The Story of Turk's Foot

the scars of previous cuts 2 days after the vet visit, he arrow is where I found the first cut

A while ago I discovered 3 little spots of dried blood on the top step of my staircase at home.

2 days after the vet visit

I knew I hadn't trodden on anything and checking with my hubby and son revealed they were okay too, so I knew it had to be one of the cats. 

I got hold of Minx first 'coz she was the smallest, and then Turk 'coz he was closest when I let Minx go. Turk's left front foot paw pad, the big one, had a small cut in the top near a crease. It was no longer bleeding and he wasn't limping or anything so I didn't stress. I figured perhaps he'd got it hooked on one of the other cats' claws when they were playing or something- they can get quite rough- but I wasn't worried.

Then about 3 weeks ago, I noticed that every time Turk jumped up onto my bed, or sat down on the floor in my room, he would lift his left foot off whatever he was sitting on and hold it up in the air. I eventually got him to lie still so I could have a look- he's a big cat so I don't tackle him lightly- and looked under his foot. You can see in these photos just how big his feet are!

4 days after the vet visit

You see what the small pads on his toes look like? That's what they're all supposed to look like, pink and smooth. And they should feel soft and firm, like when you press on the cushion of your thumb on your palm. It looked like a human's heel might look when it gets severely cracked and dry and bleeding! There were signs that there had been a few cuts and the newest one was scabbed over and seemed to be healing.

I called the vet and she said to give it a week and if it wasn't any better to take him in to see them.

There was no change after 10 days so I took him to our vet on August 30th.

She had a good look and feel at his paw pad- and his other feet- and couldn't find anything inside his foot, thinking maybe he'd trodden on glass and it had gotten stuck.

9 days after the vet visit

There was one new cut which was rather deep, but the other paw pads were all 100% fine, and after I explained that I had found more than one cut on his foot- the scars of which she could see- she said she'd never seen anything like it! The paw pad even felt squishy rather than firm, and it was blue in places! Yet Turk wasn't limping or complaining, and whilst he wasn't as playful and silly as he usually was, which told me the foot was clearly bugging him, he was still eating, drinking and doing his busies like he was s'posed to.

It was very strange. And the nature of a cat means we couldn't bandage it or put something on it because it would be licked, chewed and bitten off in no time. She gave him an antibiotic shot (he weighs 5.5kg BTW) and said that if it didn't get better in a week she wanted to send him to a specialist.

I am very pleased to see that today his foot looks so much better! And he's playing and chasing the other cats and he's far more talkative than he's been for a while. Its not smooth and pink yet, but its definitely looking healthier.

The vet is still puzzled as none of his other paw pads were affected as they would or should have been if he was dehydrated or suffering from some kind of vitamin deficiency.

I'll be keeping an eye on his feet from now on, just in case.