First lets talk about the anatomy of a nail. You'd think it would be simple but this misconception actually is the cause of many injuries during nail trims.
The kwik is the blood supply to the nail. If this area is cut, it is painful and the pet will bleed. If you are lucky, you have a pet that has white or semi see through nails. This way it is easy to make note of where that kwick is and avoid cutting it. For those of us with pet's that have nails that are black, it's anyone's guess as to where that blood supply is. Here are few tips to help.
Get a pair of nail trimmers that you are comfortable holding and using. Believe it or not this makes a huge difference. If you can not hold or are awkward holding the trimmers, you may actually harm your pet so take some time to find the one that fits you best. Here are a few examples:
Cat Nail Trimmers
Another item that you should always have on hand is styptic powder, kwik stop or baking soda just in case you do cut the kwik. These will stop the bleeding.
Now that you have the approriate tools of the trade, let's cut nails. Now if your pet is willing to have his nails trimmed, do the following. If they are fighting you, biting at you or it just seems impossible, read on and I'll give you some hints on how to restrain and condition your pet.
Clear nails:
- Hold your pet's foot and push gently on the foot just above the nail base - this will stablize the nail and in cats it will extend the nail
- Position the trimmers just below the kwik (see diagram below)
- Cut in a 45% angle
- Trim all nail and do not forget the dewclaws
Black nails:
- The same process applies but you need to take small cuts
- Start at the very tip of the name and begin shaving small slices off until you see a small dark circle appear in the center of the nail - time to stop!
Patience is the key. You may need to take the time to get your pet use to you touching their feet, the sound and feel of the clippers and even how you hold them. Taking the time to condition them will pay off in the end.
More frequent nail trim mean shorter kwiks and shorter nails. You can actually force the kwik to shorten and so will be able to cut the nails shorter over time. This is ideal because long nails do more damage than
just scratching up furniture.
Longer nails can cause the following:
- Painful changes in toes - arthritis
- Increase chances of torn toenails
- Ingrown nails - the nails can actually grow around and reenter the pad
For those pet's that really aren't comfortable having their toes touched or nails trimmed:
Dogs -
You may want to consider laying you dog in what is called the "tech hold" or lateral position. Below is an illustration that shows the basic hold. Please note that you do not want to put much pressure on the neck area - just enough to hold the head down comfortably. If your dog struggles too much, hold for a few seconds to see if the dog will calm down, if not, it is not worth you or your dog getting hurt so stop the proceedure for the day and try again the next unitl your dog is comfortable. Please know that there are those dogs out there that will NEVER be comfortable with this.
Muzzles may be needed as well to protect yourself but at this point you may not want to make enemies with your dog and will want to seek out professional help to trim your dogs nails.
Cats -
The mesh bag, nylon cat bag and muzzle are good ways to restrain you cat with no harm to anyone. Using a towel to wrap them also helps. See my post on bathing to view these.
IF YOU NEED TO STRUGGLE WITH YOUR PET MORE THAN NECESSARY, SEEK OUT PROFESSIONAL HELP TO TRIM THE NAILS!
It isn't worth it to have yourself hurt, you pet hurt or the relationship between you hurt.
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1 comments:
I have done the above for years and when the "grinder" variety came out: Pedi Paws and the like, where you hold the foot and insert the toenail into an opening and gently file, it is great. There are down sides you must watch. There is a leanring curve for the pet and owner. First give the pet some time touching the instrument with no motor on. Then turn the motor on and just rub it over their body no nails several times. Then do one or two nails keeping calm so they do not pick up your nervousness. Talk softly and reward after each toe with favorite treat. Rest in between freeing the pet to ascertain it is easy, painless, and only feeling the vibration of the wheel on their toe. The pet owner needs to be certain to fully watch each time they do an upward movement so NOT TO FILE too closely. My bichon hated toenail day, and now is much calmer actually for both of us. It is fast and I feel less chance for injury to them.
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