Abnormal growth on paws

Hello everyone!

First time poster here.

My boyfriend and I "inherited" my grandmother's cat about a month ago - which we don't mind at all because I'm a major cat-lover this kitty is a big sweetie-pie. He is already interacting very well with our other two cats and we consider him a part of our little family.

Anyway, he was giving me some "cuddle time" on the couch earlier today and I noticed an abnormal growth on one of his paws. I'll try to attach some pics and perhaps some of you can shed light on what you think it is.

Info:
- He is roughly 3.5 years old.
- He has always been an indoor cat (if enclosed porches count as indoors, too).
- He is neutered.
- He is declawed (fronts only). My grandmother has bleeding problems and a scratch would bleed for days so she had him declawed probably when he was about a year old. Yeah, I don't think that's a 100% justifiable reason either...I'm very anti-declawing, but this wasn't my call.
- He doesn't favor the paw or limp though he is a bit overweight so perhaps it forces him to limit activity? Or maybe she just fed him too much...I don't know. In any case he's on a diet now.

ANYWAY - The growth isn't hard like bone, it's hard like a callus (dead skin). I've never seen anything like this before though.

When I saw the growth I was obviously concerned but also looked toward the sky and let out a "Seriously?" See, we nearly $2500 at the vet last week so one of our cats could have 2 bladder stones removed. Of course we'll do whatever needs to be done to help this new kitty, but the timing is just plain brutal to my wallet...and I hate seeing any of my kitties in pain.

Thanks for any assistance!!!

Link to the photo (on photobucket.com)

http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h1...t=DSC_0163.jpg

Others will chime in, but this isn't terribly unusual, and it's nothing serious. No reason to even do anything about it, probably.

First of all, welcome to TCS. What are your kitties' names? We'd love to see pictures---of the whole cats, not just paws.

Could you post a picture that shows a wider view of the paw? It's kind of hard to tell what we're looking at. My first thought is maybe the declaw wasn't done properly and part of the claw is growing back?
Do you know when he was last at the vet for a checkup or shots? If he's due for a visit soon and it doesn't seem to be bothering him you can probably just watch it for a while. Be sure to point it out to the vet when you take him in for a regular visit.

Odd. It actually kind of looks like the claws could be growing back (it sometimes happens to de-clawed cats, though it's usually painful so he would probably be limping), but the growths seem to be coming from the wrong place. Possibly plantar (or whatever you would call the foot pads on a cat) warts? I'd have to vet look at the paw at least, if it's not an emergency and he's not in pain maybe you could wait a while to actually do something about it.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

Others will chime in, but this isn't terribly unusual, and it's nothing serious. No reason to even do anything about it, probably.

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What would you say it is? I've never seen anything like it.

Hello Goldy!

I was just flipping through a few of the other threads and saw all the interesting photos people had of their kitties and I'm already searching for photos of my kitties to put up here!

I don't know when he went to the vet last, but if I had to guess the last time was probably when he was declawed...so, years go! He doesn't seem to be in any pain in fact he seems to be in very good spirits. He's playful and I don't think he has stopped purring since we brought him home.

I will probably watch him closely for the next few days to see how he moves around to see if it's bothering him. I don't know how long the growth has been there though...I hope it doesn't hurt him and he's just "used" to it. That makes my tummy hurt just thinking about it.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

First of all, welcome to TCS. What are your kitties' names? We'd love to see pictures---of the whole cats, not just paws.

Could you post a picture that shows a wider view of the paw? It's kind of hard to tell what we're looking at. My first thought is maybe the declaw wasn't done properly and part of the claw is growing back?
Do you know when he was last at the vet for a checkup or shots? If he's due for a visit soon and it doesn't seem to be bothering him you can probably just watch it for a while. Be sure to point it out to the vet when you take him in for a regular visit.

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Welcome to the forums!

I would guess that it is a cutaneous horn formation on the paw pad or "horned" paws.
I would suggest that you have it looked at so you can consult the vet whether you can trim it down or maybe he can show you how to trim it.

Best wishes!