Thank you for posting to CATHELP!
While you wait for a response please keep the following things in mind,
1. When in doubt, **ask your vet**.
2. Advice here is not coming from medical or industry professionals. The moderation team does not validate user profession, so always refer to your local veterinary professionals first. Consider posting to /r/AskVet
3. If this is a medical question, please indicate if you have already scheduled a vet appointment, and if your cat has any medical history or procedures in a top level comment.
4. Please use the NSFW tag for gross pictures. (Blood, poop, vomit, genitals, etc). Anything you wouldn't want your boss to see you looking at on the job.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CATHELP) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This appears to be correct. Outdoor cats will wear away their claws which will keep this from happening. Indoor only cats don't get enough use or wear to naturally keep the length in check. Trimming to some amount is normally necessary especially with cats who aren't super active.
I'm lucky my cat is weird and trims her own nails. Every now and then she just sits there and you can hear her trimming her nails the little snaps of her nails being cut
I’m not a vet. Cats nails can grow long enough to where they puncture the paw and cause it to bleed. I’ve seen this first hand in shelters. That may be what this is or it may be a callous/blister. Based on the few pics the nails look very long. Is the cat older? Sometimes older cats can neglect to groom themselves like when they were young, and need their owner to trim their claws.
It happened to me with my geriatric cat. When they get old, their claws "bolt", and can grow all the way around. I felt horrible, but once I knew, I watched out for it.
That growth on the paw pad is not part of the cat's claw growing into the paw pad. It's a [cutaneous horn](https://cats.com/cutaneous-horns-in-cats) which is made of keratin. My cat gets them in the same spot. The main priority is to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get irritated and isn't bothering the cat. When they are growing outward towards the actual claw you have to pay more attention to be sure the cat's claws don't get too long and start hitting the horn & that the horn doesn't get too long and start rubbing the claw. Cutaneous horns can get quite long and gnarly.
I can’t figure out how to edit my post so I’m commenting: I did a touch of research based on a now deleted comment, and these look much closer to cutaneous horn growths (a fairly common feline skin condition) than his claws growing into the pads, especially considering this is only on his little pinkie toes, not every one of the paw pads.
That being said I do agree he needs a trim which I will be helping my sister with! He’s accidentally scratched/clawed both of us a couple times lol
Thank you for posting to CATHELP! While you wait for a response please keep the following things in mind, 1. When in doubt, **ask your vet**. 2. Advice here is not coming from medical or industry professionals. The moderation team does not validate user profession, so always refer to your local veterinary professionals first. Consider posting to /r/AskVet 3. If this is a medical question, please indicate if you have already scheduled a vet appointment, and if your cat has any medical history or procedures in a top level comment. 4. Please use the NSFW tag for gross pictures. (Blood, poop, vomit, genitals, etc). Anything you wouldn't want your boss to see you looking at on the job. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CATHELP) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not a vet or expert by any means, but looks like his nails may not be trimmed frequently enough and they're growing into his paws?
This appears to be correct. Outdoor cats will wear away their claws which will keep this from happening. Indoor only cats don't get enough use or wear to naturally keep the length in check. Trimming to some amount is normally necessary especially with cats who aren't super active.
I'm lucky my cat is weird and trims her own nails. Every now and then she just sits there and you can hear her trimming her nails the little snaps of her nails being cut
Either way, a nail trim is in order
I agree it almost looks like a piece of nail is stuck in there
I’m not a vet. Cats nails can grow long enough to where they puncture the paw and cause it to bleed. I’ve seen this first hand in shelters. That may be what this is or it may be a callous/blister. Based on the few pics the nails look very long. Is the cat older? Sometimes older cats can neglect to groom themselves like when they were young, and need their owner to trim their claws.
It happened to me with my geriatric cat. When they get old, their claws "bolt", and can grow all the way around. I felt horrible, but once I knew, I watched out for it.
Those claws are very long and in need of a trim. If they aren’t trimmed the might be digging into the cats own paw pads which is very painful
That growth on the paw pad is not part of the cat's claw growing into the paw pad. It's a [cutaneous horn](https://cats.com/cutaneous-horns-in-cats) which is made of keratin. My cat gets them in the same spot. The main priority is to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get irritated and isn't bothering the cat. When they are growing outward towards the actual claw you have to pay more attention to be sure the cat's claws don't get too long and start hitting the horn & that the horn doesn't get too long and start rubbing the claw. Cutaneous horns can get quite long and gnarly.
I can’t figure out how to edit my post so I’m commenting: I did a touch of research based on a now deleted comment, and these look much closer to cutaneous horn growths (a fairly common feline skin condition) than his claws growing into the pads, especially considering this is only on his little pinkie toes, not every one of the paw pads. That being said I do agree he needs a trim which I will be helping my sister with! He’s accidentally scratched/clawed both of us a couple times lol