Vet recommends Bleach water bath for my cat??

[Eatingiceman]

Hi all my female cat has a suspected yeast infection on her paws. Shes also has a lot of food allergies that might have been related to the yeast infection on her skin. Anyway I went to a vet for it and she recommended that I do a 1tsp of bleach in 1L of water solution and bathe her feet in it for 5 minutes?? Am I just crazy or Is this a normal treatment? I've heard of cleaning surfaces in your house with a solution like that but never putting it on my cats paws. Any advice?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I have never heard that one before. Maybe on the surfaces where your cat tends to hang out, as yeast can be hard to eradicate... I have heard of organic apple cider vinegar diluted in water being used on a cat for a fungal infection, but I am not sure I would even try that - especially on broken skin due to the sting it would cause. Even coconut oil is supposed to help kill fungus. Did the vet prescribed an anti-fungal medications? I sure hope so. If not, find another vet through a family member/friend/co-worker/neighbor.

In addition to anti-fungal medications, you can use chamomile tea - standard grocery store tea bags, which are almost always German; you don't want English nor any additives or flavorings. Brew a bag in water, cool the liquid and then apply it to her paws with a clean soft cloth, multiple times a day. The tea has both anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, and is a soothing and healing agent.
And - unlike bleach - it is safe for her to ingest should she lick her paws afterward.

I am sure other members will come along soon with additional suggestions - hopefully none of them are related to bleach (at least not ON the cat)!!!

 

[Eatingiceman]

She suggested the foot bath and gave me atopica for cats. This is my second vet I've consulted on the same issue, the first one prescribed surolan but it didn't seem to help that much and they wanted to switch her straight to antibiotics. I was hoping for an alternative treatment to antibiotics because it will mess with her gut too much.

 

[FeebysOwner]

May be there is something in these articles that might help you decide what to do next. I don't think either of the vets you have seen are really digging deep enough to come of up with a plan of attack. Sometimes it can even require a skin scraping for analysis to pinpoint what type of yeast is involved. Also, with yeast, household disinfecting is usually an absolute must in order to help stop the propagation of the yeast. Perhaps, a dermatologist would serve you better?

How To Cure Fungus In Cats - 3 steps (onehowto.com)
Fungal Infection in Cats (vetinfo.com)

 

[Antonio65]

When my kitten was found with a mycosis, in addition to the regular oral treatment for it (itroconazole), the vet also suggested me a local treatment with chlorhexidine, which is effective against yeast infection but it's safe for pets. It worked fine in my case.
I wouldn't use bleach.

 

[fionasmom]

If you want to try an approach like that, use apple cider vinegar or chlorhexidine as have been suggested. I would not use bleach. Period. This is the 21st century and these vets need to make a little bit more of a medical effort to solve this issue.