Strange growth on kitty's rear paw

Hi everyone. I was sitting by my cat today when I noticed something strange growing out from the top of one of her paw pads on her rear leg. I've attached some photos. I'm going to try to take her to the vet tomorrow, but does anyone know what this is? I thought it was a splinter first, but when I looked more closely, it seems like some kind of growth.

I took some pictures:



Thanks for your help!

It looks like something is impacted based upon the redness around it.  I do not have any medical training, so I hope someone more knowledgeable chimes in on this.
 

I would defininately take her to the vet as I am no vet and for an accurate diagnosis, a vet is the only way to go. That said, it may just be a callous. They are painless and can be easily clipped off without the cat even realizing you are doing it. Most of the time they will just fall off eventually.

A vet visit is in order. 

If I were to guess, my shot in the dark would be that it is a "horny growth" that some cats have on their pads.