Found A Claw On Declawed Cat

Today I noticed that my cat has a claw on one of her front feet, even tho she is declawed. Blu was already declawed (front only)when I adopted her, and hasn't exhibited any problems or even a hint that she knows they are missing. She likes to sharpen her "claws" on the arm of my sofa.

Anyway, the remaining claw is one of the "thumbs" that are higher up on the leg. The thumb claw on the other foot is gone, but this one is still there. It doesn't look sharp, but more of a blunt nail. I wouldn't really call it deformed, but it doesn't look like it's fully grown out or something.

Is it possible that this nail grew back after removal, or was just missed during the declawing process? Missing one seems unlikely, so I'm thinking it might have grown back in.

It doesn't seem to cause her (or my furniture)any problems, so do I need to have it looked at by the vet or just leave it be?

It's a dewclaw and it is likely the vet just left it. Unless it is growing inward into the pad, I would leave it alone. The cat has already suffered through a declawing, no reason to repeat the pain.

My last cat smokey had several deformed claws grow back after her declaw job. The vet I was taking her to at then end of her life said that who ever did the declaw did a very poor declaw job. They didn't really cause her a problem until she was older & by then she had CRF & the vet said he wouldn't do it because of the kidney failure.

Originally Posted by hissy

It's a dewclaw and it is likely the vet just left it. Unless it is growing inward into the pad, I would leave it alone. The cat has already suffered through a declawing, no reason to repeat the pain.

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Wonder why the vet would leave one dewclaw and not the other one?

Your little Blu is so adorable!

Awww, thanks so much!!

As long as she doesn't seem uncomfortable and there is no sign of a problem (swelling or the claw visibly growing into the pad), then I wouldn't worry about it. Just mention it to the vet at her next routine visit so s/he can check to make sure there are no abnormalities. If the original declaw was done poorly, she may need additional surgery to correct it and it would be much better to do this while she is still fairly young and healthy.