Nails Needing Clipped Urgently?

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ZiggyStarPig

ZiggyStarPig

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image.webp All 3 of my trio need their nails clipped. I'm not confident yet to do them myself. I have a friend who is a dog groomer who can do them but unfortunately she's not available until next Wednesday. Ziggy and Duke's aren't too bad but Teddy's look really long to me. 2 front ones are curled (not cutting into foot). I'm not sure wether to take her to the vet or wait until next Wednesday to get them done at home. Is it better to avoid the stress of a vet trip? Looking at them I feel they must be uncomfortable but Are they urgently needing done? Ok to leave until next week? Tried my best to get a photo showing them. Part of me doesn't want to upset her with a vet trip when she is just settling in & the other part doesn't want her to feel any more discomfort at all.
 
:D Hello and :wel: to the forum! As far as I can tell from the photo, Teddy's nails don't look too bad. I can see that one is curled but that one is okay for now. It can wait until next Wednesday. You will probably find that the toes twist as the nails get a bit longer. But as long as the piggie can walk without any trouble and the nails are not corkscrewing or growing into the foot pad , they are okay. But if you are really worried, then by all means take them to your Vet. :tu:
 
ZiggyStarPig said:
View attachment 46055 All 3 of my trio need their nails clipped. I'm not confident yet to do them myself. I have a friend who is a dog groomer who can do them but unfortunately she's not available until next Wednesday. Ziggy and Duke's aren't too bad but Teddy's look really long to me. 2 front ones are curled (not cutting into foot). I'm not sure wether to take her to the vet or wait until next Wednesday to get them done at home. Is it better to avoid the stress of a vet trip? Looking at them I feel they must be uncomfortable but Are they urgently needing done? Ok to leave until next week? Tried my best to get a photo showing them. Part of me doesn't want to upset her with a vet trip when she is just settling in & the other part doesn't want her to feel any more discomfort at all.
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Many vet clinics offer clipping against a small fee. Perhaps inquire whether your local one does it? They can also show you how to go about it.
 
7squeakers. said:
:D Hello and :wel: to the forum! As far as I can tell from the photo, Teddy's nails don't look too bad. I can see that one is curled but that one is okay for now. It can wait until next Wednesday. You will probably find that the toes twist as the nails get a bit longer. But as long as the piggie can walk without any trouble and the nails are not corkscrewing or growing into the foot pad , they are okay. But if you are really worried, then by all means take them to your Vet. :tu:
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Thank you. She doesn't run about as much as the other two but I'm beginning to think she is just a more laid back Guinea Pig. I'll leave it until Wednesday:)
 
Wiebke said:
Many vet clinics offer clipping against a small fee. Perhaps inquire whether your local one does it? They can also show you how to go about it.
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I know this sounds terrible but I'm not even sure which vet I'll use yet, I really need to sort that out ASAP. I'll wait until Wednesday and my friend can show me how to do it the first few times until I'm confident to do it. My job now is to find a good vet in my area, my list of things to do is getting longer instead of shorter but I'm loving every second of owning these wee characters! Thanks again
 
ZiggyStarPig said:
I know this sounds terrible but I'm not even sure which vet I'll use yet, I really need to sort that out ASAP. I'll wait until Wednesday and my friend can show me how to do it the first few times until I'm confident to do it. My job now is to find a good vet in my area, my list of things to do is getting longer instead of shorter but I'm loving every second of owning these wee characters! Thanks again
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If you need help, please a have a gander at our recommended piggy savvy vets locator on the top bar: Guinea Pig Vet Locator
 
Wiebke said:
If you need help, please a have a gander at our recommended piggy savvy vets locator on the top bar: Guinea Pig Vet Locator
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I had a look and there's 3 vets within reasonable travelling distance recommended. The Ashleigh Vet Centre in Manchester would be ideal so I'll give them a call to see about registering:)
 
ZiggyStarPig said:
I had a look and there's 3 vets within reasonable travelling distance recommended. The Ashleigh Vet Centre in Manchester would be ideal so I'll give them a call to see about registering:)
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I think that several members use this clinic.
 
This forum is so important for first time owners like me, it's a gift! Although friends I have love animals, not one of them know anything about Guinea Pigs. I'd be lost without the information & advice I've been getting on here. So thanks from me but an even bigger thanks from Teddy, Ziggy and Duke!
 
i know exactly how you feel. I too am scared to cut my piggies nails myself. I actually just had them done for the first time just now, I held him while my family friend cut them (he also has experience trimming dog nails). He made such heartbreaking scared noises that sounded like we had cut too far down, but i checked every single nail and not a single spot of blood. If anything I think it just scares them, but hopefully the more they get their nails done the more they will learn not to fear it and it will become easier with time if you decide to take up cutting them yourself.
 
Those scared noises must be so horrible to hear, he'll be glad to have nice short nails though. I've a feeling I might never do them myself, Ziggy and Duke both have all black nails and Teddy has 4 dark nails. I'd be too nervous of making a mistake!
 
i have braved the nails twice now.... first time i caught a bit of skin :( felt awful for days afterwards.... did them the other night and it went really well.... sat them on my lap with a few treats to distract them.... my daughter was there too to help.... felt so much better for attempting it again... but mine aren't black nails - they would scare me lol ! Good luck ...
 
ZiggyStarPig said:
That's you a professional nail clipper now!:) They will be expecting a weekly pedicure now!
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don't think i can cope with it every week lol ! its when they move their little feet away and you have to try and remember not to pull them !
 
ZiggyStarPig said:
Those scared noises must be so horrible to hear, he'll be glad to have nice short nails though. I've a feeling I might never do them myself, Ziggy and Duke both have all black nails and Teddy has 4 dark nails. I'd be too nervous of making a mistake!
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Yea the dark nails are scary. My pig has dark nails on his front paws. I was very specific about only letting my family friend take the very top off them as we couldn't see the Quick I think it's called despite shining lights
 
:D The claws on the back feet are not so bad, as they are long and straight. But the front ones , especially the ones on the inside that curl really tightly, are VERY difficult to cut without pinching the foot pads at the same time!
I think that, at the end of the vein inside the nail, there is a part that you can't see even in light coloured nails. When cutting nails, this part of the vein can get pinched, which causes the piggie to pull away suddenly. You can see when you pinch this part of the vein that the blood in the vein moves downwards. (I hope that all makes sense!) :blink:
 
That does make sense:) I might be brave enough to try it myself one day. Until then I'll keep bribing my friend with a bottle of wine to do it for me!
 
Just a quick question, don't know if I will be brave enough to do piggy nails myself, will probably take to vet, how often would they need doing (on average) or does it depend on the piggie?
 
:D For those of you that are really worried about cutting your piggies nails, Amazon sell a couple of tools that FILE the nail down. This makes it much easier to control how much of the nail you are removing.

I think in general, nails should be clipped about every six weeks to 2 months.
 
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