# Odd growth/sore on cat's paw pad



## LakotaWolf (Aug 10, 2012)

Hi guys. I have a 17-year-old girl who has several conditions (CRF/CKD, IBS, hyperthyroidism, and previously hypertension although the vet said that was "cured" at her last checkup) so, you can imagine I am a little paranoid about her health and overall wellbeing - I don't know how badly something even as simple as a little infection could hit her.

She is an indoors/outdoors cat - is confined to the garage at night and she rarely ventures out of the backyard during the day. 

Tonight I picked her up for hugs time and noticed something weird on one of her back paw pads; it sort of looked like a sore or wound. (Of course I only ever find these kinds of things at 3am!)

It is extremely hard to the touch and elicits no reaction from her when I press on it (so I assume it's not causing her any pain). It is mostly flat and a little concave, not bulging outwards. It is a dull red in the middle and yellow on the edges. 

I was able to clip a little of the yellow edge off, and it did not bleed. This also elicited zero response from my cat other than a bit of "can you please stop touching my foot and give me food instead". ;} She is walking normally and not favoring that paw or limping.

The pad is also a little swollen - but not much. Her normal pawpads are about 3/16th of an inch wide, and the affected pad is 4/16th of an inch wide. So, there is some swelling, but not an enormous amount.

I've Googled "horned paws" and looked at other examples of scabs, warts, and other things on cats' paws from internet image searches, but this doesn't really look exactly like any of those things.

I can tote her to the nearby vet tomorrow, as I'm worried about infections or if she decides to aggressively groom herself and tear this thing off. But she just had a vet visit last week, and is due for another one in two weeks (to check her bloodwork since she's newly on medication for the thyroid thing) so I don't want to subject her to an unnecessary vet trip. But nor do I want to leave it alone for two weeks until she's due to see the vet again.

Does this look like something I should be worried about? :{ Thank you.


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## DebS (Jun 14, 2015)

It looks painful but if she isn't wincing, it must not be painful. Maybe you could call the vet and describe it and see if your vet wants to see her sooner.


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

Looks like a puncture wound that may have abscessed and ruptured and is now healing from the inside out (as it should). I'd keep an eye on it for any excretion (pus or blood) or tenderness. If there is none, I wouldn't worry about it. However, you could email your pics and description to your vet and ask him/her if this is something the vet wants to look at before her next scheduled appt.

Laurie


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