polydactyl issue

my cat has a claw that grows between two toes. i am having a terrible time clipping it and fear that it will grow into his paw pad. i clipped the rest of his nails today and tried to cip the extra one, but he whined and jumped away. a friend tried to assist me with it a little while later and he jumped and cried again. there is no sign of infection and the nail is not that sharp at the moment, but it does curl up toward the foot. he was very stressed out, so i called a 24 hour hospital for advice. the doctor wasn't that concerned b/c i told her that my cat wasn't bleeding and that he was walking fine. there was some grime near the nail that i thought was dried blood, but now i think it was dirt. the doctor said it was not an emergency, but should be treated this week. she said my vet would assess the area and decide what to do...worst case scenario- declaw that one claw. has anyone else had this problem with a poly-cat? my thinking...IF I NEED TO DECLAW THAT NAIL i will b/c i'd rather have one nail removed than a whole paw when it gets infected. i am very on top of things with my cat and hope the vet will be able to clip it shorter and give me advice on how to do it in the future. i will get more than one opinion if the doctor says remove the claw b/c i think it should be clippable. we'll see...send good

If it will cause a problem as it grows and there is a danger of infection or growing in the pad, then I would agree to declaw that one nail. Is the nail attached to another toe? Sounds weird if its growing between two other toes without being attached to anything.

Interestingly, (if you didn't already catch it) this topic has come up in another thread this AM....

In that thread, this site was referenced.....you might want to read thoroughly the section "Minor Problems With Polydactyly" for treatment options.

The other thread is here