Cat paw problem

Jamie-b

After looking at her sore paws the Vet wants to do tests for FIV and lukemia. What does these mean? I understand they are diseases but a lot of the symptoms I googled she doesn't have and I can't find info on what treatment it will involve, how her lifestyle will have to change etc. Anyone have a cat with either of the above?

Jamie-b

...also, somebody a friend just told me cats with FIV are no longer allowed outside, is this right?

artieanna

Jamie-b wrote: »

...also, somebody a friend just told me cats with FIV are no longer allowed outside, is this right?

the above is not true

I had a cat with Fiv she lived a long happy and healthy life, when they get old it can come back and cause their death. From what I understand fiv causes a weakened immune system. if they do become unwell usually antibiotics are used to treat them.

I don't really know anything about leukemia and cats.

Hopefully the test goes well...

I am sure there are other posters here who know more...

The Sweeper

FIV and FeLV are both contagious between cats, spread similarly to how HIV spreads in humans - bites when fighting (saliva to blood contact) and so on. For that reason, it would be more ethical to prevent your cat from roaming, lest it infect other cats.

Here ya go - good info from the web:

Feline Leukemia (FeLV)
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV)

FeLV and FIV are both caused by retroviruses that are similar to, but not the same as, the virus that causes human AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). There is no indication that cats can spread this disease to people or be infected by the human version. These viruses are species-specific. They can, however, transmit it to other cats.

Both viruses depress the immune system opening the door to secondary infections and diseases. The most common contagious infection is upper-respiratory. The most common non contagious disease is cancer. An individual cat can contract both FeLV and FIV.

FeLV is spread through close and prolonged cat-to-cat contact through bodily fluids (saliva, blood, urine and feces). Mother cats can give it to their kittens when they are pregnant or when they are nursing. Companion cats can spread it through shared food and water dishes and through mutual grooming. FeLV can be spread when there are many cats in close quarters such as multiple cat households and catteries. It is not transmitted through humans and is not airborne.

FIV is spread when an infected cat bites another cat. This can happen when cats fight so unneutered male cats that are allowed outside have the highest risk of infection.

Progression and Symptoms

FeLV can be caused by one of several types of viruses which have slightly different symptoms. There are recognizable stages that are similar:
(1) infection of the tissues of the mouth.
(2) the virus spreads to the blood
(3) the virus infects to the lymph glands.
(4) the virus infects the bone marrow.
(5) the infection spreads further into the blood
(6) the virus infects the tear glands, salivary glands and bladder. The cat is now infectious and can spread the virus to other cats.

In the early stages, common symptoms include weight loss, dehydration and fever. Other symptoms can include kidney problems, ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, cystitis (urinary tract infection), etc. The symptoms are wide ranging and can also include skin diseases, nerve damage and cancerous growths.

FIV also has a wide ranging group of symptoms. Since the immune system is depressed, upper respiratory infections can become chronic. The mouth can become inflamed there can be loss of weight due to chronic diarrhea, fevers, enlargement of the lymph glands, chronic abscesses and cystitis (urinary tract infection). Younger, healthier cats can live for years with the disease in remission.

morganafay

What age is your cat? What exactly is wrong with her paws and any other symptoms at all? Does she get illnesses ever?

If you have no other cats, and yours turned out to have either FIV or FeLV then you should really keep her inside. I think FeLV is a lot more contagious, so if you had other cats then they'd probably catch it, and so you'd have to think of getting her put to sleep. But if you don't have other cats, then you could just keep her inside, as long as she was healthy and not suffering. I think FIV is less contagious and would probably only be spread if she fought with other cats, so if you had other cats she got on with then they probably wouldn't catch it . . . but I'm not 100% sure. I would still want to keep her inside in case another cat attacked her and caught it, because it's not really fair to let it spread to other cats. I'm not sure about that, but that's what I read.


A vet once thought my cat had FeLV or FIV, cos he had sore paws (scabs and bald patches on top of paws from demodectic mange) and runny eyes and sneezing for a few months. But when I took him to my normal vet, she said she could tell he didn't, because he wasn't that skinny and seemed healthy. He just needed some teeth pulled, because they were hurting him/infected and that was causing his immune system to be bad, and when they were pulled he got much healthier and put on weight.
She said a lot of vets will just assume a cat has FeLV or FIV and want to test for it, but the cat might only have one symptom, but obviously not have it.

Jamie-b

Thanks for the replies.
She has swollen pads on her paws and kept holding one up as if it was sore. I googled this and theres something called pillow foot that looks exactly like it. It says some studies have shown a link between this and FIV. The Vet thought she was very thin. I didn't notice this. She is a small cat and long hair so it's hard to tell if she has lost weight. She is eating fine. She is in good form. There are no other physical signs as far as I can see.
She is 9 or 10 years old.

morganafay

Some cats are just naturally thin.

But at her age, it could be a few things making her thin. I'd think kidney disease or something would be possible.

My cat is 6 only, and my vet said that by that age, if he had FIV or FeLV he'd be way sicker or dead by now. But I guess all vets have different opinions, cos the first vet he saw thought he had it, but he's fine now so I guess he doesn't.

I mean, if you want to be on the safe side then you should get her tested, but it could be other things too.

Jamie-b

Bringing ms pussy in tomorrow morning. I'm worried since they can do the tests and give the the results pretty much straight away ( which apparently is common) so I may know tomorrow if she has a bad disease.. I know it's not a death sentence if she has either FIV or lukemia but prayers and fingers crossed are welcome. Lots of love for her tonight

The Sweeper

jamie-b, don't worry too much - even if she does have these ailments, she isn't automatically 'diseased' in terms of being in some way unclean or unpleasant, and they're not a death sentence. These are not zoonotic diseases - they cannot be transmitted to humans.

If she's diagnosed positive, you know it had to come from somewhere - cats don't spontaneously contract FeLV or FIV from thin air. This means there are FIV and FeLV positive cats in your area and your cat has come into contact with them.

If I were you and one of my cats roamed and came up FIV or FeLV positive, I'd put fliers in my neighbours' letter boxes. A single sheet of A4, on which I'd copy and paste the information I included earlier in this thread; I'd put a note on it to say that locals with cats should consider getting their animals tested or keeping them indoors, or taking a trip to their vet for more information. I'd sign it - coz I'm me, but you could easily do it anonymously. Just because, like you when this thread started, a lot of people don't know that FIV and FeLV are even a possibility with their cats.

However, again as already mentioned on this thread, there's a good chance your cat's tests will prove negative. Fingers crossed for her. She may just be a bit run down and hence her system is a bit weak and she's falling prey to opportunistic infection. If that's the case, ask the vet about how best to build her up.

There's a supplement called nutrigel that can help build up cats who aren't eating and are a bit skinny, but you can also try a little vegemite with their food. Most cats love the salty, yeasty flavour, and it could help her get her appetite up. You should feed her the best quality food you can afford to feed, and look into supplementing with some raw meat - you can read up about raw food and cats and make a decision about adding some raw into the mix of her diet. Anything that builds her up will help her shake off her ailments, even if she is FeLV or FIV positive.

Jamie-b

If I were you and one of my cats roamed and came up FIV or FeLV positive, I'd put fliers in my neighbours' letter boxes. A single sheet of A4, on which I'd copy and paste the information I included earlier in this thread; I'd put a note on it to say that locals with cats should consider getting their animals tested or keeping them indoors, or taking a trip to their vet for more information. I'd sign it - coz I'm me, but you could easily do it anonymously. Just because, like you when this thread started, a lot of people don't know that FIV and FeLV are even a possibility with their cats.

thanks for your reply. I know it could happen to any cat but what I find perplexing is that my cat is a house cat. About 6 months/ a year or so ago we had to force her to go outside since she wouldn't. She likes to go out for an hours or so but that's all. She stays in the front or back garden, lays in the sun and comes in for her dinner. About 6 months or a year ago there was a feral cat that took up root under our shed as she was pregnant and we had to chase her away a lot as we have our own cat who was afriad to use the garden in this time. I feel awful now in case we forced her to go out and she was atttacked and diseased by this cat in our own garden. We just thought it was better for her to be happy both inside and outside the house and insisted she go out for an hour

The Sweeper

If she's inside that much, to be honest, it would a stroke of extreme bad luck for her to have contracted either FeLV or FIV - but remember, FeLV is spread through close and prolonged cat-to-cat contact through bodily fluids (saliva, blood, urine and feces) - so your cat may have contracted it, if she has it at all, through contact with urine or faeces in your garden.

Still, here's hoping she doesn't have it at all!

meathstevie

To me it sounds like the vet wants to find out whether there's longterm merit in sustained treatment if the cat is going to be sensitive to recurring immunity problems.

I don't doubt your genuine emotional commitment to your moggie but there's also a clinical and cost angle the vet needs to make you aware of in case your cat is suffering from a potential longterm chronical ailment so you can make a fully informed decission on the future of your cat.

Graces7

morganafay wrote: »

What age is your cat? What exactly is wrong with her paws and any other symptoms at all? Does she get illnesses ever?

If you have no other cats, and yours turned out to have either FIV or FeLV then you should really keep her inside. I think FeLV is a lot more contagious, so if you had other cats then they'd probably catch it, and so you'd have to think of getting her put to sleep. But if you don't have other cats, then you could just keep her inside, as long as she was healthy and not suffering. I think FIV is less contagious and would probably only be spread if she fought with other cats, so if you had other cats she got on with then they probably wouldn't catch it . . . but I'm not 100% sure. I would still want to keep her inside in case another cat attacked her and caught it, because it's not really fair to let it spread to other cats. I'm not sure about that, but that's what I read.


A vet once thought my cat had FeLV or FIV, cos he had sore paws (scabs and bald patches on top of paws from demodectic mange) and runny eyes and sneezing for a few months. But when I took him to my normal vet, she said she could tell he didn't, because he wasn't that skinny and seemed healthy. He just needed some teeth pulled, because they were hurting him/infected and that was causing his immune system to be bad, and when they were pulled he got much healthier and put on weight.
She said a lot of vets will just assume a cat has FeLV or FIV and want to test for it, but the cat might only have one symptom, but obviously not have it.

Thanks for this. I took a cat to a vet once after he had been stuck we think down a rabbit hole for three days and been bitten on the jaw. The vet did not listen; insisted he had FelV because he was "thin and haggard" and wanted me to bring him back for tests. Said he would probably never eat again and there was no hope for him. Gave him painkiller and antibiotics...

We never went back and cat was fine of course. After three days donw a rabbit hole of course he was thin and haggard; he ate and drank to repletion once the pain stopped.