Texas Pete's hot Paws

2010-05-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

This PITIFUL kitty was a feral cat in a south neighborhood area A good Samaritan had been trying to feed him by leaving the garage door cracked. This cat-loving and compassionate person, named Holly Zostant, noticed that the skinny, beat-up feral kitty was bleeding from somewhere (?) as he was leaving bloody paw prints on her driveway and garage. Pete (Texas Pete as he was named) was limping and appeared to be injured, but because he was SO wild and skiddish, Holly could not get close enough to him to tell what was wrong. Holly call FURR for help! I was able to trap this poor kitty and take it directly to the vet for assessment. Pete did not look good!

After looking the cat over, a most unusual and horrifying discovery came to surface. This kitty had huge tumor-like sores on the bottoms of ALL FOUR OF HIS FEET! This poor kitty was trying to survive with four painful, bloody paws! The tumors looked like round raw sores, one on each foot, about the size of a nickel! These awful bleeding sores had to have been horrible for Pete trying to survive, being in pain just walking (much less running), trying to catch food or even to try and bathe himself.

It turns out that after some research, the disease that Pete had is called "Pillow Feet", or Plasma Cell Pododermatitis which is a foot pad disease of cats. Little is known about this disease, but can usually be treated with prednisone. However, when the disease has progressed, like Pete's, to the point of severe pain and lameness, surgery and removal of the tumor-like sores is the only option. Pete had to undergo surgery and has been in recovery at the FURR facility for many weeks now. His prognosis is extremely good that he should be able to function as a normal cat after all is healed! During recovery at the FURR kitty lodge, Pete has gained a lot of weight, he has been able to clean himself up and he looks like a new cat!

Couls you help, PLEASE, with Pete's expenses? He will also need more follow-up doctor visits and care. We are a non-profit group and all donations are tax deductible.

You can mail check to: FURR

PO Box 1164

Waxhaw, NC 28173

Thank you for caring about Pete and contributing to a wonderful cause.

Painful paws on Texas Pete

Texas Pete's hot Paws