issues and a heart problem (but no heart murmur), as well. He also has very bad teeth. The vet said many of his roots are exposed and will likely need most of them pulled but first, they want to address his paw issues. They said the heart issue may be heart disease but he will need to see a cardiologist but again, wants to focus on his paws first. Two weeks ago, I started using freshnews, a paper litter, and soaking his feet in chlorhexidine 2% and then rinsing well, three times a day.

My vet switched him from orbax to doxycycline last week, we are weening him off steroids and azathioprine starting today and starting a new auto immune suppressant next week.

With all this being said, his paws seem to be improving over the last two weeks. They are no longer raw, it seems the pads are starting to come back. However, this morning it seemed his paws were hurting him, a lot. He did not want to walk on them. I just picked up gabapentin from the vet and started him on that. Hoping this helps.

We see my vet again 02/28 for a checkup. She said that if what we are doing doesnt work, he will need to see an internist.

Look forward to reading others experiences on what works and what doesnt. I hate seeing animals suffer!

To clarify, I'm soaking his paws in a mixture of the chlorhexidine 2% with Luke warm water, just enough to make it soapy and then rinsing his paws off well.