My cat's paw is swollen, limping, shedding. Is it broken? See a vet?

It looks like your cat’s toenail has been sheared off, probably from an injury, fight or being hit by a car. My best recommendation is to take your car to the vet where they will be able to fully clean the area around the nail, trim the nails if necessary, and give your cat an antibiotic and pain medication if needed. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

There is a good chance she could have an abscess. It needs to be opened and drained and then put on antibiotics for the infection. They can also give her some pain medications to help. If it is not an abscess then they may recommend doing an X-ray and make sure she didn’t break something. So I would have her looked at by tour vet. Hope she feels better soon

Hello and thank your contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is hard to say what happened to the nail without seeing and examining it in person. I suspect the claw is shedding and the hanging bit is only a thin layer of the shedding claw. If that is the case, you should be able to gently pull it off with your fingers or clip it off with a nail clippers (you should clip the white part of the claw only). If the claw is broken close to the nail base, touching the toe will be painful to your cat and there will be usually blood around the nail. So, try very gently to pull off the hanging part of the claw. If it is causing pain or discomfort, most likely there is also some damage to the nail base and you may need to take your cat to your local vets to clip the nail very short to remove the damaged part.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If you are able to get to a veterinarian right now, I would do so. Waiting until the morning would mean that she is in a lot of pain until then. If you get her seen right now, she can receive appropriate pain medication to help relieve this discomfort. This may be a fractured bone and not having any pain medications until the morning would mean that she is in extreme discomfort until then. I would recommend having her seen as soon as possible so that she is not in pain. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Isla! If she is indoor/outdoor it could be a bite wound or abscess. If she is 100% indoors it could be a foot infection or a puncture wound. You can start with taking her temperature rectally, 103 F or higher is a fever. If her temperature is normal you can wait to have her seen when your vet opens. I do think she needs the foot examined. Good luck!

Poor Ronnie! Swelling of the paws is typically either caused by an abscess or a fracture. He probably has loss of hair due to excessive licking or dragging of the foot. He needs to be taken in to your local vet to have this area investigated. IF this is an abscess (infected pocked due to trauma), then he needs to have this area lanced first and then he needs a short course of antibiotics to resolve this. If he has a fracture then you have to discuss with your vet about splinting the foot and any further treatment recommendations based on the extent of the fracture. I hope your kitty gets this foot taken care of soon! Here are some financial resources if needed: carecredit.com redrover.org

I would recommend taking Breaker to a veterinarian especially if his foot has become so swollen. There could be some infection or just inflammation underneath the skin and he may need an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic even if you do not see a wound. He will also feel much better with medication. I hope Breaker feels better soon and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.