Claws

Question
I have a nine month old kitten and I saw today that his claw was all split.  He has been limping once in awhile lately, but it seems to be whenever he wakes up and only very brief.  I'm wondering if you could tell me just the possibility of what may be wrong, if anything?..if it's from the claw maybe?  I would like to take him in to a vet but he only does the limp every so often and runs and plays like normal the rest of the time.  He doesn't seem like he is any other sort of pain and even when he is limping it doesn't look like it's really hurting him. He just walks it off or something.....
Thanks for your time! :)

Answer
Elise,

Cats are very good at hiding pain. They can have a lot pain and you wouldn't realise it. He may have pulled a muscle jumping and playing or got his paw stuck on something. Are his claws real long. He may have gotten his claw stuck in something and couldn't release it and twisted around hurting his leg and the claw trying to get free. It may stiffen up when he is sleeping but he works it out as he moves around.

If he continues limping or the paw looks like it is getting infected I would take him to the vet to have it examined.

I would trim the split claw at the end to shorten the split. If you don't trim his claws and his claws are long and sharp I am including a link to a site that has photos of how to trim your cat's claws:
http://www.cat-world.com.au/catclaws.htm

Carol