Kitten claw seems to be infected?

[jetgirl43]

My kitten has been completely fine, eating and running and drinking just as normal, but I help my cats' with their claws since they're only indoor cats. As I was going to cut my younger cat, Fortune's, claws, I noticed about two weeks ago that his dewclaw had some bits of scabbing. I decided to leave it alone, since I figured it might heal on it's own. Looking at it today, and it looks the same, if not worse. I'm wanting to take him to the vet later today, but I also wanted to hear some opinions from anyone else that might know what this is. It almost looks like scabbing and/or a fungus, and it looks like it is also trying to heal itself. Thank you so much, and I hope this gets fixed quickly. 

kittyyyyyyoww.jpg

• jetgirl43
• May 1, 2014

 

[furmonster mom]

Looks abscessed to me.

One thing you can do, until you get him to a vet, is soak it in a mild epsom salt & water solution (just warm, not hot).  If you can't soak the foot, try cotton swabs dampened with the solution and pressed on it for a few minutes at a time (like a compress).  It will help draw out some of the infection. 

Still, get him to a vet.  That thing looks very painful (cats are very good at hiding pain), and if it's been going on for a couple weeks, he may need antibiotics.

 

[firenat]

I agree with the advice about the epsom salts and just want to urge you to try to get him on antibiotics as soon as possible.