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My cat has pillow paw. What home treatments are safe and effective?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | American Shorthair | Male | 7 years and 2 months old

I think my cat has pillow paw is there something I can do at home to heal him?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on August 20th, 2016

Pillow paw is also known as plasma cell pododermatitis. It is believed there is an immune basis behind the development of the disease, so treating the immune reaction is the focus of treatment. As such, there are not treatments at home that you can do for your cat. Peanut will need to see a vet to diagnose if he does have pillow paw, and then vet can prescribe the treatment of choice for it, oral doxycycline.

12Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM
Veterinarian
In order to understand what treatment works for pillow foot (plasma cell pododermatitis) you have to understand what this disease actually is. It is an immune mediated disease that causes the body to attack itself erroneously, causing a severe inflammation of the footpads. Therefore natural treatments are often unsuccessful. Most pets respond well to steroids (depo-medrol injections) or immune mediated medications (Atopica or Apoquel) + an extended treatment with Doxycyline or Minocycline that will stop this reaction from the inside. This is the only effective treatment that we know of. You can also do other things that can help at home, but it will likely not be enough to completely rid the swollen paws; such as soaking the paws in a chlorhexidine solution 3% daily or Epsom salt can be tried.

I encourage you to visit your local veterinarian to discuss a serious and effective treatment plan for your cats condition. Unfortunately I just don't see any other way around it.

Here is a website link that explains this disease and the effective treatments in more detail. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1720
11Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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Related Questions

How to treat cat pillow paw at home if I can't afford a vet?

HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If you can not take Yoda to the Vet then I recommend soaking her feet in Epsom salt baths twice daily. Use an E-collar to prevent licking. We think that plasma cell pododermatitis can be food allergy related or immune. So you can change her diet to a novel protein (avoid chicken based diets and try venison, duck or fish). The disease can wax and wan and I have seen it resolve with out treatment. I have never seen a cat lose their foot. If she doesn't get better than try your best to find Veterinary care. Some SPCAs have low cost clinics. I hope this helps and good luck!

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Health & Wellness

My cat has swollen paws. What are the treatments for pillow paw?

Doxycycline can be helpful in these cases. In severe case, immune suppressive therapy with steroids or cyclosporin may be needed. Antibiotics may be needed for secondary infection. Surgery may also be needed in very severe cases in which ulceration has caused the underlying pad tissue to protrude and become damaged or infected.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Health & Wellness

My cat's pillow paw isn't healing after vet care. What to do?

It does look like it could be an inflammatory condition like pillow paw. Sometimes these flare up when the immune system is activated, such as reacting to fleas or food allergies. Many time they need long courses of antibiotics like doxycycline and immune-suppressant medications like prednisone or cyclosporine. I would recommend that you have Sugar re-evaluated by the vet since it didn't respond to their treatment. I am sure she is very uncomfortable and may benefit from pain medications. If it doesn't respond medically, then surgical removal of the paw pad is an option.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

My cat's paw pads are cracked and bleeding. Why does he hurt to walk?

There is a disease call "plasma cell pododermatitis" that affects the footpads of cats, making them swell and sometimes crack. It's poorly understood, but believed to be an autoimmune disease. Treatment usually consists of a specific antibiotic (doxycycline) which somehow regulates the immune system (again, we don't understand why) and drugs to suppress the immune system (prednisolone or cyclosporine). Sometimes we have to bandage the feet temporarily to help with the pain and to aid healing. Soldier may also need pain medication for a time until he is more comfortable. Your vet should be able to diagnose this condition and start treatment. Good luck.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Is my cat's vomiting caused by prednisone for purple paw treatment?

Those doses of steroids seem very high to me. Unfortunately, you cannot just stop giving them. They must be weaned off. You need to speak to your vet about this. Sometimes they do better with a different immunosuppressant (like cyclosporine) and/or doxycycline. ( https://www.marvistavet.com/plasma-cell-pododermatitis.pml ) Since Tommy is not really responding to the treatment, the next step would be to do a biopsy of the affected tissues as it may not be "pillow foot". Hard for me to say without examining him myself. If it is pillow foot, sometimes lifelong treatment is needed.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Why does my cat's paw look strange? Is it swollen or inflamed?

I would recommend taking Mituna to the vet for assessment. It appears like this might be plasma cell pododermatitis, inflammation or infection. This can be an autoimmune disorder, or secondary to trauma such as a burn. The vet can best determine what it may be and prescribe the best medications for Mituna to help this resolve. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

My cat's paw is puffy, cracked, and she's losing hair. What's wrong?

I am sorry to hear about your kitty. It looks like she needs a veterinary visit. It looks like she could plasma cell pododermatitis aka pillowfoot. You can read more about this condition at https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952090 . The hair loss on her front legs could be related or she could have allergies, a skin infection, skin mites, or another cause. I would recommend getting her in to see her veterinarian to start treatment for the feet if they do believe it is plasma cell pododermatitis and they can closely examine her legs to determine what could be causing the hair loss.

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

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