Paddy's blood results are back.

[Emeraldgreen]

Paddy is still very large though he doesn't eat that much more than the other guys. He certainly tries but we limit his intake. We are taking him in for a full work up next week but in the meantime I've been watching him and noticing that he walks gingerly on his paws. He's always had a funny way of walking from the day we brought him home last October but we thought it was just due to his big size but it is much more noticable now.

I decided to examine his paws carefully and his pads all looked pretty good and then I squeezed his pads so his nails would pop out. I was shocked by what I saw on a few nails on each foot and I'm anxious to have the vet look at it to see what the heck is going on!!
All this time, I thought he was walking gently because of his weight but his weight gain might be because he walks very little because his nails hurt! And I'm sure the added weight is awfully painful on those nails.
Poor Paddy has been on the back burner while we focused so much on Tiger but now he is off to the vet to get to the bottom of this.
Here are some pics of a few of his nail beds. Each foot has at least two nails like this. Does anybody have an idea of what this could be? I'm wondering if it is a fungal infection.

[Catlady711]

I can't say for sure since I'm not a vet and I can't tell from the pix really good....but

Jack has several nails on each back foot like that. Only in Jack's case the fur is discolored as well. I finally figured out it was from him scratching his ears and it was a dirt/wax buildup on his nails. Jack's not really cooperative about frequent ear cleanings, nor having his nails scrubbed, hence the discolored fur.

I hope your vet finds something similarly benign going on with your Paddy's toenails and maybe his walking is just due to weight or something simple.

Keep us posted.

[Catty1]

Oh, OW! Poor baby! I don't know if it is fungal, but it sure looks sore!

Here's a pic of a dog's claw which looks similar:


http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...%3Den%26sa%3DN

Hi folks,

My day went a bit awry today when I came home briefly today before heading out for a lunch appointment. I found my little Rumply one limping in the backyard. When I picked him up to have a look at his foot, which I had spotted looking rough and black, he curled right up in my arms. Though he is a very affectionate cat, he is not normally quite so snuggly. Uh-oh.

Though it clearly hurt him he let me have a look around and I could see that his toenail was facing the sky and there was a lot of black gunk in there. I tried to take a photo but my camera was being temperamental so this was the best shot I could get...



Lunch was cancelled and a vet appointment made. When we got there, the vet removed his toenail, cleaned the wound, gave him a couple of jabs and me a few antibiotic pills for him to take over the next few days. Rumple has never been so subdued at the vet's office before! While all this was taking place he was again clearly in pain - hissing and growling, though without needing restraint or sedation and while letting me pat and him and try and calm him. It was really interesting; it was a though he knew we were helping him but still needed to let us know that it was really hurting!!

...I paid the bill ($120 - $50 for the consultation and $70 for the jabs and pills!!!)...

Hope this helps...

[krazyaboutkatz]

Whatever it is, I sure hope that it's nothing serious and that it can be easily treated. Please continue to keep us updated.

[Medusa]

I'm having a hard time making the pix out, Lara, but I do know that Puddy has several bad nails on top of all her other problems. They grow crazy, curve inward, etc. and I keep them clipped as best I can but she has one that's growing in a circle right now and when I try to clip it, she screams. Dr. Lee tried and managed to get a little more cut but you can always tell when Puddy enters the room because you can hear 'tap, tap,tap' on the hardwood floor. Do Paddy's nails grow like that and/or are they discolored? Puddy's are discolored, too.

[Emeraldgreen]

I'm having a hard time making the pix out, Lara, but I do know that Puddy has several bad nails on top of all her other problems. They grow crazy, curve inward, etc. and I keep them clipped as best I can but she has one that's growing in a circle right now and when I try to clip it, she screams. Dr. Lee tried and managed to get a little more cut but you can always tell when Puddy enters the room because you can hear 'tap, tap,tap' on the hardwood floor. Do Paddy's nails grow like that and/or are they discolored? Puddy's are discolored, too.

Thanks everybody for your replies. Paddy's nails do grow quite quickly and we trim them for him. I think his lack of exercise is the reason that they seem to grow so quickly. What looks like a problem is the base of at least four of his nails. I couldn't look at all of them because he lost patience with me and it seemed to make him very uncomfortable when I was examining them. They're definitely painful for him. The base of some of the nails is dark red, almost black. I don't know if it's blood or fungus or what! I don't think it's from scratching his ears because they're pretty clean and it's also on some of the nails on his front feet.

Candace, thanks for the pics you posted. The one kitty looks like he has a nail that was injured and ended up with it facing upwards which probably caused the base to break and become bloody. So I don't think Paddy is dealing with the same thing.
Paddy's nails are kind of similar to the dog pic except that the blackness/redness is right at the base of each of the nails where his nail is attached to his foot.

