Dirty claw or something more serious?

Well, here I am again, with yet another possible problem with my Kotyo.
I think he has decided that in order to keep me on my toes he should
present me with a new problem every month.

I was trimming Kotyo's claws today, for the first time in a month. I
noticed that one claw has some kind of hard brownish gunk on it. It
seems to be stuck to the claw, and when the claw retracts back into the
claw bed, the gunk retracts with it. The claw bed itself seems a normal
light pink color. Here's a pictu

http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/...54349254019730

He doesn't seem to be paying special attention to that claw - no licking
or biting it. He doesn't limp on that paw. However, when I tried to
gently scrape at the brown stuff, he did protest and bit me very gently
(just to get me to stop it). The brown stuff seems hard - almost like
it's bits of old claw sheath that never flaked off. But there also seems
to be some fur stuck to it, and maybe dirt...

Has anyone seen anything like that on their cat's claws? The closest I
could find by googling was this:
http://www.pandecats.com/x/dirty-nails.shtml , but the picture of that
cat's claw doesn't look exactly like Kotyo's claw, so I'm not sure if
it's the same thing.

It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this
is something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Nadia (and Kotyo)

--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

"Nadia N." wrote
It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this is
something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Let us know what the vet says. It obviously hurts him.

Nadia N. wrote:
Well, here I am again, with yet another possible problem with my Kotyo.
I think he has decided that in order to keep me on my toes he should
present me with a new problem every month.

I was trimming Kotyo's claws today, for the first time in a month. I
noticed that one claw has some kind of hard brownish gunk on it. It
seems to be stuck to the claw, and when the claw retracts back into the
claw bed, the gunk retracts with it. The claw bed itself seems a normal
light pink color. Here's a pictu

http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/...54349254019730

He doesn't seem to be paying special attention to that claw - no licking
or biting it. He doesn't limp on that paw. However, when I tried to
gently scrape at the brown stuff, he did protest and bit me very gently
(just to get me to stop it). The brown stuff seems hard - almost like
it's bits of old claw sheath that never flaked off. But there also seems
to be some fur stuck to it, and maybe dirt...

Has anyone seen anything like that on their cat's claws? The closest I
could find by googling was this:
http://www.pandecats.com/x/dirty-nails.shtml , but the picture of that
cat's claw doesn't look exactly like Kotyo's claw, so I'm not sure if
it's the same thing.

It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this
is something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Nadia (and Kotyo)


Have you tried soaking it? Perhaps you could wrap a wet wash cloth
around his paw while you hold him. Might be worth a try. MLB

Our youngest cat has some of the exact same "gunk" on the claws on her
back feet. My thought is that there's a tendency for gunk to
accumulate on the back claws since they can't scratch those nails off
like they can the fronts.

If you're ambitious, I suppose you can bath Kotyo to remove it like
that article suggests. I've chosen to just leave it be on our girl. It
doesn't bother her, hasn't gotten worse or caused any other problems.
If this is a concern for you, a quick call to the vet might ease your
mind.

Rene

MLB wrote:


Have you tried soaking it? Perhaps you could wrap a wet wash cloth
around his paw while you hold him. Might be worth a try. MLB

I thought about it, but I don't want to mess with his paw without
knowing what the problem is. I don't want to make it worse. We'll see
what the vet says tomorrow.

Nadia (and Kotyo)

--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

cybercat wrote:
"Nadia N." wrote
It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this is
something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Let us know what the vet says. It obviously hurts him.



Yes, it's him pulling away when I tried to scrape at the claw that has
me worried. So off to the vet we'll go. I'll report back tomorrow. If
Kotyo doesn't kill me for taking him to the vet again so soon, that is :-)

Nadia (and Kotyo)

--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Rene wrote:
Our youngest cat has some of the exact same "gunk" on the claws on her
back feet. My thought is that there's a tendency for gunk to
accumulate on the back claws since they can't scratch those nails off
like they can the fronts.

If you're ambitious, I suppose you can bath Kotyo to remove it like
that article suggests. I've chosen to just leave it be on our girl. It
doesn't bother her, hasn't gotten worse or caused any other problems.
If this is a concern for you, a quick call to the vet might ease your
mind.

Rene

Thanks Rene. It makes me feel better to know that it's probably just gunk.

This is on his right front claw though, not on a back claw. And he's
never had anything like it in the almost 9 years I've had him. He
normally takes very good care of his claws, washes them every day, chews
on them and pulls off the old claw sheaths. So, for my peace of mind,
we're going to the vet tomorrow, just in case.

Nadia (and Kotyo)

--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety

Suddenly, without warning, Nadia N. exclaimed (4/9/2010 11:28 AM):
Well, here I am again, with yet another possible problem with my Kotyo.
I think he has decided that in order to keep me on my toes he should
present me with a new problem every month.

