Nail clipping

[Maya]

Maya has never had her nails clipped. She had always been a very active dog and living in the city, she'd be walking on concrete all the time, therefore her nails wore down by themselves. Now that old age and sickness have taken hold. I noticed that her nails are like talons!!:eek: Twice now, her front paws have got hooked together by her "thumb" nails while she was rubbing her mouth. Luckily, I was there to unhook her. I have made an appointment tomorrow to have them cut and I am scared to death! I'm worried that it will freak her out or hurt her. As some of you know, Maya has been quite sick lately and I wish I didn't have to take her to have this done. The vet tried to cut them years ago and she squealed out loudly,( there was no blood) so the vet abandoned mission-seeing that she didn't really need to have them cut anyway.
Guess I just need some reassurance...:o

Many thanks from Leah and Maya

[Roxee's Dad]

Hi Leah,
Have you tried grinding the nails? Many times vets and groomers use worn out nail clippers. When the edges are not sharp, they tend to squeeze and crush thru the nail more than actually cut thru them.

I replace the blades on my nail clippers often, and use a special dremel type tool to grind nails.

[molly muffin]

awww, poor Maya, another adventure/experience coming up.

Yea, make sure the clippers have good blades on them. I haven't had to do the grinding but that sounds like a good idea.

Molly Always acts like she is dying when she has to get her nails clipped. I don't think she's Ever bled from a clipping, but you would have thought she'd been on the verge of full out amputation the way she acts. She'll try to nip the groomer sometimes too. Usually a "what do you think you are doing little Miss Molly" will nip that in the bud though and contact nipping won't occur.

Try handling her paws tonight, rubbing her toes, to get use to the feel of her feet being messed with. I have to do that with Molly before every trip and if I don't it is usually more of a hassle than if I remember to do it.

Still if Maya has already squealed at one try, then be prepared for that to happen again. Ask them to be very careful not to go too far down so there won't be any risk of a too short cut.

Good luck and do let us know how this one turns out.

[Maya]

Hi Leah,
Have you tried grinding the nails? Many times vets and groomers use worn out nail clippers. When the edges are not sharp, they tend to squeeze and crush thru the nail more than actually cut thru them.

I replace the blades on my nail clippers often, and use a special dremel type tool to grind nails.

Ugh...that was what I afraid of. Do you think I should buy a pair of clippers and cut them myself?

[Maya]

awww, poor Maya, another adventure/experience coming up.

Yea, make sure the clippers have good blades on them. I haven't had to do the grinding but that sounds like a good idea.

Molly Always acts like she is dying when she has to get her nails clipped. I don't think she's Ever bled from a clipping, but you would have thought she'd been on the verge of full out amputation the way she acts. She'll try to nip the groomer sometimes too. Usually a "what do you think you are doing little Miss Molly" will nip that in the bud though and contact nipping won't occur.

Try handling her paws tonight, rubbing her toes, to get use to the feel of her feet being messed with. I have to do that with Molly before every trip and if I don't it is usually more of a hassle than if I remember to do it.

Still if Maya has already squealed at one try, then be prepared for that to happen again. Ask them to be very careful not to go too far down so there won't be any risk of a too short cut.

Good luck and do let us know how this one turns out.


On the verge of a full amputation LOL that's hilarious! I might go to pet smart later and see what kind of clippers they have. I'd just clip the ends off rather than right down to wick.....
Maya has always been a bit of a drama queen...mind you after all she's been through. I can't blame her for that!:o

[molly muffin]

Okay it's a given, Maya has ever right to be a drama queen if she wants. Molly has no such excuse. It does help that her groomers have known her since she was little so they spoil her rotten and she thinks she can walk all over them (she can and usually does) but they know how to deal with her too.

Yes, you could try it yourself. I've never had the nerve. One squeal and I'd cave, probably bow down to the floor and beg forgiveness for touching her dainty toes. Bath them in doggy oils or something.

LOL
Sharlene

[Maya]

Right! She's going to the vet and that's that! Reason being is I know I would react the same way you would if she were to squeal..LoL :D

[Cocoa's Mom]

I love this post! Made me laugh out loud!

I tried to get up the courage to do Cocoa's nails a few months ago. Bought some brand-new vet-recommended clippers, read about it, even watched some YouTube videos on it. Went outside, went to clip the first nail - and you would have thought I tried to cut her whole foot off! **YELP***!!

I took her to PetSmart and let them do it. Took them about thirty seconds. And no yelping (from either me or Cocoa). SOOOOOOO worth the $9!

[molly muffin]

wow, a bunch of drama queens on here. yea for no yelping from either of you! It is funny isn't it. I was telling my husband about this thread and I said, You have no idea how important this nail clipping business is and the antics that they can get up to. LOL He's like, Oh I know, believe me I know and I'm like, believe me you don't, but you take molly next time and you will. He was definitely passing on that option.
hehehehe

[Roxee's Dad]

For anyone thinking about attempting to trim nails, please make sure you have some powdered styptic. Just in case you do clip a quick. It will bleed for a long time unless you can get it to clot by using the styptic.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/detailed_image.cfm?pCatId=2995&large=/images/Categoryimages/larger/lg-1107-23462D-dog.jpg

For the most part, I use a grinder unless the nails are so looooong, then, I clip them a bit and grind the rest. One way to get your fur baby use to is is by using an emery board. When sitting down next to you or in your lap, just give a nail a few swipes every now and then with the emery board.

[molly muffin]

That is actually an excellent reminder John, thank you.

I am just imaging sitting with molly in my lap while we file our nails together. I'm creating quite the visual here. I'm sure before I know it I'll be picking out nail polishes for her too. :) :) :) :) :) :)
I'm thinking bright tourquoise at the moment. :)

Hugs,
Sharlene

[molly muffin]

Well..... How did it go? Are Maya's nails clipped? Should I send flowers? Is everyone okay?

Remember, Cocoa's mom knows a place you can get it done for 9 buckeroos just in case we have to go to round two!

:)
Sharlene

[Maya]

Hiya Sharlene, sorry for not getting back to you yesterday-we had a bit of a dramatic day. So, Maya got her nails clipped and yelping wise, it wasn't too bad. I heard a couple of little squeals-nothing too painful, but when she came out she had a bad turn. She had this awful wide eyed glazed expression in her eyes and she almost collapsed! She was drooling, panting heavily and very unsteady on her feet. I took her home and gave her some more prenisone which helped a little, but she was quite out of it for the rest of the day!:( You know. it's really weird, because she seems to have these funny turns when she is highly stressed. The last time something similar happened when we had the in -laws staying. It almost fits the Addisons symptoms. The inability to handle stress. However, blood tests did not reveal Addisons, but the vet himself said that her symptoms are the same. She even has the slow heartbeat and her NA/K ration is borderline being at 27. I wonder if she is border line Addisons too :confused: Who knows...I'm not doing any more tests!
She's will be on prednisone for the remainder of her life anyway, so.....
She is doing a bit better today. She is still walking off to one side and is a bit wobbly, but a lot better than yesterday...:)
Hugs from Leah and Maya

[molly muffin]

Oh my gosh. How very scary. It does sound like stress really does a number on her. I'm glad the toe nail clipping went okay and that is over and done with now. (not much yelping from either of you)

Strange that she is both addisons and macro tumor.

Hope today will be much better for both of you.

hugs,
Sharlene

[Anniston's Mom]

For years, we used a cordless dremmel tool. Had to sing to our little drama queen the whole time I was grinding. Lately I have sometimes been able to use the clippers then file with a coarse emory board to smooth. Guess old age has made her a bit more tolerant.