Why is my cat suddenly limping and hissing when I touch his paw pad?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Judging from the photo, this looks quite mild so I would not be concerned about this. You can switch out her litter to something such as Yesterday's News so that it is not painful to walk on. I would also apply a topical ointment such as Sentry wound cream (can be found at Petco) and apply twice daily for 3-5 days. This should heal fine on its own. If you begin to notice swelling of the foot or pus coming from the area, then I would take her in to be seen by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

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 !

I am sorry to hear your cat is having lameness. Cats are masters at hiding pain and illness so they don't typically scream out unless there is substantial pain there. But limping and a pet not willing to place a foot down is an indicator of a certain level of pain there or else they would put entire weight on the limb and paw. This most likely is not a fracture because that pain would be very evident with her not allowing you to touch it and there would be a substantial amount of swelling there. So that leaves a muscle sprain or ligament partial/complete tear. The key is to localize where on the leg the pain is coming from, look for obvious swelling, and then treat the pet with anti-inflammatory medication if sprain is suspected or do an x-ray if the knee or joint is suspected as the source of the pain to rule out a ligament rupture. Unfortunately there are no safe over the counter pain meds available for cats but your vet has safe products to prescribe for your cat for conservative treatment at the very least to see if this will improve her condition.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Momo! The most common reason for an outdoor cat to limp is from trauma. Either falling from something, get caught up or from fighting with another animal and suffering bite wounds and an abscess. I would keep him indoors and see if resting helps the limp, which it would if it was a strain or sprain. If he stops eating and is lethargic he may have a fever from bite wounds and infection. Bite wounds are treated with pain medications and antibiotics. These medications need to be prescribed by a Vet who can examine Momo. I hope this helps!

Hi! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There is a variety of conditions that can make Gerrald limp. These include a fracture, a laceration of the paw or something stuck in the paw, a soft tissue injury or even a bone tumor which of course would be the worse possible cause (unlikely). I recommend that you have him evaluated by your veterinarian for an examination and possibly radiographs to rule out some of those conditions and recommend treatment based on findings. Good luck!

Hello Carlos! Limping is a sign of pain in cats, so if Tomaz is limping with his front left paw, he is in pain. It could be that because he was limping on the back paw, it put more pressure on his front paws, and now he's injured the left front paw. I'd take him back into a vet today. Best of luck.

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.