Cat's nail

I was playing with the paw of one of my cats last night and noticed a huge nail that was curling around towards his pad. THis nail is as thick as my Black Lab's nail. How can this be? The rest of his nails are short and sharp and are able to be retracted back into the paw. I know this isn't life threatening, but I just wondered how the heck he could grow a nail this thick and this long? Could it be that this particular nail never did retract back into his paw?

Anyone hear of such a thing?

Thanks

Barb

Thats a new one to me!! I have never heard of one nail growing faster or not getting used as much. Yes, they will get sharp and long if you dont trim them or they don't scratch on anything. I would be curious to see if anyone has had this happen

Eeeek! This exact thing happened with my Callie! We called her our Clickedy-clackedy kitty because of the sound she made when she walked. Then I was playing with her one day I felt her paw and there it was....a HUUUUGE claw that had curled under into the pad of her foot. I found another one on the other front foot!

I took her to the vet and the vet said he had never seen that in a cat! He had to use what looked like bolt cutters to trim back these nails!!!

I have been keeping a close eye on her paws (she won't let me near her with clippers) and now take her to the vet about once a month for a quick claw trim.

Well, I'm glad "someone" else had this happened. Think I can attempt to trim it myself? I never trim any of my cat's nails, they seem to take care of them themselves on the scratching posts. A vet trip is the last thing I want to do....It's a very violent thing to try and get them into the carrier, I have a hard time doing it to them and they fight me like crazy. Anyone know if there's a service that will take them to the vet, or some kind of "mobile vet"??

Thanks for all your help...and quick responses!

Barb

If your cat's claw is anywhere near as big as what Callie's were like, you will have to buy special clippers to trim the nail. If it hasn't grown too curved, I suppose a dog nail clipper will work??? Callie's nail was so curved that the vet couldn't use the dog clippers....he had to use the "bolt cutters" instead. Whew!


Also....to make vet trips easier, go to your local health food store and buy some Bach's Rescue Remedy. Put 4 drops either directly on the cat's tongue or mix the drops in a very small amount of canned food. This will calm the cat without drugging him and will make the trip MUCH easier.

Good luck!

Will this Bach's remedy also make it easier for me to get him into the carrier? Also, as soon as he's in the car he poops, pees and throws up. Will Bach's remedy help with this also?

Sorry to be a pain...

I would say take him to a vet. The nail is so long, that I am sure they will have to cut some of the quick to get it down. You would need to put powder on to stop the bleeding and it hurts then quite a bit. The Dr bachs will help to ease the stress and may help with the entire ride. However, just to be on the safe side, what I do with my "car sick" kitty is withhold her food and water for about 10 hours before the trip to the vet just as I have had to do before surgery.

Not looking forward to the trip, but I guess I have no choice. I'll look for the Bach's remedy as well. Just a few drops, right? How long does it take to take effect? If I'm witholding food, can I just squirt a few drops in his mouth?

Thanks again!

Barb

The dropper that comes with the small bottle holds about 4 drops total, and thats what you give them. It is much faster to just put it on thier tounge and you usually will notice a difference in about 30 minutes.
Make sure and give us an update when you go

Thanks Sandie,

I'm going to go to GNC tomorrow, hopefully they'll have it!!

I'll let you know what happens..

Barb