kitten back paw defect claw embedded

Question
kitten has left back paw defect with odd shaped pad. Only one claw which seems to be embedded in the very front tip of  left back paw, a knot has formed which makes kitten favor it, walking on other three legs, is sore to the touch, what could be done to fix this at the least amount of cash, do student vets have programs to help out in these situations? Thank you for your time.

Answer
You are not alone in being short of money right now. There are many ways you can find money to treat your cherished animals. Some veterinarians, especially integrative ones, will be willing to barter with you. What skills do you have? Can you clean their parking lot, sidewalk, clinic? Are you a bookkeeper or accountant? Are you great with the internet and able to help them build a web site? Could you get new clients for them? Call the veterinarian of your choice (especially an integrative one), ask to speak with the veterinarian and tell them your financial situation and that you would like to build up credit for future problems. Ask if they will take payment plans and think what you could offer as collateral. Ask if the clinic has its own fund to help those in need. Call multiple veterinarians, especially integrative clinics.  Purchase pet insurance once this crisis is over. Also, many cities have humane societies and other groups that can help with medical bills, rabies vaccines, spay and neuters. You can also save significant money by following the following holistic approaches - do not vaccinate and find local sources of free food ingredients. This will take some time and research, then will be easy and inexpensive.  There are student clinics at many vet schools but you did not say where you live. I also have a list of more specific help you can get. Email me at HealthyAnimals@aol.com for this.

I strongly recommend finding an integrative veterinarian with whom to work as they are more likely to have less expensive options. This is a person trained in many different approaches, including using conventional drugs only when absolutely needed. Working with one can increase the chance that your cherished companion can live a long and healthy life after recovering from this current problem. There are good ones and great ones, and a few homeopathic veterinarians will consult by phone or email. You can go to the web sites for each type of holistic practice and use their referral list to find one near to you. Many practitioners are members of only one or two of the organizations, so you do need to go to every site to find who is near you:
1. Wide range of other treatments: www.AHVMA.org, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and www.civtedu.org.   
2. Homeopathic veterinarians (these can often help you by phone if no other holistic practitioners are nearby that you like): www.theAVH.org and www.DrPitcairn.com.
3. Chiropractic and Osteopathic - www.animalchiropractic.org; http://equineosteopathy.org/ (they treat dogs, too)
4. TCVM (Acupuncture and Chinese medicine): www.IVAS.org, www.aava.org & www.TCVM.com
5. Herbal - www.VBMA.org

for the future - check out my web site, www.MyhealthyAnimals.com for other ways to build health and save money. Learn Reiki (one time fee and you have healing hands for life!).