I know the pics are hard to make out and the last one is actually upside down. Sorry about that. lol

My camera won't focus in when I take the pic and if I use a flash it overexposes it so you can't see anything. I've tried zooming in and then it really gets fuzzy.

I'm hoping it's something that we can clear up with some meds so he can feel comfortable walking again and hopefully that will lead to weight loss. We'll also get his thyroid checked and some other stuff to see if anything else is going on.

[sugarpaws]

Emeraldgreen
I don't know if this will help but it sounds a bit similar, not so severe though. Our oldest furry child Heidi Ann is very arthritic and carries a big pouch on her belly, has a very hard time walking- it breaks my heart seeing how she struggles (she is on Metacam and Cosequin for this). Last winter we noticed when it was pedicure day that her nails l(mostly hae back ones) ooked exactly like what you described. I rushed her in to our vet and she said this is a yeast accumulation in the nail bed. It went away in a couple of weeks - not completely though, she still has it at the base of each nail. We watch her nails carefully because of this, and because she can't clean very well due to the pain in her joints, so there is always litter accumulating under the nail. I wonder if your baby's nail had a secondary infection from yeast? I hope your sweetie feels better soon.

[Emeraldgreen]

Emeraldgreen
I don't know if this will help but it sounds a bit similar, not so severe though. Our oldest furry child Heidi Ann is very arthritic and carries a big pouch on her belly, has a very hard time walking- it breaks my heart seeing how she struggles (she is on Metacam and Cosequin for this). Last winter we noticed when it was pedicure day that her nails l(mostly hae back ones) ooked exactly like what you described. I rushed her in to our vet and she said this is a yeast accumulation in the nail bed. It went away in a couple of weeks - not completely though, she still has it at the base of each nail. We watch her nails carefully because of this, and because she can't clean very well due to the pain in her joints, so there is always litter accumulating under the nail. I wonder if your baby's nail had a secondary infection from yeast? I hope your sweetie feels better soon.

Thank you Sugarpaws. I wonder if it might be a secondary infection, and if it is then it might be what is causing him pain. If it turns out to be an infection, I hope an antibiotic will be able to clear it up to make him more comfortable.

I was thinking about arthritis too. We adopted him about 10 months ago at the age of 10 and he is a very large guy and according to his records, has always been overweight. A lifetime of being that big might contribute to painful joints.

I'm also wondering if there is one single connection to all his problems, like an autoimmune disorder of somesort. He has two dime sized lumps, one on his back and one on his thigh which he had when we got him. I didn't want to race him in for this because the last time I had a lump removed on one of our cats, he didn't make it through the surgery. And considering Paddy's age and weight I didn't want to have him put under anesthesia. I did however contact my vet who used to do his exams when he was with his previous family and his records show that he was brought in on numerous occasions for 'pustuals' on his body. I've been looking online to find a connection and I'm thinking this all might be related. Hopefully some bloodwork will get to the bottom of this so he can begin to live a healthier life. He's a happy guy who is enjoying his life but I want him to be in a better physical condition so we can keep him for as long as possible.

[sugarpaws]

Yes, that could be the source of problems. About the arthritis, one more thing. Heidi Ann came to live with us four years ago from a local non kill shelter. She is a fiesty little girl and always had a funny walk- I used to call her "my determined little" girl. It turns out it was all arthritis, not a funny walk at all. She was diagnosed early this year and she has it in all her joints. Her weight is not helping either, but she is on a measured diet food quantity and that is the best we can do. I feel really bad that I did not think about her joints earlier to help her out. Now she can not jump on beds, goes up and down the steps with difficulty, and we can hear her joints crack. But she is a little fighter. So, maybe looking at his joints won't be a bad idea. Good luck with Paddy baby, you are a very loving mom!

[sugarpaws]

oh, i shared the story with heidi and she wonders if this is related to coat color? she is a black and white tuxedo.

[kittykatharine]

Poor Padd'y little toes! Hopefully the vet can give some answers and comfort to bog Paddy! The pictures where difficult to see, I remember when I first adopted Charlie, some of his back toenails where black - and the vet said at his check -up that it was just his color pattern. Is Paddy's feet swollen, red, warm, and painful to touch? These are the signs of inflammation. Please keep us updated!

[sugarpaws]

I was just wondering how Paddy is doing?
Marina

[Emeraldgreen]

I was just wondering how Paddy is doing?
Marina

Thanks for asking about Paddybear. He's doing okay. I trimmed his nails last night and it seems to have helped alot. But I'm still concerned about the discoloration of the base of his nails so I'm going to bring him in. My husband is going in for hernia surgery on Tuesday so Paddy has been bumped to the end of the week but we'll still be going for sure. We'll also get his blood tested at the same time to check his thyroid and everything else.

