- This topic has 14 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 17 years, 4 months ago by .
-
Posts
-
When my goofy cat was a kitten he ran across my electric stove as my husband was cooking and burned his two front paws. They were first and second degree burns and after a trip to the vet and some tlc they cleared up and all was fine. The other day I noticed he has the same peeling skin on his front paw pad that he had after his burn. I thought he had run across something hot again but since it looked like it was healing I didn’t worry about it. Today when I was getting my snuggles I noticed all four of his paw pads now have the peeling skin. Is there some kind of skin problem in cats that can cause this? When he did burn his paws the hair was burned as well but he doesn’t have anything like that this time. I really have no clue what could be causing his paw pads to peel. They don’t look infected and they don’t hurt him but I’m just worried that something might be wrong with him since I’ve never had a cat with this kind of problem.
Do the pads look pinker than usual, i.e. under the peeling skin? I know that’s a leading question, but the short answer is no, it’s not normal for a cat’s paws to peel like that. Something must have caused damage to the surface skin. If the damage was recent, then the tissues under the peeling skin will be raw and weepy. If the damage was a few days ago, then the body will have had time to produce new skin under the damaged stuff, and so you’d just have pinker skin revealed when the top layer peels.
Thermal burns are certainly possible, but also consider chemicals. Have you used any cleaners or other products on a floor or a countertop that might have stayed wet long enough for him to walk on it? Check his tongue and lips for red areas or scabs. He might have groomed a chemical off and also burned his face. Stinky bad breath can be another sign of damage in the mouth.
If it’s not thermal burns, and it’s not chemicals, then the other major possibility is autoimmune disease. This is a lot more serious. Autoimmune disease can show up in the skin first: potential signs are peeling pads, fragile claws, pigment loss around the eyes and mouth, ulcers in the mouth, or funny scabs on the skin. If these peeling pads don’t heal and keep coming back and you’ve ruled out burns, then you really should get kitty to a vet. Keep a log of the symptoms: which paws, which toes, when you noticed the peeling, whether it looked better or worse each day. Also keep track of any other signs, such as lack of energy or appetite. A log can be very useful to the vet because they know how long it should take for burns to heal, and the log will show them if these things are behaving like burns, or like something else.
I know some of this isn’t very reassuring, but I hope the information is helpful!
The skin under where its peeling is the same color as the rest of the pad. Its not oozing or discolored at all. It looks kinda like when you have dry skin that just peels off. He likes to run full blast across the pergo floor and sits in my garden window during the day but I don’t see how he could have burned his paws that way. He isn’t acting any different then he usually does and he is full of energy. There is no burns or anything around his mouth but he has always had these odd black spots on his lips. I guess I’ll have to call his vet on Monday and get him seen. I don’t want to take any chances incase something is wrong. I tried to do a google search to see what could be wrong with him but nothing comes up. I knew someone on here might have some ideas.
PS I’ll try and take some pics of his paws but I know he wont hold still for it.
Edit: This is the best picture I could get since he wouldn’t hold still and my camera sucks. This is the worse of his paws, the others don’t have much peeling at all.
Is he an inside cat or an outside cat, or both? Once something very similar happened to our little bobcat Tiger, and come to find out (after an expesive vet trip) he had pounced around in something akin to poison ivy! There was no swelling or weird colors, but it did peel and it annoyed him.
Well, Barrdwing stole my thunder and took the words out of my mouth verbatim…
just kidding! 😈 😉
My black and white cat has a thing about his front paw pads (which I chalk up to lingering longing for his claws though when he was a baby 8-1/2 yrs ago, he had an uneventful and normal front declawing). He is like MONK (tv show) sometimes. He is festidious about his paw cleaning. An indoor cat, he cleans the dickens out of his paws, between his toes spread SO wide. He has white socks and pink pads.
Sometimes he really gets to chewing away at his paw pads. He’s never drawn blood from the pads but sometimes from the skin between his toes. I treat that dried blood with peroxide and Q-tips which tickles and bothers him sometimes but is the best way to treat it if he draws blood on that delicate webbing there.
Because of his constant grooming, his pads have displayed some peeling too… all four feet he cleans (and he has back claws). Im a nervous OCD mother when it comes to my animals and would rather over react than under react so of course, my vet came out when this first started happening (I say “came out” b/c kitty is epileptic and when he’s put in a carrying case, he flips right into a huge seizure though nothing bad EVER happened to him during any travel which has been minimal through out his life; vet does house calls for him as to not unnecessarily cause him extra seizures & stress).
Anyway, back on track- in MY particular case, she said his paws are healthy and there is nothing to worry about but if he really gets carried away, to pay attention. Already an obsessive mama, thats not a problem as I notice everything. Vet says for my cat, it’s a soothing behavior (like thumb sucking… mom’s Cornish Rex sucks his tail!) to lick his paws like a little nutbar. Ironically, he’s also the type of cat that likes to paw at your face when youre sleeping; yanno, stroke your face- not bat at it. He likes to pet me as much as I do him. Funny feeling is, since he does what he does to his pads, they arent always smooth but sometimes rough which makes for a rude awakening when he does it to my face at 4am!
