Azimuth & Mizzen (part 6) Squishy feet

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

 

Mizzen had made a full recovery from here eye procedure and life was going back to a new normal for her. I had always spent so much time obsessing over her eyes I never realized that other troubles were brewing. 

Mizzen loved climbing on the kitty tree and jumping off of it

 She liked to climb up on things and jump off while running around the house like a headless chicken, but she always seemed tender when she hit the ground. I always just figured she was landing wrong and she'd be better after a few steps. When I would check her feet the pads seemed a little darker then a pink pad should be, but again, I just thought perhaps I was just squeezing her leg to firmly while trying to get a look at her feet. Mizzen was after all a very squirmy girl.  In the back of my mind I was growing more and more suspicious. I had seen feet like this before, and I was hoping that I was just imagining things.

Playing in a paper bag

I had to bring her in for a booster vaccine so I figured I would just have the vet look at her feet and tell me I was crazy. Not so much. The Vet told me her feet did look suspicious and she aspirated one of the footpads and looked at the cells under the microscope. She confirmed what I had been trying to ignore. Mizzen had Plasma Cell Pododermatitis.

This explained why her feet were tender when she jumped off of things and why her footpads seemed squishy, slightly purple at times and dry looking.

Mizzens' right rear foot.

 After discussing my options with the Vet we decided to treat Mizzen with Doxycycline. I had a marshmallow flavored liquid version compounded at a local pharmacy for her. She Hated it! The first dose I gave her she ran around the house foaming at the mouth and trying to outrun the bad flavor. I thought she was over reacting, but when I touched a bit of the liquid on my own tongue I knew she was not faking it. It tasted VERY bitter. I dropped the liquid into some empty Cosequin pill capsules for the next few doses while I explored my options with the Vet.

The icky tasting medicine that Mizzen didn't like and the empty pill capsules I would hide the liquid in

I spoke to the Veterinarian about different medication options. She told me that there are some pet pharmacies that will compound medicine into a flavored chew treat. That sounded like a good option to me, so I had her call in the prescription so we could try it out.

In about a week we received a small package with Mizzen's new medicated chew treats.

Mizzen's chicken flavored medicated chew treats

At first Mizzen was unsure of these new treats. After all, I had been shoving pills down her throat for about a week and a half and she was suspicious of anything that I gave her. I broke the treat into tiny bits and sprinkled it over her food. She ate it. I was happy that she was willing to eat it, so the next night when I broke it up I left the pieces a bit bigger. She still ate it. I kept doing that until I was just handing her a whole medicated chew and she was just eating it like a treat.  I was so happy, and Mizzen just thought she was getting something special. 

Mizzen quickly gobbles up her medicated chew treat

Mizzens new favorite part of the day was getting her medicine. Hopefully she would improve with treatment, but only time would tell.