cats pads

Question
I have always been a "dog" person and I don't know a lot about cats.  We inherited a cat with the farm that we bought @ 4 years ago.  The cat is an outside cat (farm cat).  He is very friendly and loves to be held, we feed him when he is "home".  We noticed red raw skin near his paw.  After examining him - on three of his feet the large pad is gone - just this huge red swollen flesh.  The fourth pad is a little swollen, put the skin is still there - the skin is a little loose and kind of wrinkled.  He had been in contact with something that had be sticky at one time and his hair was stuck together and stiff at some places.  He smelled like manure also, so we brought him in the house and put him in the dog crate - the dog doesn't use it anymore.  We poured peroxide over this feet - they were dirty and bloody - he didn't even flinch when we did this. He really smelled so we gave him a bath (that is another story in itself!) to remove the smell and the sticky.  After the bath we put Neosporin on this feet and I but baby socks on this feet.    They look to be doing better, but my concern is what could of caused this.  If it is contagous - we have an inside dog.

We have a theory, but aren't sure...Could he have gotten into one of those sticky mouse traps?  That may have torn the skin.  That would also account for the "dried sticky" spots in his fur.  He may have helped the problem along by licking to remove the sticky from his pads.

Answer
He could have gotten into a sticky trap or burnt his feet on something or the pads could have sloughed from walking on too rough of substances or frost bite or an autoimmune condition.  I can not say for sure without examining him.  I highly doubt it is contagious.  You can continue to use the neosporin but do not use any more hydrogen peroxide on the feet as it can delay healing.