Nailbed infection in cats

[Mrs Mac]

Hi, does anybody have experience with nailbed infections in cats? My poor Rosie has been on antibiotics for 2 weeks for a nailbed infection on all 4 paws. Vet doesn't quite know what caused it, could be some irritant outside - there's a buildingsite down the street that she likes to visit - or even an allergic reaction to our new carpets or just an infection she picked up somewhere else. She's not in pain and her usual self and even uses her scratch post but it does look nasty.

Vet now said to stop antibiotics and come back in 2 weeks to see if it has cleared up. If not she'll do further tests. She also cut her nails this morning, Rosie hated it and is in a huff with me now. Went upstairs to sleep at 10.30 and has not woken up. Clearly exhausting business, vet visits!

[meriad]

no clue whatsoever - sorry . But is there any way you could keep her inside for a bit to see if it is anything she's picking up at the building site? And maybe get your carpets cleaned to remove any chemicals that may be in the material? At least that would then hopefully rule out two options?

In the meantime what else besides AB's are you using? Has the vet mentioned anything like saline baths or hibiscrub or anything that may help externally?

[Mrs Mac]

We tried to bathe her paws at the beginning - vet said we could try saline bath if Rosie lets us, just clear some of the crusty stuff. Total disaster, cat flipped out when we tried so we left it. Vet said not to force her (as if we could) and ABs would do their job. It's improved somewhat when she checked again yesterday so that shows AB working but it hasn't completely cleared yet.

We're probably trying to keep her indoors when we're going away for a few days next week so hopefully that'll help clearing it up too.