My cat is limping and won't let me touch his paw. Is it his claw?

It is impossible to know what is causing him to be lame without an examination. The best thing would be to have a vet take a look at him to do an orthopedic examination and take an xray, if needed, to determine the exact cause. He could have an infection, fracture, or strain/sprain. Once diagnsed, your vet can decide the best way to treat his problem. He may just need an antibiotic and/or an anti-inflammatory/pain medications. I hope Smokey feels better soon!

Poor kitty. This looks like a really bad skin infection and could be due to an underlying flea allergy. Luckily veterinary hospitals are considered an essential business, so most are open even with the lockdown keeping other things closed. Your cat needs to see a vet to get this taken care of and also figure out what is causing him to limp? He will need at the very least antibiotics to help clear up this skin infection. I do hope that you are can find an open vet close to you soon. Best of luck and take care.

Poor guy. It seems he likely injured the paw again. If it hurts this bad, then I worry about a fracture as well. I would recommend not touching the area and getting him to your local vet as soon as you can. If you cannot tonight, then taking him to any vet that is open tomorrow morning (after hours clincis likely are) would be the best thing to do for Pooh Bear. You may want to investigate the home to hopefully find out where he is likely getting his injuries from. If he is an outdoor/indoor cat, then its best to have him neutered and/or kept indoors to help avoid further injuries. Intact male cats tend to pick more fights when they are outside, than neutered ones. I hope that your furry friend gets his injury resolved soon! Best wishes and take care.

Hi, in the first picture it looks like there could be a bit of infection as the fluid seems cloudy. Looking at the second one the skin lesion looks more like podo dermatitis, an inflammation of Jeff's pad. I think it is worthy to have hm checked over, in order to get some medications and help him towards a speedy recovery. If you don't take him to see your vet, his foot will continue to get worse and every time he puts his foot down to walk he will be in a lot of pain. I think your vet will not need to run tests but just give him some medications and therefore cost should be limited. All the best and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach !

Ideally, he should be physically examined by your veterinarian. He may have been bitten by another cat which would explain his symptoms. A cat bite can be difficult to detect and can abscess and be quite painful. Antibiotics and pain medication may be indicated.

It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but I suspect that you are talking about the pad just above the dew claw (the claw that is similar to our thumb) on the inside of the foot. There should be a paw pad in that location, so that is not abnormal and they can be colored black or pink. An injury to that digit does not often cause limping because cats do not put weight on that digit when they walk. So, that may not be the cause of Trouble's limping. Unfortunately, I don't think we will be able to tell unless you have a veterinarian perform an examination on him. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there. Sorry this happened to Oliver. I really think you need to get him to a vet ASAP. If he is in pain, crying when touched and not walking much on his hindquarters then he needs some pain medication at the very least. He may also need antibiotics if there is wound present you can't see. It is very common for cats, when they get into fights, to have wounds that don't show up until a day or two later when they turn into abscesses. There is no over the counter medication you can give him that are safe. Hope this helps. Best wishes.