What is wrong with my cats paw pads?

Any idea what could be going on with my cats paw pads? They get extremely dry if they aren’t balmed atleast once a day. It doesn’t look like Pododermatitis to me, he isn’t dehydrated, and he gets fish oil added to his wet food daily. We had chalked it up to allergies because he had quite the affinity for overgrooming his paws for a while (to the point they would bleed.) since then he has been put on daily prednisolone which decreased the overgrooming by atleast 80% , but yet this dryness persists. Looking for any and all input. I included 2 photos, the photo with 2 feet in it is what his pads look like without being balmed, and the photo with one foot is what they look like after balming.

Hello!  "Podermatitis" means inflammation of the skin of the feet, which is a symptom rather than a diagnosis.  It is surprisingly common for cats to have dry paws - I think that central heating / household environments + / - allergy may be contributing factors.  Very occasionally, bacterial, yeast or even fungal infections can become involved, but they are usually secondary to licking.  As ever, we wouldn't advise washing or putting anything on your cats' paws without running it past your veterinary team first - balms that are known to contain little in the way of possible allergens prove helpful in many cases.  They must also be lickable, given their use!  Systemic (e.g. tablet) steroids can be associated with side effects in cats, so your vet might decide to offer something different if they are needed to prevent overgrooming in the long term.