Tips For Tackling Overgrown Nails?

Liane

Liane

Teenage Guinea Pig
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*i meant tackling, not racking lol

I’ve just adopted a guinea pig, and she has very overgrown nails. I trim my piggies’ nails regularly and have never seen nails this long...

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I’ve only had a quick look as she was quite nervous - how far will the quick extend? Am I going to be able to cut off a reasonable chunk today, or will it need to be over the course of a few days/weeks?
 
Here are some clearer pictures. The nails on her front feet are actually twisted round each other.132B99C3-F559-4269-B3FE-928513366AC2.webp2C72745D-8A1E-4861-BA6C-51E564EB331F.webp
 
Oh poor little baby! :( Glad to hear she's got a lovely home with you now. I hope the nail trim goes well. Are you able to see the quick at all? I can't really tell by the photo but it looks like you'd be able to cut most of it off.

If you have a torch, shine it on the nail so you can see the quick easier and you'll be able to see where to cut :) After that you can cut a little bit more off as the quick receedes, every other week I believe? Until they're back to normal :)

I'd imagine with them being so long she may have a bit of trouble with her feet and poor little toes so it may be worth a vet trip for a health check :)
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Oh poor little baby! :( Glad to hear she's got a lovely home with you now. I hope the nail trim goes well. Are you able to see the quick at all? I can't really tell by the photo but it looks like you'd be able to cut most of it off.

If you have a torch, shine it on the nail so you can see the quick easier and you'll be able to see where to cut :) After that you can cut a little bit more off as the quick receedes, every other week I believe? Until they're back to normal :)

I'd imagine with them being so long she may have a bit of trouble with her feet and poor little toes so it may be worth a vet trip for a health check :)
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Yeah I’m booking her an appointment as she’s quite tiny (776g!) and has what feels like a large stone.

I’m relieved that we should be able to cut a fair bit off today, must be so uncomfortable! When Dad gets back I’ll get him to shine a torch on her tootsies.
 
Liane said:
Yeah I’m booking her an appointment as she’s quite tiny (776g!) and has what feels like a large stone.

I’m relieved that we should be able to cut a fair bit off today, must be so uncomfortable! When Dad gets back I’ll get him to shine a torch on her tootsies.
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Oh poor little mite! Do you know how old she is? She'll be glad to walk properly :)
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
Oh poor little mite! Do you know how old she is? She'll be glad to walk properly :)
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Apparently she is five years old, but she behaves like she’s younger. She’s quite skittish. I’m wondering what state her teeth are going to be in, apparently she’s not been eating much (but she’s chomping away quite happily on hay at the moment, and has had some carrot)
 
Ahhh I hope she’s a good girl for you during the nail trim. She’s lucky to have found a loving home with you. A vet check will be able to check her teeth as well as her feet. Have you got a piccie of her face? (Just cos I’m nosey & would love to see what she looks like) she sounds like a lovely girl :love: xx
 
Hoppity.K said:
Ahhh I hope she’s a good girl for you during the nail trim. She’s lucky to have found a loving home with you. A vet check will be able to check her teeth as well as her feet. Have you got a piccie of her face? (Just cos I’m nosey & would love to see what she looks like) she sounds like a lovely girl :love: xx
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Yes, how rude of me to not show a picture of her pretty face! Lol

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I have named her Romana!
 
Liane said:
Apparently she is five years old, but she behaves like she’s younger. She’s quite skittish. I’m wondering what state her teeth are going to be in, apparently she’s not been eating much (but she’s chomping away quite happily on hay at the moment, and has had some carrot)
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I'm glad she's been eating ! Hopefully she's a healthy little lady and gets a clean bill of health! :)

She's beautiful, she reminds me of my Cissy!
 
Ahhh she’s gorgeous :drool: xx (it’s not rude of you at all) but I’m so glad to see her face & those wonderful whiskers xx hello Romana x
 
Hello Romana. I’ve never seen nails that long before. You are right that the quicks will have grown longer into the nail than those where the nails are trimmed regularly, so best to trim regular smaller amounts off rather than trying to get the perfect cut first time. @Cavy Kung-Fu is right that a torch will help show where the wick has grown to. That poor little girl, she must have found it so difficult to move about. She is lucky to have found her way to you and to be given such car and attention. She has a very pretty face, too .
 
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Thankfully, we were able to cut her nails completely. It’s truly heartbreaking that she was allowed to get into this state.

Even more sad news, her teeth are a state. Although she is eating hay, when I watched her trying to eat carrot I noticed something was very wrong. Dad’s just got in so we looked at her teeth - never seen anything like it, and that’s just the front! Going to make her up some syringe feed and work out the dose for metacam. Poor baby.
 
Well done for doing such a good job with her nails. Sorry to hear that her teeth are in a state. Sounds like she needs a trip to vets. Poor girl. Sending her loads of hugs :wub: x
 
Oh bless you I adopted one quite similar. Massively underweight and overgrown nails - they were curling but not quite as long as yours. My willow has dark nails though which still panics me I have to twist in all directions to cut each individual nail. She's doing absolutely fine in spite of hard, brittle and twisting long nails though
 
Romana is very lucky to have found you - poor piggy to get into that state. Hope all goes well at the vets.
 
Generally the ones who have bad teeth, due to poor diet, come right once they have had some dental treatment and are getting a decent diet. So glad she's now with you and hope you can get the stone sorted soon too. Will you be taking her to Simon? He will sort the teeth and should be able to pop the stone out too, without needing an op.
 
Poor Romana Luckily she has found you! Dennis will issue a formal invitation to her to join the Stripey nose Club on his thread. She is such a cute piggy!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Generally the ones who have bad teeth, due to poor diet, come right once they have had some dental treatment and are getting a decent diet. So glad she's now with you and hope you can get the stone sorted soon too. Will you be taking her to Simon? He will sort the teeth and should be able to pop the stone out too, without needing an op.
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Yes, I’m hoping we can get her an appointment for tomorrow, she needs her teeth sorting out ASAP, even getting a syringe in is difficult because of how the teeth have grown. I’m really hoping that her issues are just down to diet, as we can fix that.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
What sort of time were you wanting to go tomorrow? I have just checked online and there is a 17.20 appointment available.
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I think I can make that appointment if my boss agrees to me leaving earlier tomorrow, so if you could book that for us that would be fantastic, thank you! :luv:
 
Liane said:
I think I can make that appointment if my boss agrees to me leaving earlier tomorrow, so if you could book that for us that would be fantastic, thank you! :luv:
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I've booked it. It is booked in Autumn's name. I will email them and say I have given the appointment to you, as you need it more and I will take Autumn another day. Can you message me your full name and address, so I can tell them who the appointment has been given to x
 
The poor little love She must have been so uncomfortable. Lucky girl to have found someoneswho'llso look after her well. Good luck x
 
I wish you and the lovely Romana good luck at the vets tomorrow. Let us know how you get on. I bet she's a lot more comfortable without those talons!
 
i hope Romana can be treated without too many visits.I like the way this forum always tries to rally round when help is needed.you are at the best vets ! ive taken a few piggies to the cat and rabbit clinic,it has saved myself countless pennies and lives due to the very competent vets.:hug:
 
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