nail trimming - drawing blood!

[kerry3383]

hi everyone! long post sorry:

i’ve just had a horrible experience trimming my girls nails :’( i’m usually quite good with her! we took our girls to the vet for first time nail trim as we were too nervous & wanted to watch someone else so it - she said one of our girls has naturally long talons and so not to go too short. since then we’ve been doing them ourselves - one holding gp & one trimming! today i got a bit cocky and tried to cut one of our girls nails myself … she’s got black nails & long talons so it’s very much a guessing game but i always air on the side of caution however today she moved and i took off a large bit of nail!

i felt so bad, she didn’t squeak too loud surprisingly, as she is usually very dramatic, but there was a lot of blood. and i mean A LOT of blood! i sat with a paper towel on her nail with pressure for 1.5 hours before calling vets as i was obviously concerned - they told me to use flour & it worked a treat but in total it ended up taking 2 hours for the blood to stop. i’m now so anxious about cutting her nails in future! has anyone had a similar experience? any tips for me please, i’ll take any advice i can get on anything nail trimming related as it’s so daunting to me now! also do u think i should be concerned at all about blood loss as it took so long to stop? probably a very stupid question but i’m paranoid & vet rushed off phone before i could ask. thanks in advance!

*i’ve attached photo of paper towel with blood on it for context, that’s not including blood that got on me and in the flour!*

 

[Merab]

Panic not.
You are not the only person here who ends up with a bleeding nail.
My Phoebe is a wriggler that no matter how careful we are there is always a cut quick.
I have a dish of cornflour at hand so the bleeding paw gets put in that.
It doesn’t really hurt too much and a bribe of cucumber or some herbs works.

Do you have someone to help you?
I find that if my husband holds the piggy while I trim the nails it helps.

If you are still concerned then go to the vets - it’s usually a nurse who will do that job.

Relax and try not to stress yourself about it.

 

[Claire W]

Please don't beat yourself up. We've all done it.

I take my piggies to the vets to have their nails trimmed especially as Ella has black nails. But during the first lockdown when vets wasn't doing routine appointments we had to cut them ourselves. I only had Edward and Elizabeth at the time but it was horrendous. I held the piggies whilst my husband cut the nails but he butchered Edward on several occasions. I felt so guilty

If you're worried, I suggest taking them to the vets as if the vet catches the quick, it's their problem and they will know what to do

 

[Sue and Smartie]

I too have used flour but I put it in an egg cup as I find it's easier to keep the whole foot in the flour.

When I had a pig with black feet I used to use an emery board to file his nails down as I was terrified of making him bleed. Obviously this takes a bit longer but if your pig doesn't mind you might find it less stressful in future.

 

[kerry3383]

Thank you everyone! She seems her usual self today and i don’t notice any blood in her sawdust so I think she’s okay - was just very panicked after it happened! Will definitely have someone hold her next time and have a little bowl of flour ready x

 

[Engel]

Don't worry, easily done. I've done it plenty of times with various animals. Take a deep breath, you are doing ok.

 

[VickiA]

We’ve all done it. That doesn’t make it any less awful at the time, but all is well today. I hope you recover from the trauma. I tend to have some cornflour and a bar of hard soap to hand. Both work well in the event of a bleed.

 

[dhill_cb7]

Sorry to hear about the bleeding. This happened to me too the first time I clipped my boys nails. I felt devastated and really beat myself up.

Fret not you will get better. If you would rather the vet do it then you can line them up. If not try to have someone hold them while you cut or you hold while they cut.

I cut while the girlfriend held the boys. The hardest nails are the darker ones. Good luck!