Ripped Claw

[ginjaninja]

I went to clip my cat Oliver's claws and noticed one is completely ripped off. There was some dried blood on it and it hurt him when I touched it. I have no idea when this happened, and couldn't find any blood on the floor or anything around the house. I sprayed some Bactine on it as he's already on antibiotics for something else for a few more days. Has anyone used bactine on their cats?

 

[arouetta]

I haven't used Bactine, but I do have experience with a broken claw. My cat Shadow had a broken claw when she came into my life and she had chewed on it enough to have a fleshy growth on it. The vet said to soak her paw in a decently high concentration salt water twice a day, a concentration that you would use for rinsing your mouth when you have a sore. I don't remember the exact duration, but it was at least a couple of weeks and no more than a month. That was the only treatment and obviously the usual vet advice - keep an eye on it, bring her back immediately if it gets worse - but I didn't need to take her back as the salt water did the trick. And it grew out just fine after that.

Edit: Also, rule of thumb. If it's a medicine that says do not ingest or it's something you can't risk your baby eating, then you don't want it on a cat's paws.

 

[ginjaninja]

Thank you! I will try the salt water instead.

 

[ginjaninja]

I haven't used Bactine, but I do have experience with a broken claw. My cat Shadow had a broken claw when she came into my life and she had chewed on it enough to have a fleshy growth on it. The vet said to soak her paw in a decently high concentration salt water twice a day, a concentration that you would use for rinsing your mouth when you have a sore. I don't remember the exact duration, but it was at least a couple of weeks and no more than a month. That was the only treatment and obviously the usual vet advice - keep an eye on it, bring her back immediately if it gets worse - but I didn't need to take her back as the salt water did the trick. And it grew out just fine after that.

Edit: Also, rule of thumb. If it's a medicine that says do not ingest or it's something you can't risk your baby eating, then you don't want it on a cat's paws.

How long were you able to soak your cat's paw? I've been wrapping Oliver in a towel and dunking his paw in a glass of salt water, but I can only do this for about 30 seconds until he squirms away. I'm wondering if this is sufficient.

 

[arouetta]

I was told to do it a lot longer than that, while memory is faded I'm certain it was several minutes. I do remember it was a pain and what I had to do was use a mug, put it on the floor, grab her, and hunch over her so that my entire body was enveloping hers and I braced her knee so that as much as she was wiggling, she couldn't get free or get her foot out of the mug, but she also wasn't at risk of injury.

 

[ginjaninja]

I was told to do it a lot longer than that, while memory is faded I'm certain it was several minutes. I do remember it was a pain and what I had to do was use a mug, put it on the floor, grab her, and hunch over her so that my entire body was enveloping hers and I braced her knee so that as much as she was wiggling, she couldn't get free or get her foot out of the mug, but she also wasn't at risk of injury.

I'll keep on trying. Thanks!