The nail bed was still intact and a new claw tip has grown. No infection developed, either.
This poor cat is having a whopper of a year. In January a new group of foster kits came with URIs and ringworm. She had to be treated prophylactically for ringworm, but did develop her own URI and needed meds for that. The very end of January, she had a concussion (nothing broken, just bruised.) Somewhere in there, she developed a skin problem that had her scratching so violently that at first I thought it was a seizure. She got a shot of cortisone for that which calmed it a little. Then the dew claw problem. Then she scratched so violently that she bit daughter, so we took her to the emergency vet. She got a shot of anti-inflamatory. The emergency vet also suggested testing her for skin mites because she had so much dandruff. We took her home and scrubbed her down to get anything that might be there off her. Then that night, she tore the skin loose from the ankle on the same foot. Yes, you could see the muscles, tendons and blood vessels. I smoothed the skin out while daughter held the cat, got the fur out from underneath, and wrapped it in gauze with a lot of tape. The vet stitched it and prescribed antibiotics. Her vet also did two skin cultures and didn't find anything. We did bomb daughter's room where she has been incarcerated since her concussion basically. I also changed her food. She is much better and her skin isn't as touchy any more. Either it is mites or it was the food. We re-bombed daughter's room yesterday and will do it weekly for 3 more weeks to make sure that anything that might be there is dead. Daughter's cat will be re-scrubbed as soon as the stitches come out.
This is normally a healthy, very agile cat. She's a rescue herself-- her mom climbed up on the porch of a friend of a friend and gave birth to four kits. I brought her home when she was four weeks and just five ounces. She plumped up nicely and has been a wonderful cat and companion for daughter. (We adopted one of her brothers a few weeks later.) She's only 5 1/2 years old now.
She really needs to have life go back to normal.

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