Cat nails poke into paws

My cats nails curled and poke into the paws can i cut if off and pull it and apply medication cream?

Hello - Cats have nervous systems just like we do and it seems likely that a penetrating wound to their flesh, would feel similar to a penetrating wound to ours ie the situation you described must hurt, particularly if you also bore weight and walked around on that surface .  Cat-claws may introduce infection to flesh as well as causing significant physical damage. Nail-holes may be small on the outside but they can go very deep.  In general, cream is designed to distribute medication over a large superficial area - but not always to go deep into the flesh.  Indeed, a lot of cream is intended for external use only.  Finally, having a sharp foreign-body poked into the flesh could cause intense pain.  Many vets' reccommended treatment for such nails would be to trim under anaesthetic and administer appropriate wound care for the individual.  This may well include systemic pain releif.  Regular claw trimming is also reccommended in order to prevent recurrence.  If this is (for instance) a new change in an older cat, then further  investigation might be merited - why is the cat no longer wearing their own claws down?  Are they arthritic? In conclusion, there is no 'catch all' way of dealing with this problem and we would encourage a conversation or consultation with your vet about what is the best moving forward regarding your own particular cat.  Most of the time when we make reccommendations, we will be happy to talk about the pro's and con's of the decision.