This morning I was clipping Lydia's (the cat, not mine) claws and when I got to one, she let out a cry...typically when I clip her claws, she gets a little antsy towards the end and I just let her go and figure I'll get it the next time. Well, I realized this morning, that one of her claws has grown into the ped More than just a little...it's thick and a good piece of it is right in there...it's a little red, but not too bad.

Has anyone ever had this happen before? I'm going to call the vets on Monday morning and bring her in - I don't want to try to pull it out myself and risk excessive bleeding or anything.

Oh I am so sorry. You're saying that the claw has curved down and grown into the pad on the bottom of the foot? I've never heard of that happening. You'd think that when she'd spread put her claws that act would pull out the claw. I'll be interested in seeing what the vet has to say.

My only mishap with Shadow is cutting into the fleshy part that grows into the claw (nail bed? cuticle?) As Shadow has gotten older I've noticed that the nail bed has grown into the entire length of the claw so I can't even trim his claws anymore.

Yes Georgia, that's exactly what happened I called the vets this morning and the receptionist says that happens sometimes and it does hurt them...but said they typically "cut it out"...(OUCH!!). I have an appointment for tomorrow - I'm hoping that they can just give a local something to numb it and cut it out and not have to put her out to do it - I just hate that!!! She'll be fine though - she's a trooper!!

Guess you're gonna have to knit her some booties to wear

Took Lyds to the vet and they took care of the claw. I didn't get to see what they did, cuz they took her in another room to do it, but the clipped it off and pulled it out like a splinter I guess...it left a little hole in her pad and bled a little, but not much. The vet said that we got it before it became to embedded, so that was good. He said oftentimes, it goes undetected and continues to grow in there and becomes quite infected. Fortunately, this was not the case...

So...keep those claws trimmed and just keep an eye on them from time to time to prevent it I think she's relieved that it's not in there anymore - didn't seem to bother her once it was taken out!!

This kinda reminds me of the fable of the lion and the mouse

Glad Lydia (the cat) is alright and thanks for sharing this bit of info with us. I learned something new.

I too am glad Lydia (the cat) is OK.
And I too am glad Lydia (the human ) shared this with us.
I didn't know cats could have "ingrown" claws. So far, my cats' claws all seem to be sticking out (and into each other ) OK; but I'll pay attention to them.
Wish I could hold my cats still long enough to trim their claws! (Ow!)

But that reminds me: I had a parakeet years ago whose beak tip would grow until it curved down and around!
The vet trimmed it and said I could do it at home if I wanted, with nail clippers. Didn't hurt him. And I did! Wow!
(Actually, he was pretty feisty, so I held the clippers up to the cage, and when he tried to bite them, I clipped his beak! )