Cats Nails

[Dbliven]

Hi all,

New to this site so I hope I’m doing this right! My cat, Axel, is about 2.5 years old and lately has been losing parts of his back claw nails. Almost like they are shedding. Today I noticed two of his nails are a reddish color, and the others appear to have multiple layers, like they are breaking. Will likely go to the vet but wanted to hear input, too. No symptoms of pain, walking fine, eating fine, using litter box per normal. Is this normal?? Have two cats and they have always groomed their claws just fine

 

[Margret]

Sounds normal to me. Looks normal, too.

Cat's claws do shed; they grow from the inside and the outer layers are generally removed by scratching on a scratching post, leaving a newly sharp claw behind, but hind claws frequently don't make it to the scratching post. If the cat is having trouble getting rid of the outer layers and appears uncomfortable you can remove them yourself, gently, on condition the cat will allow you to handle his paws.

If the entire claw appears red you do not want to clip the claw - it's liable to result in a good deal of bleeding if you do - but other than that I see no problems here.

Welcome to The Cat Site! You've found the largest and most supportive community of cat lovers on the internet, and we hope that you and Axel and your other cat will be members here for a very long time to come. We'd love to see some more pictures, maybe ones showing entire cats?

Margret

 

[basscat]

Looks normal to me. The outside (sides of the claws) will come loose and peel away. You'll find one every so often on the floor. That's normal.

 

[jen]

Does it seem different than normal nail shedding?

 

[neely]

First, a warm welcome to TCS! Second, I agree with the above members and thought this Article about cat nails might be helpful to reference:
How To Best Take Care Of Cat Claws