Catnails

Has anyone had experience with a cat getting their nail caught and completely pulled out? She got it caught and in her desperate attempt to free herself, she completely ripped out the entire nail. Vet said it was clean and not infected. We have to soak it daily and use a different kitty litter for now. How long will it be until it grows back and how long will it feel tender and sensitive to her? Would like to hear from you all.

I did manage to find this thread on the topic at hand:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/272040/cat-pulled-claw-out

Most folks said just a few days up to a week for the tenderness to go away.  Not sure on the nail itself.  Bet your Vet can give you an idea if you call them.

It happens more often than people think. It's great that you took her to the vet to make sure it doesn't get infected. Once the healing process begins and there are tissues covering the wound it should be ok. Could take a few weeks for the claw to start showing again but your cat shouldn't mind that.

What kind of litter did your vet suggest? How is your cat adjusting to the new litter? A change of litter can be stressful for some cats so keep an eye on her litterbox habits and make sure she adjusts to the new type. Let us know how she's doing! 

Thank you both for your input. I keep forgetting to ask the Vet how long it takes to grow back because I get sidetracked talking about other issues. It wasn't infected but she did find splinter type pieces sticking into her skin. She removed them, so I am glad we took her in. The litter she suggested is Yesterdays News. She(cat) is peeing in it but not doing a bowel movement, so I am not sure why. Trying to increase her fluids and fiber. The Vet suggested giving her mineral oil. I have tried but she won't take it and she won't eat wet food. I bought some kitty broth and wet food in gravy to see if she will lick it or even eat it. I really, really do not want to bring her in for an enema as the Vet suggested as a last resort. She is such a sweet girl. we love her so much.

Hi Anne: Well here we are almost 2 weeks later and Autumn has started to heal. She isn't shaking her foot or holding it up anymore so it must be healing. We had to soak it for 4 days. The vet said to soak it for 10 mins. I said that I didn't think she would tolerate that so we cut it to 5 mins. She did not like that but she let us do it,  protesting the entire time. I don't think she liked the yesterdays News Litter. She peed in it but would not make a bowel movement. after a couple of days I changed out one litter pan to her regular litter and she made a deposit. Yay! I was getting worried. She seems back to old self again. Thank you for caring.