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Why are my pet's paw pads rough, dry, and peeling? What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Mediumhair | Male | neutered | 4 months old | 10 lbs

Storm recently got these rough dry looking patches on his pads and toes. There is one between them but it looks slightly connected. One spot is peeling off. Its on more than one paw. Hes been strictly indoors and i have no carpeting. He doesn't seem to be in pain when I touch them. What could this possibly be caused by? Treatments? What should i look for and when to take him to the vet?

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on November 1st, 2018

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is probably due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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