I cut the quick! Help!

[squeaksandcarrots]

I accidentally cut Penny’s quick. It was lightly bleeding so now I have her in the playpen on a pee pad. She’s acting normal but I’m scared to put her back in her cage and risk an infection. How long should it take for the bleeding to stop?

 

[squeaksandcarrots]

I didn't see any blood on the pee pad so I'm thinking it's good now.

 

[Lady Kelly]

It should stop pretty quickly so glad to hear you didn't see any further blood. In an emergency you can dip the nail in some cornflour in future which helps it stop. Don't feel bad, it happens to everyone more often than you would think. A few veggies and she'll have forgotten all about it

 

[Betsy]

It's happened to me on numerous occasions. Piggies generally hate having their nails cut (with the exception of Dennis who lays on his back on my lap an just lets me do it ) so they are wriggly little blighters who wriggle just at the wrong time.

 

[Claire W]

Don’t worry you will soon be forgiven. Even my vet as caught the quick before when s piggy has suddenly moved!

 

[Flutterby]

I have around 25-30 pigs at any given time due to fostering and when it comes to nails I almost always cut one of their quicks. It's a horrible feeling but accidents happen. As long as she's stopped bleeding just keep an eye on the nail and as usual keep the cage clean

 

[DMS260820]

I have also cut into my sows quick, twice actually, stopped bleeding after about 20 minutes, she didn't give a dam and carried on eating hay

 

[Wiebke]

I accidentally cut Penny’s quick. It was lightly bleeding so now I have her in the playpen on a pee pad. She’s acting normal but I’m scared to put her back in her cage and risk an infection. How long should it take for the bleeding to stop?

Any bleeding should stop within 10-15 minutes. Contact a vet if it doesn't.
Cutting the quick or having a piggy with a ripped-off nail is something that most guinea pig owners will come up against sooner or later.

You can either keep sterile saline solution from the pharmacy at home or make saline yourself in a pinch. You can find the recipe in this guide from our emergency section here: First Aid Kit: Easily available non-medication support products for an emergency

 

[Reenie]

Try not to panic. It's no more serious than cutting the end of your finger....not nice, but not fatal.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Even our vet nurse has done this once cutting Ollie's nails, there was an alarming amount of blood and he squealed like he was being murdered!
Ollie has black nails and wriggles and fights like crazy- he's normally a very chilled piggy but he hates being held still and having back end messed with (I think he has bad memories from having his post neuter abscess treated, so bum checks and back nail trims terrify the poor little chap)