[sugarpaws]

Did the trimming bother him more than usual? Lots of kissies are being sent his way for those pawsies.
I remember that Heidi did not mind the trimming, but I had a harder time being able to see the quick.

Good luck wih your husband's surgery also!
Marina

[Emeraldgreen]

Paddy and I just got home from the vet clinic and he received a complete head to toe exam.

I put a litter box in his cage just before we headed out because the last 2 times he's been in the truck, as soon as the wheels start turning, he poops! This time I was prepared though. lol And sure enough, he immediately had to go. It made for a very stinky ride over but at least he wasn't stepping in it and getting it all over him.

The vet and tech really thought he was a handsome fellow but were amazed at how BIG he was. He weighed in today at 21.10 pounds. The vet first looked at his nails and said that she didn't think they were the source of his tender feet. The reddish stuff at the base of some of his nails is dirt! She said that most cats clean the base of their nails but Paddy hasn't been doing this. I will help him with it tonight.

She thought that his weight was the main reason his feet have been painful because she said it's alot for him to carry around. I talked with her about the possibility of a thyroid problem and she said that in all her years of being a vet she has yet to see a cat that is hypothyroid. She said that if a cat has had a thyroid problem they have been hyperthyroid resulting in being too skinny, definitely not Paddy's problem.

She thinks that Paddy was probably fed alot of carbohydrates with his previous family for the 10 years that he was with them and she said she's fairly sure he is a 'carb addict'!!

I told her that Paddy had been in the SPCA for 8 months and then he was placed into a foster home because he was overgrooming himself and had this big bald spot on his side. The foster family was very strict with his diet for the 3+ months he was with them and when we adopted him he was about 15 or 16 pounds! Geez, we have really let him pack on the pounds since he's been with us. It's crazy though because we don't free feed him and give him a tiny handful of kibble in the morning and a spoonful of wet food and another spoonful of wetfood at night. But, when we recently went up North, we left food out for all the cats, including Paddy and he ate himself silly. He was quite a bit larger when we got home.

The vet thinks that his carb addiction is also related to the overgrooming. She recently took an acupuncture course and learned alot and she said that the area that he overgrooms is right where the digestive tract is and it is probably irritating to him to have so many carbs on board.

So, she did some bloodwork and is going to run a geriatric panel. I asked her to include a thyroid test just in case he turns out to be the first hypothyroid cat she's ever examined. She also wants to get him on some Metacam (anti-inflammatory and pain reliever) for a few months to help with the pain in his feet while we feed him a special low carb diet. Once he loses some pounds, we can wean him off the Metacam. The blood work will let her know if he is healthy enough to be on Metacam for a few months as it can be tough on the liver and kidneys. I have some left over that was prescribed for Tiger so I'll be able to save a little money there.

Paddy also had two dime sized lumps on him that I was concerned about and she felt them and was 99% sure they were cysts. She did a fine needle aspiration on both and they were cysts. She removed one with the aspiration and part of the other. I asked her why he might be getting those and she said she didn't know but that it wasn't anything serious.

Many months ago I posted a thread about Paddy and a dark freckle spot that I noticed he had on his forehead. I asked her to look at it and she said that it is just a pigmentation and the fact that it is not raised at all shows that it is nothing to be concerned about.

So all in all, our guy Pads is doing okay for going on 11 years old. I'm so relieved because we just adore him.

Now we have to get him down to a healthy weight to ensure that he doesn't get diabetes and so he can be more comfortable walking, running and playing.

I recently started feeding our cats Taste of the Wild dry food which I learned about from one of Krazyaboutkatz threads. All our cats love it and because it is grain free and high in protein and low in carbs it is a good food for Paddy. The vet gave me 4 cans of high protein wet food (two Medi-Cal cans of Reducing and 2 cans of Walthams low cal). I also picked up some cans of Evo grain free wet food and some Wellness grain free wet food at the pet store.

Hopefully he will be able to squeeze into the harness my brother sent him for christmas soon and then I can start taking him for walkies. In the meantime, we will encourage him to go up and down the stairs and play with toys and take him out to the outdoor enclosure every day for a few hours. The combination of low carb food and Metacam to relieve his foot pain should get him on the right track!

I will post his 'before-before' picture when we got him last year and his 'before' picture that was taken recently and then in a few months I'll hopefully post his 'after' picture once he's lost some weight.


Paddy's 'before-before' picture. This is when we adopted him last September, about a week after we got him when he was in pretty good shape. You can see in the pic that he has that hanging belly skin from when he used to be fat. But in the next pic, that poochy part is filled up with fat.


This is Paddy quite recently: