My cat is limping. His paws are dry, pale, and peeling. What's wrong?

I am sorry to hear about your kitty! I would recommend an examination by a veterinarian for this issue. Some of his symptoms are consistent with a condition called "pillow foot" in cats, or Plasma Cell Pododermatitis. You can read more about this condition, its symptoms and treatment at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952090 . The treatment is a prescription medication which require a prescription from your vet.

The picture is not very clear and it is not possible to diagnose from that but the fact she is no longer limping is positive and I would monitor for any recurrence. There does appear to be some hard/damaged skin at the edge of the paw pad which might respond to vaseline/paw balm (as long as all ingredients are cat safe). I would recommend scheduling a visit to your vet if it relapses - a video can be very helpful for them as she may not be lame during the visit.

Hi, in the first picture it looks like there could be a bit of infection as the fluid seems cloudy. Looking at the second one the skin lesion looks more like podo dermatitis, an inflammation of Jeff's pad. I think it is worthy to have hm checked over, in order to get some medications and help him towards a speedy recovery. If you don't take him to see your vet, his foot will continue to get worse and every time he puts his foot down to walk he will be in a lot of pain. I think your vet will not need to run tests but just give him some medications and therefore cost should be limited. All the best and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach !

While a burn to his paw is possible I would also be concerned about an infection or even a bite/sting wound. Kitty Baby needs to get his paw checked out if possible as he may need antibiotics. If that is not possible I recommend he be kept indoors and you monitor the paw. Sometimes soaking the paw in a warm water or a warm compress is helpful. Do not give any human medications as they can be very toxic to cats.

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. Based on the pictures you have provided, the problem could be associated with an allergy, infection or a immune-mediated disease. I would recommend trying a product called malacetic conditioning spray and apply to the area until resolved. You may have to see your veterinarian to discuss alternative treatment options such as steroid therapy or immunomodulatory therapy to treat and immune-mediated disease. Feline plasma cell pododermatitis can appear like this and treatment is suppressing the immune system and antibiotic therapy. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further

Poor kitty. Unfortunately the photo is too dark to really get a good look at the paw. I do see some crusting there though, which leads me to think this is just an infection and not likely skin cancer. Feel free to repost another photo with a second forum question, with better lighting to verify. If it is just infection, then you can try soaking the paw in Betadine diluted 50:50 with warm water or Chlorhexidine solution 3% diluted into a light blue mixture to help clean this antiseptically. Then a vet visit will be needed to get Cream on some antibiotics (oral or injectable). I hope that Cream's foot heals well soon! Best wishes and take are.

Poor kitty. This looks like a really bad skin infection and could be due to an underlying flea allergy. Luckily veterinary hospitals are considered an essential business, so most are open even with the lockdown keeping other things closed. Your cat needs to see a vet to get this taken care of and also figure out what is causing him to limp? He will need at the very least antibiotics to help clear up this skin infection. I do hope that you are can find an open vet close to you soon. Best of luck and take care.