Conference misery::feline_v1

    Karen,
    
    Do your kitties go outside?  If so, I know that salt from the
    roads irritate the pads of their feet.  It's always a good idea
    to wipe their feet off when they come in from the outside.
    
    Pam

    
    Re: .1
    
    	Nope, indoors only.  Cinamon is an indoor/outdoor cat in the
    	summer when he is at my parents but has been indoors only since
    	October.
    
    	Karen

    Couldn't be a side effect of the antibiotics could it?
    
    I know antibiotics affect skin in humans.
    
    Kate

    You may want to wipe Cinnamons feet after she comes into the
    house from outside, especially if you use any rocksalt for melting
    the ice on you porch or sidewalks.  Cats pick up the salt on their
    feet and eventually the feet dry and crack. So, just rinse off her
    feet every time she comes in from outside to get rid of the salt
    and apply a little mineral oil to the pads of her feet each day
    for about a week...and she should be better....don't overuse the
    mineral oil because it could act as a diuretic and cause other
    problems.
    
    end
    

    
    Re: .4   Like I said in .2, Cinamon does not go outside in the winter.
    
    Re: .3   He has only taken the antibiotics since Thursday.  I don't
    	think that is the problem.
    
    	The pads are very dried out and cracked, with dirt in the cracks.
    
    	Karen

    Since your vet has seen Cinamon so recently, what I'd do is call up
    the vet and ask about the pads, mentioning to the secretary or whoever
    that C has been in so recently that you're reluctant to put him
    thru that again.  The vet should be able to either suggest a fix, or
    tell you if s/he has to see this in the office.
    

IF the vet says it isn't something that has to be checked in the office...
dry pads can be either allergy reactions to something the cat walks on
(did you change brands of litter recently or put something on the carpet
to make it smell good when you vacuum?), or due to the very dry heat
required to keep warm this time of year.  IF it is assumed to be due
to dry heat, you can use some olive oil (just a little) and rub it
into the pad until it is absorbed....needless to say, rub gently..8^}

Olive oil is okay for the kitty to eat - which the cats will do if
you put something on their feet.  I would, of course, rinse the feet
in warm water to remove any dirt, dry with a soft towel and then
rub oil into the pads while talking "nice" to convince them that
you are doing something fun -- even if they think you ARE wierd for
messing with their feet like that!

    My oldest cat [6 1/2 yrs. old] recently had the same problem.  While
    he was comfortably sleeping one day, I approached him with a tube
    of vaseline.  Just rubbed it in each paw and he didn't seem to mind.
    I only used enuf to moisten the pad, just like we do with hand cream.
    
    I just figured it was old age and probably poor drinking habits.
    That reminds me, I think its time for some green olives.  The vet
    suggested them to increase water intake.  I thought he was nuts!
    But it works GREAT!   I'll have the martini and he can have the
    olives.......

    
    
    	Strnagest thing... I got home Monday night after and Cinamon
    was no longer limping!!  I don't get it!  He was limping pretty
    badly Monday morning but by Monday night everything was fine!
    
    	The dry skin problem still stands though.  I am going to try
    some olive oil on them.  
    
    	Karen

	Tsunami fell off the shower door this morning and hurt her paw/leg.
When I picked her up she was shaking and pressed her face as close to my
cheek as she could.  I felt so bad.  All I could do was talk to her to 
make her feel better mentally, I didn't know what to do to comfort her
physically.
	 I would like some advice on how to tell if her injury is
bad or not.  I don't want to take her to the vet if it's just a sprain
that will heal in a couple of days.  I don't want to over react.  I don't 
go to the doctor when I sprain my ankle.  However, if it's bad, I don't want
to put it off and make it worse.  
	I called my vet and could only talk to the receptionist.  She says
it's up to me whether I wait or bring her in.  She didn't really say
much, but I didn't expect her to.
	I am going home at lunch time to check on her.  I only saw
her for about half an hour after she fell before I had to leave for work.
She was moping around and not putting any weight on her leg(front left).  
She seemed upset that I was leaving which made me feel bad because usually 
she acts like she doesn't care.  This time she looked at me with BIG eyes 
and said "Oh no!!, you're leaving me?!! 
	Hopefully she'll be over it when I get there, but in case she isn't 
I would like to know how to check for bad injury(if it's possible).
	If there is no way to tell and she is still limping a lot tonight,
should I take her in to the vet tomorrow or give it a couple/few days?  

thanks in advance,

Becky

    Here's some things my vet showed me when Julie hurt her leg...
    
    Hold her in your arms, and then act as if your putting her down,
    leaning her head towards the floor (or table top).  The point is,
    if she can extend her paw as if she were getting ready to step down,
    then it's just a sprain.  If she can't extend the paw, it might be some
    kind of frature.  You may have to do this a couple times before she'll
    attempt to extend her paw.
    
    Julie hurt her leg jumping down from something when she was just 6
    weeks old.  Fortunately, she healed real quickly and didn't seem to be
    in pain very long.
    
    Keep us posted!
    Mary

Thanks for the advice.  When I went home for lunch I watched her real close.
She laid on her side to stretch and fully extended both legs.  The only 
difference between the two legs was that she didn't extend her toes on the
hurt one.  She is still limping, but seems to be back to her normal
self.  She must have been shocked and scared from the fall this morning.
I am going to give her until Saturday to start showing improvement unless,
of course, it gets worse.  I'm going out of town for a week on Sunday so if
she isn't improving by Saturday she will definately go to the vet.  

Thanks again,
Becky

GOOD NEWS!

By Sunday she was hardly limping(mostly just when she woke from a nap).
Needless to say, I didn't take her to the vet.  By the time I got back,
6 days later, she was back to normal.  I attribute her fast recovery to 
good care and lots of love from my boyfriend while I was gone.
At first he didn't really want to keep her for me, but now he's asking
when I'm going to leave again.  I think I've been replaced!
(just kidding of course)

-Becky