This is an article on how to clip your pet’s nails at home: you know… without it ending up in a bloody mess. When you’re a Trinkets Pet Parent, your Fur-babies love you! They care about you as much as you care about them! And they will most definitely want to show you that they care about you.
One such way is by establishing contact with you: jumping onto you, cuddling you; but what if their display of affection is one sided? Not because of any sentimental inequity, but because it’s a painful affair when it’s time for affection. Every time your dog’s or cat’s paws are on you, they have to leave a mark – an abrasion, excoriation or laceration – Bitter sweet, innit?
You can solve this; you, a Trinkets pet parent can solve this. How? Thanks for asking:
You can obtain the tool (remember the plumber from our previous post?) and clip your pet’s nails! Easy and Seamless!
But even then, you need to know how to use it well. And heres how:
Step 1 – Support the paw and claw
If you’re a cat parent, you will need to push the claw out of your cat’s paw; If you’re a dog parent, you will need to support the paw pad in line with the nail
Step 2 – Identify the Quick
The Quick refers to the bundle of nerve endings and blood vessels that supply the nail with nutrients and take away metabolites from the nail. It’s normally visible in pets with clear nails as a small pink tissue within the nail when viewed against the light. Those with black nails…not so much.
Cut this, or go anywhere near this – Nightmare. That will effectively be the end of your nail trimming session. Pain and a bloody mess are what you will be left with. Not Ideal. But we’ll show you how this can be avoided in step 3.
Step 3 – Properly place your nail clipper. Here’s how:
Place your nail clipper at an angle parallel to the ground and not too close to the quick. If the quick is too close to the tip of the nail, leave the claw alone and go to the next one, you know…to avoid our Nightmare. If the tip is too sharp, you could always file the tip to blunt it a bit using the nail file that comes with the clippers.
Step 4 – Clip it
If you meet the requirements in the above steps, you have the go-ahead to clip the nail.
What if my pet has black nails? wHat dO I dO?
You won’t see a thing through black nails. This Is true. But if you view the claw while looking from the paw pads side, you will see a demarcation that will guide your clipping.
AGAIN
When In doubt, tell your veterinarian to DO IT FOR YOU!!!!
Right, see you on our next post in our grooming series where we talk about dental hygiene and halitosis: are they related?
We are Your Fur-Babies’ Haven – Trinkets Pet Store Kenya.