ack! Growth on paw pad??? photos

I was clipping kismets claws today, i do it about once every two weeks and she is great about it, but I found this on her front right paw! I thought it was a piece of claw stuck in her paw it was so hard! But its some kind of growth. A wart maybe?? When i pulled on it it didn't bother her one bit, but it's hard as a rock and definitely attahed to her.

Should I do something?? What is it??? and how might she have gotten it??? (indoor cat only)

You should call the Vet and see what they say. I have never seen anything like that. It kinda looks like Cat Litter in the 2nd Pic.

yeah I agree and I thought that, but it's definitely not an infection or something (ie. if she had gotten something like litter in her paw) it doesn't hurt her or bother her one bit (I can push, prod and pull and she isn't lame at all)! My best guess is a wart...............?? My old cat had one above her eye and it kind of looked like that. But I'm just suprised I never noticed this before and was hoping somebody recognized it..........

My moms cat has this on most of her paws. It's basically a callous.

Read this site if you are more interested...
http://www.messybeast.com/horned-paws.htm

thanks!!! I'll look into that website!

EDIT: I just looked into it and that is exactly what she has!! so weird!! thanks!! it isn't bothering her or snagging, but if it starts to snag I'll take her to the vet to have it removed I guess! (It says on the website you can clip it off, but I don't feel comfortable with that!)

Hi, several of my cats have these...I just wish I could remember what they are called. They can be removed surgically, or snipped close to the base (ask your vet to confirm this of course). They do tend to come back which is why we've never gone the surgical route.

I tried online research to find the name, but only ran into articles calling it "horns" and an oddity. It's not really <shrug>.

Definately not warts..your photos are excellent - 3 of our cats currently have these.

Ophelia Rose has those, one of them came off in the regular struggle to clip her nails.

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Hi, several of my cats have these...I just wish I could remember what they are called. They can be removed surgically, or snipped close to the base (ask your vet to confirm this of course). They do tend to come back which is why we've never gone the surgical route.

I tried online research to find the name, but only ran into articles calling it "horns" and an oddity. It's not really <shrug>.

Definately not warts..your photos are excellent - 3 of our cats currently have these.

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haha she loves having her paws played with so it was easy to get CLOSE up photos! thanks for the advice!

I guess you've never had any complications?

Nope, knock on wood...Rachel in particular has had these for years.

Captain has one on his head. It at first was a huge lump the size of a grape. I had it treated with homeopathy and now it looks like a large piece of cat litter on his head. I just leave it alone because the vet says it's optional to remove it. It's actually shrinking.

Looks like "horned paw" to me. Two of our cats (siblings) have it. No big deal, we just trim off the growths when we trim their nails.

my cat had them on several paws.  Like mud hornet nests tiny or clumping cat litter stacking.  Hers are warts and dont use clippers.  When they are big enough to grab i used my fiinger nails.  After 2 years we are down to 3.  Are they comfortable?  Cats have high pain tolerance.  A wart off the tip of your finger would bother you.  Its better she hates me for 2 minutes every 6 months or so and they did spread to a second cat not a third or 4th after I began taking them off one no longer has them.

I just discovered that my one cat has these and her dad has tiny tiny ones on his pads.  So weird.  Now can someone tell me if this would make them not want to go in the litter?

I'm so glad I found this thread as one of mine has these and thought it was really odd!! It just seems like hard, dead skin, as previously mentioned just a callous really. My cat doesnt seem bothered when i snip them off lol.

I learn something new on this site everyday

LotsofFur said:

I learn something new on this site everyday

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I saw the date and it's an old thread but very interesting, I learn a lot too on TCS.

Wow so glad I found this! So when I take my cat to get his nails trimmed can I ask them to cut it off too? I was so worried when I saw it!!! Glad it's nothing serious!

I think these are sometimes called cutaneous horns. They're growths of keratin, like nails, but they don't have any blood supply or tissues inside them, so it's fine to trim them off. They will probably grow back unless a vet removes them, and they might be a little thicker or weirdly shape so nail trimmers don't always fit neatly around them. Sometimes they bother the cat, and it's good to trim them, but sometimes the cat doesn't mind. I think it's believed there's a connection between them and some viruses, but not always.

My cat has them on her carpal pads. She's also FIV positive, so I wonder if that could be the cause. I'm going to mention it the next time she goes to the vet for a check-up just to make sure they know about it. 

This is what hers look like:

If you have the round scissors clippers for clipping cat nails, you can easily and safely clip these off, no matter the size and shape.