Help, cat nail looks weird

[Lily Scott]

I found this on my cat's hind leg today. Help please
I'm 13 and parents won't take him to the vet
The claw almost looks sideways a tiny bit
Also he does not seem to be in pain
I squeezed the area to test if he feels pain or discomfort in the area and he wasn't in pain
However I am concerned

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. I am sorry that your parents won't let you take him to the vet.

Just for starters, as you know, I am not a vet. I have worked decades in vet hospitals and feline only hospitals as well as ER and specialty medicine, but I am not a vet and I don't hold any degree. I can only tell you what it looks like to me, from the pictures, but to actually diagnose what is going on, one needs to be a veterinarian and actually physically examine the cat. Since that isn't going to happen, I will just tell you what I would do if I saw that on my cat and I didn't have veterinarian access.

OUCH!! That definitely hurts. He is just a very good cat to let you squeeze his toe, But it must hurt. It looks to me like he got it shredded on something. You might want to check him out for any wounds anywhere on his body. Also check his other toenails for any signs of trauma. Check his teethe as well and feel al over for any bite wounds. It looks to me like it was either a pavement shredding or a fight shredding. Hard to say. Could have also done it on a tree, but whatever happened he shredded his nail getting away from something.

Obviously a vet visit would be good because they could give him antibiotics and something for pain. If he was my cat, I would not mess with it. I wouldn't try to clean it because it isn't bleeding now. If you start to mess with it and open it up it could bleed allot. I would definitely keep him inside util it heals to try to prevent an infection and also because it hurts and whatever did this may still be out there and now he may not be fast enough to get away. Also with that nail, there is probably other areas that hurt as well even if it didn't leave any marks.

So, don't clean, keep him inside, look for other wounds. Thats what I would do if I saw this on my cat and I couldn't take my cat to the vet.

I can tell how much you love your cat and I know he loves you to if he didn't bite you when you were squeezing his toe. You are a very good cat mom.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I agree with silent meowlook. I would not mess with his toe and DO NOT use anything on it like hydrogen peroxide and DO NOT put any ointments or anything on it. As these things can cause more problems than good.
Also keeping him inside to heal completely and to be able to monitor his healing is a great idea. Again I agree with everything said above.
I also am not a vet but IMO I think it should heal properly as long as it is left to heal on its own.
Also if you do find any other signs of trauma keep an eye on those as well and if they are really bad it may just be the best course of action to get him to the vet..
Monitor for any signs of infection and if it does get bad the best thing would be to take him to a vet. Although I do understand that you do not have the means to do so maybe a family member could take you?
IMO I think it would be beneficial for him to become strictly an indoor cat.. for his safety and your sanity being that if things do happen it is hard to get him to a vet.. I'm not trying to be mean or anything just trying to look out for your little guy and you.

 

[Lily Scott]

He is running perfectly fine and im not really sure what to think cause he's not acting any different. The only reason I noticed it in the first place was when I was brushing him I saw he had a black claw so I took a closer look.

I think the claw got push sideways cause it's slightly crooked. I can't keep him inside because my family always lets him out.

Since the claw is slightly sideways, will it still heal?

 

[Lily Scott]

He is running perfectly fine and im not really sure what to think cause he's not acting any different. The only reason I noticed it in the first place was when I was brushing him I saw he had a black claw so I took a closer look.

I think the claw got push sideways cause it's slightly crooked. I can't keep him inside because my family always lets him out.

Since the claw is slightly sideways, will it still heal?

Also, I believe it was there for a while when I noticed it. I only first saw it because I was crushing him and noticed that one of his claws seemed black. So I took a closer look and found that his claw looked like the picture.

It seems like there is some gunk on the top and underneath it but I can't tell if it's dirt or dried blood. I found online that the claw is supposed to eventually fall off and heal and grow a new one, although I'm worried cause the claw is like crooked. So I don't want it to grow weirdly and cause more issues for him in the future.
I think the reason he doesn't seem like he's in pain is because the injury might've occured a while ago. Although I didn't notice him acting different before.
And he is a good cat but he does scratch me when I make him uncomfortable, this morning I picked him up to put him at his water bowl and he was not happy about that. And I got a swipe to my arm, lol.

I was also tempted to try to clean it a day ago, I put a wet cotton ball on it to try and soften the dried gunk and when I got the area wet, the cotton ball turned into a faint dark reddish color so maybe it was blood, so I stopped trying to clean it immediately.
He doesn't like me touching any of his paws so at first he wouldn't let me grab his paws. So I would do it when hes sprawled out sleeping. He would wake up when I touch his paws but he didn't mind as much because he just wants to sleep. But even if he's awake and I grab the paw to take it a look, he doesn't seem in pain.
But again I think it's cause the injury might've been a while ago and I only noticed it a day ago