Cat paw pad growth

[Ella Davison]

Hello
I've noticed a strange shape of my cats toe bean. Vet app is Wednesday but wondering if anyone has suggestions? It's not painful to touch or oozing anything. It's like her paw toe pad has grown.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Could be what they call a cutaneous horn or horned paw. Not sure from that pic, but maybe. They are relatively common and generally don't require treatment unless they grow enough to cause issues, with walking for example. Maybe this article will help you to see if you think that growth is a cutaneous horn.
What Is the Hard Growth on My Cat’s Paw Pad? - All Pet Voices

 

[NekoM]

I’m a little late with this

if you’ve goggled it you’ve discovered no one really has a clue what it is - including vets. Firstly It’s not dangerous or a fungus, it’s a fairly rare form of keratinization. I’m sure you know that cats claws are made of Keratin and are constantly growing and regularly shedding, However in your situation they’re not shedding, so you have layers growing over layers that grow outward into the pads, the dead accumulation forms a thick hard substance that oxidizes black. I’m guessing your kitty is an indoor kitty who hates getting her nails trimmed, so you go a little longer between trims - don’t worry that’s happened to the best of us. Prevention though is stepping up the trimming and getting something like scratch pads.

There’s a couple of ways to get rid of it. (I’ll start with the little guns) you’ll need a gentle wide tooth metal comb for either technique.

Massage Aquaphor into her paws about 4 times a day, it will eventually soften and breakdown enough to start combing it out.

A benzoyl peroxide shampoo formulated for pets, worked into the paws with warm water will break down the keratin bonds and start weakening it faster.

The fastest way needs focused attention - dabbing cuticle remover on a Qtip and only on the keratin - be extremely gentle with any combing, cuticle remover is a weak form of sodium hydroxide and a skin irritant.

Be patient it’s unlikely to come off in one session.

Hope that helps.