Swollen Feet (possibly caused by type of litter)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 11:47:12 -0700 Subject: FEL-L: swollen feet
I have never ever seen this before! My queen has all four feet fairly swollen up! It does not seem to bother her much. What on earth could cause this. She is lactating and has kittens 8 weeks old. I thought a first a bee sting, but not on all four feet! There is no way she "got into" something. She is in our big covered back deck run. I did just swap kitty litter, but it is a brand I have used before, clay and baking soda. Any thoughts please!
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 14:56:57 EDT Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
I would guess the litter. The company may have change what they use for clay or how they process it chemically, without you being aware of it, and too, lacating females have hormonal changes that can attribute to allergic reactions make them more sensitive than if they were not lacating. Sherry :)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 15:07:56 -0500 Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
What is your deck made of? If the wood is pressure treated, it might be the cause. The wood is treated with chemicals.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 20:15:52 EDT Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
My guess would be the cat litter too. We use Wheat Mids for cat litter. It clumps like clay but is safe even if the cats should eat it. It keeps odors down as well, and it is very reasonable. Around $7.00 for 50 lbs. Clumping clay is bad news for kittens, they lick it off their paws and it can acumulate in the stomach and kill them.
Wheat Mids can be purchased in feed stores or there are several wheat based litters available in pet stores. Wheat Mids are like Wheat bran.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 22:45:56 -0600 Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
Pine litter is really great, too. Little pellets break into sawdust when wet, and become garden mulch after neutralizing the urine.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 23:01:27 -0700 Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
First question is the litter, the clumping kind of litter. If it is, get rid of it! It is bad news for any cat! If its not the litter it could possibly be an allergic reaction to baking soda or something in or near her cage.
The only other thing I could think of would be if she has a very large litter and maybe some of the babies are getting confused and nursing on her feet when they may not be able to get at the real thing. Very outside chance of that but thought I'd mention it.
I hope you can find out the cause. You might check her temp if you can and watch her very closely for any think out of the ordinary. Let us all know what happened so we can learn from it; please.
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 09:48:49 -0700 Subject: Re: FEL-L: swollen feet
The swelling is now gone. The only connection we have is the old litter was causing the problem. It was Bentonite sand (clumping properties) It must have somehow iritated her feet. Whether it reacted with the urine or just plain was iritating to her I do not know. But back to regular clay and swelling went down and is now is gone completely. We will be switching to wood pellets here soon and pros or cons on this? I know that some cats will not use the pellets. But the availablitly and price are right as well as the odor control and biodegradable aspects being a bonus. Thanks to all on your suggestions for Toto's swollen feet! Tracy