The Story of Snowflake
On 27th May 2019, a scared white cat was brought to the AWL NSW vet clinic in Kemps Creek. This poor male cat was found by a member of the public who came to the realisation that even though the poor cat was terrified and hissing, he was very reluctant to run away. Upon a closer look, the kind person noticed the cat had some open wounds on his paw pads so rushed him to our care.
An examination by our vet team revealed that he had severe ulceration and scabbing of all four footpads. Pus oozed from his open wounds. Named Snowflake by our vet team, this poor cat could barely stand, let alone walk on his feet. Given the severity of his wounds, it was initially suspected that they may have been the result of chemical or thermal burns. His wounds were cleaned and bandaged and he was given strong pain relief and antibiotics.
Daily bandage changes were performed so that his wounds could be examined, cleaned and dressed. Our vet team could tell that this was quite painful but even though Snowflake resented the dressing changes, he would go straight back to purring as soon as the procedure was finished. After a few days of treatment and antibiotics, the pus started to clear up – however to the dismay of the vets, the wounds showed no sign of healing. They were still as large as before and had not contracted at all. Once Snowflake was deemed stable he was anaesthetized and a biopsy of his paw pads were obtained and submitted to an external laboratory for histopathological analysis. To our surprise, Snowflakes results showed that he actually had an inflammatory disease called “Plasmacytic Pododermatitis” or “Pillow foot” – due to the characteristic soft, puffy feeling of the footpads. As Snowflakes case was quite severe and quite atypical, the AWL NSW vet team enlisted the help of Specialist Dermatologist Dr. Linda Vogelnest at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital, who offered us valuable advice.
As a result, Snowflakes medications and treatment plan was changed and within the week he was already improving. He became the loving man we knew was there all along. After a few weeks on the medication Snowflakes paw pads healed up completely. He is now off medication and waiting to find his forever home at the Kemps Creek animal shelter.
If you would like more information on how to adopt Snowflake, be sure to contact the Kemps Creek shelter on 02 8777 4445. AWL NSW Rehoming Organisation Number: R251000222