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.