Post by Linda on Feb 27, 2007 11:31:53 GMT -5
Nail trimming
In the wild, the guinea pig's toenails are kept short through wear and tear. But as a domesticated animal, there is nothing to naturally wear them down, and over time, they will get too long. As such, you will need to regularly trim their nails, to prevent them from growing and curving too far inward, which can lead to painful breaks. Of all the regular maintenance that guinea pigs need, nail trimming is probably met with the least enthusiasm by owners.
If you have never clipped a guinea pig's toenails before, you may want to have your vet, or an experienced cavy groomer, show you how it's done. There are two factors that make nail trimming challenging for new owners:
1. Guinea pigs have blood vessels in their toenails, referred to as the "quick". In clear nails, the quick is fairly obvious: it is the pinkish portion that extends from the bone of the toe into the nail. In black nails, however, spotting the quick is next to impossible, making trimming difficult.
2. Guinea pigs don't like to be restrained, and will resist your efforts to hold them still while trimming.
The second problem can actually be solved fairly easily: many owners will wrap their guinea pigs in a towel, letting their legs hang out, so that they can trim the nails without a fuss. This is especially easy if you have one person restraining the guinea pig, and a second trimming the nails. For owners that have to trim the nails "solo", some use the "tennis racket" approach: put the guinea pig on a tennis racket, so that their toenails poke down through the gaps between the strings. Either method will work; pick the one that is most convenient for you and your piggie.
The first problem, however, is more difficult to solve. The toenail must be trimmed above the quick; cutting into the blood vessel will not only be very painful for the cavy, but will also cause bleeding, as well as introduce the potential for infection. In guinea pigs with clear toenails, this isn't that hard to do: simply locate the quick, and cut a little bitt ahead of it. But if your guinea pig has black toenails, knowing where the quick begins is almost an art form, and is non-trivial at best.
Still, it's not impossible to trim a black toenail. Some owners opt to simply trim their black-nailed cavies more often, and only trim a tiny bit off in a session. This works well, but does require more maintenance. However, there is a method for trimming those black claws down to their minimum length (just above the quick) in one sitting, if you are willing to be patient.
Before trimming the toenail, you must first understand that the parts that you are trimming off are actually dead pieces of the nail. The section of the nail surrounding the quick is alive, and is the part that grows, pushing the "dead" nail outward. To trim the black toenail, you trim a small piece at a time (a very small piece), and observe the cross-section of the toenail. Again, this takes practice, and it's best to have a vet show you when you trim for the first time, but here is how you tell when you are getting close to the quick, and the "living" toenail.
The dead nail may appear one of two ways: there can be a channel worn away at the underside of the nail, or there may be a core of nail that appears white or light grey. As you approach the quick, the worn channel "shrinks" down, and the "white" channel begins to darken in color. The table below shows the progression of the two types of nail as you near the living nail surrounding the quick.
If you still end up cutting the quick, either because you overshoot on a nail or your guinea pig moves while you snip, then you will need to stop the bleeding, which can be fairly heavy. Some pet stores sell a powder called "quick-stop", which is designed to be dabbed on the end of the bleeding toenail to help form a clot. If you don't have quick-stop. apply some iodine, instead.
One trick that you can use to reduce the frequency of nail-trimming is to provide a "natural" way for your guinea pigs to wear down their claws. Rough stones, bricks and other abrasive surfaces can be put in the cage for your guinea pigs to perch on and step over. Bricks are probably the most convenient, since they are very rough (use bricks without holes in them) and very inexpensive. One thing to be aware of, though, is that the "natural" method of keeping nails short means that they may occasionally break off a piece of a toenail, back far enough to cut into the quick. This is rare, but it can happen.
There is a diagram of where to cut at: www.comfycavies.com/Care/Groom/Groom.htm
Teeth Inspections
From time to time, you will need to inspect your guinea pig's teeth for excessive growth and broken tips. Like the teeth of many members of the rodent family, the guinea pig's front teeth are two pairs of opposing, constantly growing incisors. Eating hard foods keep these teeth worn down to their proper length, so you should periodically supply your guinea pig with chew sticks, branches, hay cubes or old bread. Periodically check the incisors to make sure they are wearing properly. If allowed to grow too long, they will start to curve inward, making it impossible for the guinea pig to eat. Excessively long teeth will need to be trimmed by your veterinarian.
Broken tips can be caused by falls or brittle teeth (which, in turn, can be caused by vitamin deficiencies). If a tooth breaks off, then you will want to consult your vet. Until the tooth grows back, you may have to make special feeding arrangements for the afflicted guinea pig.
