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My piggies whole nail has come off...

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BellasMummy

BellasMummy

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I was cuddling Paislee last night after cleaning them out and noticed that one of her toes looked a bit odd. Upon closer inspection It looks like her whole nail has come off and there is just the toe left.
I have always struggled cutting nails but try to do it when it needs doing, I didn't think it needed doing for another couple of weeks but maybe it did?
Is she likely to be in any pain? she certainly doesn't seem to be. I feel so guilty that this has happened. I do say to her when cutting nails 'If we don't do it Paislee then it will get caught on something and hurt' and it looks like it actually has now :(
Has this happened to anyones piggie before?
 
Not had this experience before I'm afraid.

Only going on how it would be for me if one of my nails came off, but I would have thought something like that would be painful. Is it worth giving her some infant neurofen or infant calpol as pain relief, as gps are very good at hiding any kind of suffering?

Just a thought, it might be worth checking that there's no kind of fungal infection that could have affected the nail bed.
 
Its so difficult getting to see exactly what has happened as she's not that great with her feet being touched. I will have another look at what has happened and maybe make an appointment at the vets.
 
It has happened to two of my pigs. I imagine it is pretty sore never witnessed them actually catching it. Do watch out for signs of infection, if it appears red or swollen I would take her to get it checked at the vets.

My pigs were both fine neither needed the vet and the nail started regrowing after about a month. X
 
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It doesn't look red or sore at all at the moment but will keep an eye on it. I just knew something like this was going to happen, poor Paislee. She is put on fleece so maybe she just caught it on something, there is no sign of the nail or of any blood in the cage.
 
I don't imagine its sore after the event my pigs were fine. I didn't give any painkillers, I imagine it will grow back without any problems but I do know of a pig that got an infected nail bed because he lost his nail, so just keep a close eye. As always if you see anything that doesn't look right I would see a vet :).
 
This has happened to one of my pigs a couple of times.

He seems to 'shed' his whole nail occassionally but without any problems. Just watch it doesn't get infected as obviously piggie feet get in all sorts of things but Merry has never had any discomfort with his they just look a bit odd for a while while they re-grow.
 
Is it possible that she caught it on something and ripped it off? This happened to my pig Linney once... she got her nail caught in the cage while jumping out and tore the nail right at the base, but it was really obvious what she had done because it tore the quick and bled everywhere! It didn't seem to be painful to her once we got the bleeding stopped (no limping and she didn't pay any attention to it.) This was a few months ago and I thought that the nail was not going to regrow since I wasn't seeing any sign of a nail and thought the nail bed might have been damaged, but over the past few days I can see/feel a bit of nail regrowing so it may come back in after all.

HTH a bit! I would just watch to make sure it doesn't look infected or sore.
 
Freela said:
Is it possible that she caught it on something and ripped it off? This happened to my pig Linney once... she got her nail caught in the cage while jumping out and tore the nail right at the base, but it was really obvious what she had done because it tore the quick and bled everywhere! It didn't seem to be painful to her once we got the bleeding stopped (no limping and she didn't pay any attention to it.) This was a few months ago and I thought that the nail was not going to regrow since I wasn't seeing any sign of a nail and thought the nail bed might have been damaged, but over the past few days I can see/feel a bit of nail regrowing so it may come back in after all.

HTH a bit! I would just watch to make sure it doesn't look infected or sore.
Click to expand...

Its very possible she caught it on either the fleece or sometimes she jumps up on the plastic stools. Strange that there has been no blood though?
 
hi this has just happened to my boy,blood everywhere and panic from me an my girlfriend,i phoned laura from the guinea pig help line and i will say she is a saint ! thanks laura ! xx
how often should i bath his little foot in salt water ? and for how long ?
thanks..x
 
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