What could be the cause of a cat licking paw to death.

I do not own any cats,
but one of my sisters does, and she should
ONLY own a pet gold fish. :(

She has a inside cat, that is about 14 plus years old.
She rarely gives her cat any attention.
I learned today that Shadow's paw is bloody/swollen
from licking it. My sister took Shadow to the vet,
and the vet gave her antibotics and some cream.
She was also told to switch to a certain kitty litter since
it was getting inbeded in her infected paw.
Well when the one paw healed, Shadow started
licking the other paw, and now that paw is infected.
If it's not the kittly litter, could the cat be licking out
of bordem?
My sister is thinking about putting the cat asleep at this point.
Any ideas why a cat would lick it's paw until it
got bloody and infected?
Any advice, I will e-mail her.
(she doesn't seem to want to take the cat back to
the vet again unless it is to be put asleep) :mad:

Poor cat :( My only guess is that its a skin infection thats bugging him.:confused:

First off, does your sister have anymore of the cream left? If so, tell her to start putting it on the paw right away. If not, if she brought her cat to the vet the first time for this, I don't see why she can't bring her cat this time also.
I feel sorry for your sister's cat.
Secondly, may I ask why your sister got the cat in the first place if she doesn't pay attention to it. Is it because the cat is 14 years old and doesn't play like it use too when it was younger. Out of respect for you KYS, I'm not going to say anything more on this matter as I'm sure you must love your sister dearly.

Please try and convince your sister to have the paw looked after by a vet as I have no clue as to why her cat is doing this. She should be blessed to have one of God's most precious creatures.

Next time KYS, tell her to get a gold fish.

rg_girlca,
Don't worry about hurting my feelings.
I agree with you.
Originally Shadow was my nieces cat,
but when my niece moved out on her own,
she left Shadow behind.

I heard she was going to put some human
cream for people on her paw. I think it was
a hydrocortisone cream.
The vet had told her on the last visit,
that if the problem persists,
the cat would need to come in for testing etc.
(which my sister doesn't want to do) :(

Edited: I Just got off the phone with my sister,
she agreed to take Shadow back to the vets.

Keep us posted as you can, Karen. I'm so glad you at least got your sister to agree to see the vet again. It could be an allergy or some form of dermatitis. I hope the sweet thing will be ok.

Logan

It could even be a stress related obsessive compulsive disorder. It sounds as if the cat needs more attention and stimulation. There are also some good meds for OCD for cats. Although I would try the attention method first.

Denyce

I have to agree with Denyce, although this is probably the worst thing for a kitty in this situation.....:(

If this kitty was your nieces, is there any chance of contacting her and asking her if she can take it in now? She might be upset to know that the poor kitty is going through this and her mother doesn't even care (sorry KYS).

Please let us know how this turns out, KYS. And thanks for stepping in and convincing your sister to take the kitty to the vet again - without putting her to sleep. :( :mad:

Tubby & Peanut's Mom,
My neice knows about it, and she can barely support
herself. (that another story, not to smart
neice)

I was thinking it was an obsessive compulsive disorder
too, just like when dogs are bored they keep licking
their paws.
Logan, from what my sister said, the vet thinks it
might be allergy related and that is why the kitty
litter was switched.

If it was me, I would have been checking that paw before
it got so bad in the first place. :(

As soon as I know more, I will post.

I appeciated your replies.

You know...sometimes a simple antihistamine can help in situations like this. They often have a slight sedative effect and if it is an allergy they may help in this regard also. Have you heard of Chlor-Trimaton. I think that is the correct spelling. I know if you take a 4 hour Chlor-Trimaton and give the cat 1/2 of that every 12 hours it is a safe dose. If you don't have the Chlor-Trimaton then I would ask the vet what another safe antihistamine would be. It would be inexpesive and worth I try perhaps??

Denyce

I am soooooooo relieved to hear that your sister has decided to take Shadow to the vets. Thank you for telling us that.
As others have said, please keep us updated on the situation.
Also if you go and see Shadow, please give him a hug and a kiss for me.
Thanks:)

Update:

My sister just called.

The vet gave Shadow a anti-biotic shot and
a stronger perscription of anti-biotics pills
to take for 14 days. She also recieved an anti-biotic spray
for the paw. Shadow needs to go back to the
vet in 2 weeks. The vet no longer thinks it is
due to an allergy, but doesn't know why unless
he does testing.
I told my sister I think Shadow licks out of boredom
and she needs some attention.

So I think Shadow might be getting some needed attention
and some care for her poor paw.

Awww...it's too bad Shadow had to resort to this to get attention, but at least it's working....hopefully. And hopefully your sister will follow all the instructions with the antibiotics. Seems like there's a lot involved here for someone who didn't even want to take the poor kitty back to the vet in the first place, but maybe she's also learning more about the cat and starting to actually care about her in the process.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear things are going well, please keep us updated on Shadow's progress. :)

Just wanted to post an update on Shadow.

I have been checking weekly with my sister
for updates:
Shadow's paw is pretty much healed now and
her antibiotic spray is almost gone.
She is now being brushed daily while she eats
and she also gets her paw looked after.
I guess the antibiotic spray, and the little extra
attention she is getting seems to be working. :)

This is great news. :)

That IS great news!