What do our cat's paws suddenly look dirty?

January 24, 2008 3:41 PM

Our orange tabby's fur looks a little dark and dirty in a few spots around his paws and claws, but he keeps himself clean and no the dirt doesn't show or come off when we wipe him with a wet paper towel. What gives?

My girlfriend recently moved in with me and my dogs, and now Tabby's paws look dirty, but it's almost like his fur is changing color in a few spots. He might be digging in the (cat safe) plants, but it doesn't really seem like his paws or claws have dirt in them or on them, so we don't think that's it. Could this be a medical condition? Could it be related to the three dogs he lives with now? Something else about my apartment? Is he in danger? Is this a "go to a vet, OMG!" situation? What the hell is going on?

posted by iknowizbirfmark to pets & animals (8 comments total)

My orange cats' coats have increasingly more black hairs as they get older. Check closely to see if that's the case.

Certainly doesn't sound like an urgent medical issue. The cat's acting okay, right? Eating, drinking, etc?
posted by mudpuppie at 3:45 PM on January 24, 2008

Could be feline acne... do a google image search and see if what comes up looks like what your cat has. If it is that it's very treatable.
posted by Lotto at 3:46 PM on January 24, 2008

Definitely not feline acne, from those pictures on the internet. I feel sorry for those cats!

This cat is acting otherwise normally. It really looks like the fur is colored, but only in recent growth. If it's really just changing as the cat gets older, it sure seems really sudden. He was a pretty uniform tabby color until very recently, and the change seems all of a sudden looking at hair growth. Diet has not changed.

Maybe he is just stressed by watching all the dogs' activity.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 4:18 PM on January 24, 2008

Have you changed brands of litter lately? Maybe the litter is dustier than usual?
posted by mudpuppie at 4:31 PM on January 24, 2008

One day my little Loopy Schmickles was sitting on my bed. He had his paws turned in and tucked under (like he was praying, but in reverse). It was odd but I didn't think anything of it until later when he unfolded one, not thinking and I got to take a look at it! There was a dark stain in a ring almost to the top of his toes. And the other was the same. That hairy bastard had been dipping his tooties into something of mine! And was trying to hide it...

Cats are very sneaky... It may be that he's just been poking around in 'his' new stuff. Or it could be something as simple as he was grumpy about the dogs one day and was skritching about in his litter for longer than usual having a little 'tanty.' He went to play in the sink and this created a stain in his fur. Later that day you caught sight of it and made a fuss over him. Even if he didn't like you looking at his tooties he did enjoy all the rest of the attention. "Poor little man... I hope there's nothing wrong with him! Oh no Kitty!!" ...*ah-ha*... erm cough cough. Don't worry about me guys.. I'm sure it's not the dogs and I'll be fine.. cough cough cough. Goes to skritch in the litter a bit more heh heh heh...

Make no mistake cats are sneaky...

(Oh and they get the acne under their chins... not on their feet. *Possibly they can, but you could not have missed the progression that would lead to that and 'discover' it on their feet. It doesn't have to be as serious as the pics you saw likely were. It looks like flea dirt until closer inspection in milder instances.)

Hey! I assumed the dogs were outside, they're not are they? It's probably just dirt-stain. Wash his tooties with some cat safe wash (2%salicyclic face wash is cat safe. Loo' has Clean & Clear but Neutrogena ect are good too). If it comes out there's your answer :)

I'd be inclined to think his hair would fall out rather than his tooties changing colour if it were a stress related type thing...
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 7:56 PM on January 24, 2008

If it's something he's picking up, and a wet paper towel isn't shifting it, might it be greasy? Has he perhaps started sitting on an oil spot under a car that wasn't there before, as an occasional refuge from dogs that weren't there before?
posted by flabdablet at 8:47 PM on January 24, 2008

2nding or 3rding staining. My dog's paws are pink because we have a red clay soil base here. Her feet are perfectly clean, since she cleans them, but her fur is actually dyed by it.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:58 AM on January 25, 2008

Those voting for staining were right - we found the cat hiding in the fireplace (which had been behind a couple of boxes for a few days), picking up soot and ash from logs burned a while ago. He was pretty proud of himself that he had figured out how to get in there and not at all happy that we moved the boxes and it's not such a great hiding place any more.
posted by iknowizbirfmark at 2:08 PM on January 28, 2008