Good luck with the kitty and keep up posted. Seems you have top rate advice here.
PS: Id say though, he’s well adjusted as you can see! And no, he isnt “mean”… so many say that when they see this pic. This is his “handsome” pose. He’s mostly a flower child peace loving pacifist.
My cat LOVES to lick his paws, sometimes he sticks them all the way into his mouth. He is an indoor only cat and never goes outside. He also has never been declawed. My husband thinks I’m over reacting since his paws dont’ bother him and it just looks like dry peeling skin. I’m going to call the vet on Monday anyway just to be sure. My cat loves to put his paws in my face too. When I hold him in my lap he has to put both his front paws against my cheek and he will keep them there. I think its so I can’t sneak any kisses in when he is sleeping.
It may just be the healing process going on and the dead skin coming off. I’m not sure. I have a cat with burnt paw pads too but they just swelled with fluid and stayed that way forever.
Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs**SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry DragonsBarrdwing pretty much nailed it. Usually peeling pads are a result of exposure to something irritating (chemicals, heat, salt) or possibly over use (a dog loose running around for miles – obviously not the problem here). Also autoimmune but if that’s the case there are usually lesions on the pads and they are painful and the cat will usually be limping or not eating well. Virus infection can also cause pad lesions but, again, the cat is sick and not walking well. I would double check any surface your kitty may have walked on. Or does he hang out on the stove while you cook? I have Cornish rexes and they love heat – I had one that used to sleep on the stove and would occasionally burn her tail.
purpledoggy wrote:The skin under where its peeling is the same color as the rest of the pad. Its not oozing or discolored at all. It looks kinda like when you have dry skin that just peels off. He likes to run full blast across the pergo floor and sits in my garden window during the day but I don’t see how he could have burned his paws that way. He isn’t acting any different then he usually does and he is full of energy. There is no burns or anything around his mouth but he has always had these odd black spots on his lips. I guess I’ll have to call his vet on Monday and get him seen. I don’t want to take any chances incase something is wrong. I tried to do a google search to see what could be wrong with him but nothing comes up. I knew someone on here might have some ideas.
PS I’ll try and take some pics of his paws but I know he wont hold still for it.
I’m glad to hear that the new skin doesn’t look any different! That would seem to indicate that the damage didn’t go very deeply. PT may be correct about the possibility of overgrooming, too. That does raise the question of why he’d overgroom (such as, do they itch? Are they sore? Chemicals again?), but if he’s always been a super-determined foot groomer, then it might be behavioral. Or, if he’s doing more running around than usual, he could be causing some increased “wear and tear” that way.
I had a little trouble seeing things in the photo, but your vet will be a lot more help to you anyway–they can both look at and touch the pads. I’m glad that you’re taking him in. It’s hard to be much help at a distance like this: all I can do is toss out possibilities. 😛
I’m not sure but another thing to think about may be alergies. I don’t have a cat but I have a dog who has been bugging his paws so much they are doing something like that. The vet finally determined that he has alergies.
While hiding somewhere in my head I'm on the lookout for white oriental dragons! Please let me know if you know of any available. Thank you!
ddvm wrote:I have Cornish rexes and they love heat …
Amen!!! My mom has one too (and a Siamese Lynx point… her chocolate Siamese just passed away- it was time as he was over 18 and in pain). But the Cornish Rex… he LOVES the heat which makes sense based on coats. Temps for those cats also run higher than usual too but is normal. It’s like sleeping inside a furnace when he sleeps with you… so uncomfy during FL summers for us graced with his slumber presence! But too cute to kick out of bed!
Mom’s cat has such dorky markings but is why she picked him out. He really is pathetic looking such so you have to love him. He was born with a decent coat (tho his mom didnt have one). Mom questioned breeder about the mom’s coat and would it tranfer to her baby. She was told the kitten should have a normal Rex coat… he doesnt. In some places yes but he is mostly a peach fuzz Sphinx.
I have pix of him but not online at the moment. He is worth the look just for the comedic value of his appearance! But we love him and so does anyone that comes in contact with him. His older “brother” (Siamese), is SO maternal and protective of him even though they are both full grown adults in the middle of their lives now. The Siamese though- you could hold ANY of our Siameses (throughtout my life) by their ears and theyd still be purring, looking adoringly at you (mind you we never did that)!
Keep us up to date on how your kitty fairs with his pink, peeling pusscat paws! Wow- hows that for some alliteration!
I could have got sunburn on his paws, my cat got that although that peeling looks quite thick. Maby its just card skin. Is it bothering him?
Indoor cats, especially when moved to a new environment or something has changed will tend to overgroom, it is a sign of stress.
Most cats will groom fur off, but since this cat already tends to groom his paws excessively, this could the culprit. I have seen this kind of behavior when a new cat was introduced, they were spending more and more time alone, a new baby was born, or the household moved to a new place. Some cats will also do this kind of thing when bored.
So if there is no other medical reason to be found, this could be the issue, but I’d rule everything else out to be sure.
Kyrin
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
