When managing their health, routine pet nail care and trimming is often overlooked. It can also be one of the easiest and least time-consuming. The fear of causing injury prevents many pet parents from performing nail trimming themselves and seeking professional grooming care. However, the increasing cost of grooming services leaves many opting to table this service “for a later time” or neglecting it altogether.
Nail Anatomy
To overcome the fear of injuring your pet, you first need to understand the anatomy of their nails. Dog and cat nails are not all that dissimilar to our own. The key differences are that theirs are round, thick, and come in varying colors of brown, black, and clear. The attachment portion, called the quick, is the portion of the nail sensitive to injury and is comparable to our own nail bed. Identifying this portion is easiest in clear nails. It is more difficult to see the quick in darker colored nails but is no less possible.
To begin trimming, find where the hair growth stops and the paw pad begins. Imagine a line continuing from this threshold to the nail. (See image below) This is where, on an average nail, you’ll begin trimming. You can identify the quick as a soft spot at the center of the nail body. This will eventually become second nature.
In cats, the anatomy is the same but on a smaller scale. You need to extrude cat nails, unlike in dogs. To do this, simply squeeze the paw pad gently between your fingers until the nail is fully visible.
Routine nail care and trimming for your pet can, and will, result in shorter nails. As you trim nails short, the quick will recede. This will make subsequent trimmings able to shorten the nail even further. Likewise, if left to grow, the quick will extend beyond the “imaginary line” requiring more frequent trimmings to get on track.
Restraint and Distraction
Proper restraint, distraction, and assistance are key to a successful nail care and trimming experience for your pet. This is especially true in pets not yet accustomed to nail care and trimming. If pet handling assistance is unavailable, unmanned restraint devices can be particularly useful. You can purchase a grooming table if storage space is not an issue. Another option that can easily be tucked away when not in use is the nail trimming hammock.
I recently purchased one of these hammocks and have, so far, used it once. It worked great for limiting my dogs’ ability to struggle during nail trimming. My one complaint is that I had to find a way to safely suspend the hammock myself. Some images the product provides show a pet suspended from a shower curtain rod, which is unrealistic for larger pets. I used my own hammock stand but this only raises the pet an inch or two above their normal standing height. While I can say the hammock works, a more effective way of suspending the hammock is still in development.
Having an assistant to hold or distract the pet will make things quicker and less stressful for all involved. Hold larger pets in a standing or sternal position, with one arm under the abdomen and the other gently cradling the head. Your assistant can hold smaller pets in their arms.
Rewarding and distraction with any technique makes nail trimming a positive experience for every pet. This will also make subsequent trimmings less stressful for you and your pet. Here are some simple tricks that I’ve seen utilized:
- Peanut butter or squeeze cheese (made for pets)
- On a wall, spoon, or the front of a muzzle
- Treats offered periodically or dispensed from an assistant’s hand
- Slice of cheese or lunch meat in front of pet
Trimmers
Another task for anyone looking to trim pets’ nails is choosing the best tools for the job. You might get overwhelmed selecting a nail trimmer or dremel. The truth, however, is that there’s not much difference from one product to another. It’s more a matter of preference.
In terms of nail trimmers, you have two main options, plier style or Guillotine. Most guillotine nail trimmers come in large and small. Plier style, my personal preference, comes in extra small for cats and medium or large for dogs. I take a “one size fits all” approach with the large plier style Millers Forge trimmers. They can be used for all species of pet, despite being labeled for dogs.
Grinders
For those seeking a smooth nail finish you might consider dremeling or grinding, either in place of or alongside nail trimming. Now, while a simple nail file can do the job, there are more efficient options. Veterinary teams and groomers continue to use multi use dremel tools but these can be loud and startling to pets.
In June of 2015 PediPaws took the market by storm as one of the first quiet grinders specifically designed for pet use. Whilst still a popular choice to this day, PediPaws was found to be less efficient with larger pet nails. As in nail trimmers, there is an endless array of manufacturers of nail grinders to choose from. One that I routinely use for my own pets is the Casfuy Nail Grinder. Quiet enough not to frighten pets, it also has a light at the grinder point making it easier to see what you’re doing – great for identifying the quick. I liked it so much that I bought a second one so I always have one fully charged. And, as a pet parent of two rottweilers and one boxer mix, I can vouch for its efficiency with larger breeds.
Managing Cat Nails
With cat nails, the question of whether or not to declaw is common among pet parents. This is a topic I will delve into in a later article and carries varying opinions by professionals. Cat’s nails have a tendency to grow faster and are typically sharper than those of dogs. Furthermore, cats are more known for scratching at furniture and walls. It is for this reason that pet parents of cats seek a longer lasting solution in keeping nails under control.
Outside the more extreme approach of declawing, capping cat nails is a minimally invasive option. You have an endless selection of colors with Kitty Caps. Nails are trimmed short and a rubber cap is glued over it. These caps can last up to a month or more depending on your cats scratching behaviors. This option is very similar to that of getting fake nails for ourselves.
What If You Trim Too Short
Most pet stores sell styptic powder to keep handy should a nail get trimmed too short. You can use cornstarch if styptic powder is unavailable. Should you trim one of your pet’s nails too short and it starts bleeding, don’t panic. Your pet might react but keep hold of them and, applying a small pinch of styptic powder or cornstarch, press gently until bleeding stops. Continue with the nail trimming offering rewards for your pet’s cooperation.
All of these are tools that I have had personal experience with but there are some that I’ve yet to try. Among these is the Digger dog file and other similar scratching boards for dogs. The idea behind these is similar to that of scratching posts for cats. The nails are kept short without any intervention from the pet parent. Once I’ve tried some of these, I’ll update here accordingly.
Whatever method you choose, keeping your pet’s nails short and regularly groomed can save them pain and discomfort, and you an unnecessary vet visit. Neglected nails can break or curl around and grow into the paw pad, resulting in severe pain and infection. Broken or paw pad punctures often require sedation, trimming the nail back, sometimes into the quick, and bandaging. While the nail will almost always grow back, it is unnecessary and entirely avoidable.