In the wild, the guinea pig's toenails are kept short through wear and tear. But as a domesticated animal, there is nothing to naturally wear them down, and over time, they will get too long. As such, you will need to regularly trim their nails, to prevent them from growing and curving too far inward, which can lead to painful breaks. Of all the regular maintenance that guinea pigs need, nail trimming is probably met with the least enthusiasm by owners.
If you have never clipped a guinea pig's toenails before, you may want to have your vet, or an experienced cavy groomer, show you how it's done. There are two factors that make nail trimming challenging for new owners:
1. Guinea pigs have blood vessels in their toenails, referred to as the "quick". In clear nails, the quick is fairly obvious: it is the pinkish portion that extends from the bone of the toe into the nail. In black nails, however, spotting the quick is next to impossible, making trimming difficult.
2. Guinea pigs don't like to be restrained, and will resist your efforts to hold them still while trimming.
The second problem can actually be solved fairly easily: many owners will wrap their guinea pigs in a towel, letting their legs hang out, so that they can trim the nails without a fuss. This is especially easy if you have one person restraining the guinea pig, and a second trimming the nails. For owners that have to trim the nails "solo", some use the "tennis racket" approach: put the guinea pig on a tennis racket, so that their toenails poke down through the gaps between the strings. Either method will work; pick the one that is most convenient for you and your piggie.
The first problem, however, is more difficult to solve. The toenail must be trimmed above the quick; cutting into the blood vessel will not only be very painful for the cavy, but will also cause bleeding, as well as introduce the potential for infection. In guinea pigs with clear toenails, this isn't that hard to do: simply locate the quick, and cut a little bitt ahead of it. But if your guinea pig has black toenails, knowing where the quick begins is almost an art form, and is non-trivial at best.
Still, it's not impossible to trim a black toenail. Some owners opt to simply trim their black-nailed cavies more often, and only trim a tiny bit off in a session. This works well, but does require more maintenance. However, there is a method for trimming those black claws down to their minimum length (just above the quick) in one sitting, if you are willing to be patient.
Before trimming the toenail, you must first understand that the parts that you are trimming off are actually dead pieces of the nail. The section of the nail surrounding the quick is alive, and is the part that grows, pushing the "dead" nail outward. To trim the black toenail, you trim a small piece at a time (a very small piece), and observe the cross-section of the toenail. Again, this takes practice, and it's best to have a vet show you when you trim for the first time, but here is how you tell when you are getting close to the quick, and the "living" toenail.
The dead nail may appear one of two ways: there can be a channel worn away at the underside of the nail, or there may be a core of nail that appears white or light grey. As you approach the quick, the worn channel "shrinks" down, and the "white" channel begins to darken in color. The table below shows the progression of the two types of nail as you near the living nail surrounding the quick.
If you still end up cutting the quick, either because you overshoot on a nail or your guinea pig moves while you snip, then you will need to stop the bleeding, which can be fairly heavy. Some pet stores sell a powder called "quick-stop", which is designed to be dabbed on the end of the bleeding toenail to help form a clot. If you don't have quick-stop. apply some iodine, instead.
One trick that you can use to reduce the frequency of nail-trimming is to provide a "natural" way for your guinea pigs to wear down their claws. Rough stones, bricks and other abrasive surfaces can be put in the cage for your guinea pigs to perch on and step over. Bricks are probably the most convenient, since they are very rough (use bricks without holes in them) and very inexpensive. One thing to be aware of, though, is that the "natural" method of keeping nails short means that they may occasionally break off a piece of a toenail, back far enough to cut into the quick. This is rare, but it can happen.
There is a diagram of where to cut at: www.comfycavies.com/Care/Groom/Groom.htm
Teeth Inspections
From time to time, you will need to inspect your guinea pig's teeth for excessive growth and broken tips. Like the teeth of many members of the rodent family, the guinea pig's front teeth are two pairs of opposing, constantly growing incisors. Eating hard foods keep these teeth worn down to their proper length, so you should periodically supply your guinea pig with chew sticks, branches, hay cubes or old bread. Periodically check the incisors to make sure they are wearing properly. If allowed to grow too long, they will start to curve inward, making it impossible for the guinea pig to eat. Excessively long teeth will need to be trimmed by your veterinarian.
Broken tips can be caused by falls or brittle teeth (which, in turn, can be caused by vitamin deficiencies). If a tooth breaks off, then you will want to consult your vet. Until the tooth grows back, you may have to make special feeding arrangements for the afflicted guinea pig.