I was trimming Kotyo's claws today, for the first time in a month. I
noticed that one claw has some kind of hard brownish gunk on it. It
seems to be stuck to the claw, and when the claw retracts back into the
claw bed, the gunk retracts with it. The claw bed itself seems a normal
light pink color. Here's a pictu

http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/...54349254019730

He doesn't seem to be paying special attention to that claw - no licking
or biting it. He doesn't limp on that paw. However, when I tried to
gently scrape at the brown stuff, he did protest and bit me very gently
(just to get me to stop it). The brown stuff seems hard - almost like
it's bits of old claw sheath that never flaked off. But there also seems
to be some fur stuck to it, and maybe dirt...

Has anyone seen anything like that on their cat's claws? The closest I
could find by googling was this:
http://www.pandecats.com/x/dirty-nails.shtml , but the picture of that
cat's claw doesn't look exactly like Kotyo's claw, so I'm not sure if
it's the same thing.

It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this
is something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Nadia (and Kotyo)


Cats can get nailbed infections, but when Meep got one she spent a lot
of time messing with that claw. Didn't look anything like your cat's
either - nail was a funny color and nailbed was inflamed.

Hopefully it's just gunk, and he's protesting 'cause it's stuck good and
just hurts trying to get it off. Please let us know what the vet says.

jmc

"Nadia N." wrote in message
...
Well, here I am again, with yet another possible problem with my Kotyo. I
think he has decided that in order to keep me on my toes he should present
me with a new problem every month.

I was trimming Kotyo's claws today, for the first time in a month. I
noticed that one claw has some kind of hard brownish gunk on it. It seems
to be stuck to the claw, and when the claw retracts back into the claw
bed, the gunk retracts with it. The claw bed itself seems a normal light
pink color. Here's a pictu

http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/...54349254019730

He doesn't seem to be paying special attention to that claw - no licking
or biting it. He doesn't limp on that paw. However, when I tried to gently
scrape at the brown stuff, he did protest and bit me very gently (just to
get me to stop it). The brown stuff seems hard - almost like it's bits of
old claw sheath that never flaked off. But there also seems to be some fur
stuck to it, and maybe dirt...

Has anyone seen anything like that on their cat's claws? The closest I
could find by googling was this:
http://www.pandecats.com/x/dirty-nails.shtml , but the picture of that
cat's claw doesn't look exactly like Kotyo's claw, so I'm not sure if it's
the same thing.

It's after 5pm here and the vet offices are already closed, so I can't
take him until tomorrow. I would prefer to avoid taking him, actually,
because I don't want to stress him out. It's only been a month since his
blood test which made him really freak out. On the other hand, if this is
something serious I don't want it to get worse...

Nadia (and Kotyo)

Try some peroxide on it. If it is protein based it will foam up. It will
also get really clean,too. Could be dried serus fluid from an irritation
that is oozing. Peroxide is painless. Just have some water near to rinse
it off.

Paul

Paul M. Cook wrote:

Try some peroxide on it. If it is protein based it will foam up. It will
also get really clean,too. Could be dried serus fluid from an irritation
that is oozing. Peroxide is painless. Just have some water near to rinse
it off.

Paul



Thanks Paul. You were spot on about the peroxide. When I took Kotyo to
the vet today, he just scrubbed the claw with some gauze with peroxide
on it, and the brown gunk came off. The vet said it was dead skin and
that cats normally clean it off themselves when they groom their claws.

Even though this turned out to be nothing, I am very glad that I took
Kotyo to this vet. I have been looking for a new vet since last month,
and I started asking this vet questions about his experience with CRF
(Kotyo's blood tests in March showed elevated creatinine). I was very
impressed with him - he said that a single blood test is not enough for
a diagnosis, that we need to have blood and urine taken at the same
time, check for protein in the urine, check his blood pressure... He
knows about the IRIS stages of CRF. I have spent the last month reading
up on CRF, what tests should be done, etc, and this vet said pretty much
the same things that I have been reading about at www.felinecrf.org and
the Yahoo CRF group. And, as an added bonus, he speaks English! My
Spanish is good enough to deal with the vets here, but having an
English-speaking vet is a big plus - it means he can read all the newest
CRF research published in English as soon as it is published, and if I
find some information online about a specific treatment or test, I can
print it out and show it to him, and he'll be able to read it without me
trying to translate it into Spanish.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. It is so good to find a vet
who really knows his stuff. With his help, I think Kotyo and I are going
to have a lot of good years together, especially since we caught the
kidney problems at a very early stage.


Nadia (and Kotyo)


--
Little Monster pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Kotyo
Sweety pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/Sweety
Kotyo and Sweety together:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nnakova/KotyoAndSweety