A little background on the question - my guinea pig, Boba, used to live in a two story C&C cage with a little ramp about a year ago. One day I looked into his cage and noticed a fair amount of blood on his blankets. Obviously worried I pulled him out of the cage to find that one of his back nails had been completed ripped out. He wasn't making any noise like he was in pain and he let me touch his toe and clean it up. I don't know how this happened but I assume he might have gotten his nail stuck somewhere around the ramp. The nail did not grow back for probably a good couple of months until one day I noticed he was starting to limp a little bit on his back foot. I came to find out the nail did start to grow back however it is extremely thick, to the point where it is very difficult to trim it with any normal guinea pig sized nail trimmers. The vet suspects he damaged the growth plate of the nail.
Boba's nails are already very difficult to trim to begin with as it is his least favorite activity. This one nail in specific though is more difficult to trim as I can only seem to shave little bits of the nail off before he starts to pull away. The toe is not painful but because the nail is so thick it starts to almost grow into his toe. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can trim the nail to relieve some of the pain? Perhaps using nail trimmers meant for larger animals? Or is it possible to gently file the nail without causing too much harm? Or is it possible for a vet remove the toe nail? I know it is risky to put guinea pigs under any sort of anesthesia because they are so small. Thanks in advance!
Boba's nails are already very difficult to trim to begin with as it is his least favorite activity. This one nail in specific though is more difficult to trim as I can only seem to shave little bits of the nail off before he starts to pull away. The toe is not painful but because the nail is so thick it starts to almost grow into his toe. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can trim the nail to relieve some of the pain? Perhaps using nail trimmers meant for larger animals? Or is it possible to gently file the nail without causing too much harm? Or is it possible for a vet remove the toe nail? I know it is risky to put guinea pigs under any sort of anesthesia because they are so small. Thanks in advance!
