Kitten paw is cracked and scabbed

Hi everyone. My kitten Ernie is about 5 months old. Today I noticed what I thought was litter stuck between the pads of one of his front paws. When I looked closer, I realized that it wasn't litter but some sort of scab or growth. His pad on that foot is also red and a bit cracked. It looks raw, but doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. It's only on one of his paws, he's not limping, and he'll let me touch it so I really don't think it's causing him any pain. However, I wanted to see if anyone's seen anything like this before. Also, he is NOT declawed and is otherwise very healthy. Thanks in advance!

Oh my. It looks like a fungus or infection. Take him to the vet. In the mean time....i would rub coconut oil on it. Might want to do this after he uses the litterbox and clean off as needed.

Poor little guy, if not scabs it does look like some kind of fungal infection or similar.  With cracked skin Ernie is bound to be in quite a bit of pain or discomfrot even if he isn't showing it:  cats have very high pain thresholds and it is very difficult to detect pain until it is severe.   I hope you are able to take him to a vet very soon and the person who sees him is able to identify the cause of this - so it can be cleared up quickly for Ernie.   Good to get it looked at and sorted before it is bad enough to start to affect his play and general activity.

Thanks both of you for your advice. We are going to the vet at 9am tomorrow morning.

I hope all goes well at the vet and they can clear it up quickly, nothing serious.  Let us know how you get on.   

What was the result?  My lil 5-6 month old just had the same thing along with scabs on his ears.  We did a biopsy on him and he has the autoimmune disease called Pemphigus Foliaceus.

Hi Leigh,

After two trips to the vet, a round of antibiotics, and a steroid shot (with no real diagnosis), Ernie's front paw "gunk" cleared up. However, more than a year later and he still has issues with his back right paw. It's not a growth to the same extent, but I think it might be the same stuff, but he just licks it and chews it before it can get to that point. Whenever he gets a flare up, he will dig at his paw with his mouth incessantly and it takes constant monitoring to keep him off of it. We've been waiting out these episodes, as they do eventually clear up and I would hate to have him on constant antibiotics or steroids. I appreciate you mentioning your kitty's diagnosis. I'll look into that since our vet has never had a real answer for us and I would love to find something more we can do for him.

That'd good to hear! Hope your lil guy doesnt have the same thing, our lil one will now need a lifetime of meds but apparently it's pretty rare and extremely rare in a kitty so young but you never know!! Hope everything works out for you!

One of my cats has cracked chapped paws, she also has slightly swoollen lips, my hyperthyroid cat maxed my credit card so I cant afford tests. This cat is borderline hyperthyroid. She had long hair and I find it difficult to cut the hair on her paws, I have to fight with my spouse to get him to hold my cats for me to do these things. I always thought she was chapped from pulling her hair on her paws, reading this makes me wonder if its more. I have some extra baytril from my other cat who gets utis often and can only handle it for a short while and often cant finish. Wonder if I should try in case? I have put coconut oil on them but only helps temporarily.

What is the best way to trim long hair off paws? afraid to use a trimmer worried Ill cut her. Have tried scissors with a round end but she is a smart cat who can almost read your mind, its hard to do anything with her. Lord help me if I have to start giving her hyperthyroid meds.
They get canned natures variety chicken twice a day and this cat gets about a tbsp of dry each am as she drives me crazy whining for dry food. We stopped the dry over 2 years ago, now I only have sample size orijen for this and bribery purposes to get them to let me brush their teeth.

Glad I saw this post.