cats paw problem

Question
My cat is 3 years old. Male. He never been outside. Recently I noticed a weird thing in his pow. It looks like a second nail right in front of his original nail. It seems like his original nail was broken and the tip of it stocked in his pow. Also I noticed that it is growing. My question is what is it? What I have to do with this? Thank you so much for your time and for your efforts to help people.

Answer
Tatyana -

It sounds as if you are describing a vestigial nail, but without a physical exam I cannot give a definitive diagnosis.  You did not say whether or not your cat has been declawed; if so, there is the slight possibility that the nail may be growing back.

There may even be ectopic nail tissue in your cat's nail bed.  Ectopic implies that the nail tissue is congenially where it should not be.  That might also be an explanation of why there is nail tissue growing from your cat's pads.

Best Regards,

Charlotte Sherrell, DVM