Immune disease and pododermatitis

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thank you for updating and so pleased that Sméagol is happy and healthy 

[smeagol]

I know this is an old thread but wanted to update for those that may be seeing something similar in their cat. Smeagol is now nearly 9 years of age and got over his initial episode described above with the help of the steroids (as above) that we gradually phased out once he healed.

However, at the same time of year the following year (winter 2008) it reared its head again. Perhaps relating to the cold weather but we just don't know. Thankfully we were on top of it straight away and he went back on steroids which did the trick. Winter 2009 we were waiting for the same but thankfully it never came and we've not seen it again since :D

Smeagol's littermate Custard did show something not dissimilar in the central pad on one of her front paws. Although in this case it was a hugely swollen pad rather than sore and crusty. I can't remember what we treated it with (went down eventually although never completely) as I had a huge fall out of the vet about it as he wouldn't listen to me and my research and experience with Smeagol.

[smeagol]

Hi Lilycat, Thank you for sharing Lily's story. I'm sorry that Lily has had it so bad but although the vets can't tell you exactly what it is it sounds as though they know how to treat it and have been on top of it every time. You yourself have also been very vigilant and have no doubt saved her. I hope that she won't see anymore problems. You just never know with things like this. My vets say it can never rear its head again or can be an on going problem. Its just a case of taking one day at a time. It seems that perhaps knowing what it is isn't as important as I first thought. Keeping vigilant and getting prompt treatment is though.

The last vet visit was good. We couldnt see the vet that saw him the last two times but the first vet we saw. Unfortunately he hadn't seen the sore paws but had been in discussion with the vet that had. He was happy that most of the affected areas were getting better, a lot better as far as Smeag and I are concerned. He isn't limping anymore and healthy pads are appearing from under the dry crusts. He has also continued to eat really well and be more active, telling the youngest one Milo who is boss is a very important job! He was concerned that one of the newer sore areas was a little 'wet' and possibly getting infected. So Smeag is on antibiotics and more steriods. The antis are much bigger tablets but he is so good at taking them - thankfully! They are twice a day as well as the steroids. He is still on 5mg Prednisol twice daily but in a few days we will be going down to once a day. Then we'll be seeing the vet a while after and seeing how he is. Then hopefully going down to every other day 

I'm going to get some pictures of his pads to post just in case it can help anyone else in the future looking for information on the same problem.

Thanks again for all your support and hopefully I'll be back with some more good news soon 

Ooo and before I forget Smeag will soon be appearing in colour here:
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php?topic=10713.0

[lilycat]

Hi Clare and Smeagol 

My Lily has had a similar type of thing going on...earlier this year I noticed that she had, out of the blue, developed a little patch of what turned out to be acne on her her chin and an noticing that I gave her a thorough 'once over' and found that one of her claws wasn't retracting as smoothly as I thought it should. I took her to the vet who put her on antibiotics and booked her in for a biopsy on her toe; the end result was that her toe had to be amputated and she developed e-coli AND mrsa in the wound. Oddly enough, the condition that caused the acne and the toe problem just seemed to sort itself out and cleared up all of a sudden.

Lily was fine in herself and didn't seem to be feeling particularly ill. The vet tested her for FIV and FeLV but the results came back negative.

Then a couple of months ago, I noticed another patch of acne and got her straight up to the vet...vet prescribed antibiotics and this time Lily developed Stomatitis [mucous membranes in her mouth affected], she's had a major operation which involved the removal of 9 of her cheek teeth, a week as an inpatient and having to be fed via a tube in her oesophagus. They tested her [again] for FIV and FeLV and that came back negative again.

I'm in a similar position to you because no-one seems to be able to tell me what the problem is, just that it's a immune problem. Also like you, if I try to find anything on the web I just get sites for FIV/FeLV. The vet has said that we may never be able to definitively identify what's causing all of this and it really is very frustrating. It's also worrying because Lily's second illness was much worse than her first - I dread the next one 

I'm sorry I haven't got any useful websites for you but I wanted to let you know that you're not on your own  and if I do find anything useful I'll certainly let you know.

I hope Smeagol starts to feel better really soon       

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

So sorry to hear about Smeagols foot problem but have just looked at the kinks from Lynn and Sam and it looks like your vet was on the ball and has given the right treatment.

I hope that with a bit of time he improves and gets better 

[smeagol]

Hi,

Thank you for your kind thoughts, I will pass them on to Smeagol.

Sam, thank you for the link. I must have missed that one when looking around the site. It certainly sounds like Google has the same condition as Smeagol. Its certainly nice to hear a positive outcome to a similar case. I must say I was very relieved to find out it wasn't FIV or FeLV but was hoping for a name and some more information from the vet.

I will keep you all updated as to how things go on Tuesday. I will have to post some photos and some more on the story of how Smeagol came into our care in the appropriate forum.

Thanks again,
Clare

[Maddiesmum]

Can't offer any advice I'm afraid but hope things improve for you both

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Sorry to hear about Smeagals condition.  We had a kitty on here a while back with the some condition ... this thread may be of interest to you: http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php?topic=2192.0

Fingers crossed Smeagal swill get well son and hopefully the steroids will sort him out.

[Ralph's mum (angie)]

  poor you and poor smeagol 

I'm sure someone will be along who can give advice/help soon, good luck for the vet trip on Tuesday, let us know how it goes 

[smeagol]

Hi,

My nearly two year old red tabby Smeagol (as a kitten in my avatar - we found him and his siblings by the side of the road) was diagnosed with some sort of immune virus on Tuesday. He was tested for FIV and FeLV, which were both negative. They did a general blood work which was 'unremarkable' in the vets words. He is now on 5mg Prednisol twice daily.

I shall explain the lead up to this. Smeagol went off his food and started sleeping most of the time. The vet gave him an antibiotic and said he was constipated so gave him something for it. He improved over a few days and we thought we'd got it but then he started limping. He had sores on his pads and a small sore on his nose and corner of the eye. By this time he was fine in himself and eating well again but obviously all was not well. He was tested for FIV and FeLV which both came back negative. His blood work was 'unremarkable' in the vets words and although relieved there was obviously still something wrong. The sores were getting worse on all pads and he was obviously in a lot of discomfort. The vet says that he has an immune virus that is attacking the mucus membranes and soft skin such as the pads. So he prescribed the heavy dose of Prednisol. So far this seems to be working. The sores in the corners of the eyes are better and the nose has healed. The paws seemed to be less inflamed and swollen but its still very uncomfortable for him.

The vet doesn't seem to want to commit himself to any kind of likely outcome. He says we'll find a dose of steroid that works for him and try decreasing it to a minimum, then completely. I was wondering whether anyone else has had a similar experience that they could share with me? I've tried searching for information on the net but just keep coming up with FIV and FeLV, which we know it isn't. If anyone could point me in the direction of any good articles that would be fantastic. I'd really like to know what we are dealing with and if anything what I can do to help and what to look out for. I'm seeing the vet again on Tuesday so will ask more then. I've been so shell shocked with it all that I've not asked much so far.

Thank you,
Clare and Smeagol xx