Chewing Toenails

[1 bruce 1]

If this belongs in the health sections, I'm sorry for making more work for the mods

Baby Girl constantly chews on her back toenails, and only the center two of each foot. She gnaws them down to stumps and when we do toenail trim day, they're brittle and short. They never bleed when she chews them. The toes on the far inner and outer part of the foot need trimmed but the middle two don't. I've written it off as she's structurally challenged (she's built like a sewer rat), or she's just weird (very true ) but it's very strange that she attacks these four little toes and nothing else.
Her front claws are always sharp, never chews on them at all...

What's her problem?

 

[susanm9006]

Have you had the toes checked by the vet? Not to create worries but my previous cat developed sores between her toes first on one food and then the other that turned out to be cancer.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Have you had the toes checked by the vet? Not to create worries but my previous cat developed sores between her toes first on one food and then the other that turned out to be cancer.

She was at the vets a few months ago and I mentioned the toe thing.
The vet did say that she could be getting some early onset arthritis in those toes due to her bad structure but didn't seem concerned.
We trim nails every 2 weeks or so. I've had dogs get sores between toes and they're almost always not good news, so I check toes like I check to make sure there isn't parsley between my front teeth. No sores, even the skin on the webbing/between toes seems normal and healthy.

 

[CHIKITTIES]

Mine always do this! I did not know this is something unusual ... Upon inspection, Pila's back toe nails are all round nicely chewed, but still room to clip (if she ever allows me to do). Saf, like Baby girl, center two I don't think I will try to clip on, vs. outer two, especially outside one, has quite room to clip. But all four of them were roundish. Not razor sharp like front paws.

We call this nail chewing routine "Kitty Nail Salon time"!

 

[neely]

If she is older and as you mentioned the nails are a bit brittle this behavior may be a part of her daily grooming ritual. How old is she? I'm glad you discussed this with your vet. Did he or she recommend anything for the arthritis? Your issue with Baby Girl peeked my curiosity so I looked it up and found this article which I hope you find somewhat helpful:
https://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-chewing-and-biting-claws.html

BTW, do you have a pic of her? We'd love to meet a cat who as you fondly referred to, "is built like a sewer rat".

 

[FeebysOwner]

Feeby chews on her back nails - which ones I am not exactly sure, but one foot more than the other. However, her reason for doing it (or, so I think anyway) is because she is picking out litter from in between them seeing as she pees on her one back paw. Sorry, probably no help here...

 

[Gizmobius]

Stevie does this too, just the back nails. I always tell her "don't eat your feet" and usually try to distract her but I just assumed she was doing her own nail filing even though it baffled me since I'd never have a cat do that! I clip their nails about once a week/week and a half. Sometimes I notice she gets a few splits, where a thin layer of nail is detached so I thought maybe she was chewing those off? No idea! Stevie is a couple months away from turning 2, if age matters.

 

[1 bruce 1]

If she is older and as you mentioned the nails are a bit brittle this behavior may be a part of her daily grooming ritual. How old is she? I'm glad you discussed this with your vet. Did he or she recommend anything for the arthritis? Your issue with Baby Girl peeked my curiosity so I looked it up and found this article which I hope you find somewhat helpful:
https://www.cat-world.com.au/cat-chewing-and-biting-claws.html

BTW, do you have a pic of her? We'd love to meet a cat who as you fondly referred to, "is built like a sewer rat".

She's 5 years young. My baby will never be old
She gets cosequin every other day (small dose, she's tiny), fish oil and an all around joint supplement. If we skip these, we notice within a few days.
She and the others also get bone broth, chicken feet and the like.

 

[Genesis123]

My cats, occasionally, chew their nails. They are removing the "old nail" as the new ones grow in underneath. I do not clip their toenails. (My cats are, basically, outdoors and I want them to be able to fight and climb trees, if they need to.) I, occasionally, find their toenails in my bed, and elsewhere. I've even watched them tear at their nails and, after they've ripped one out, I've checked and saw another smaller nail in it's place. My cats are never without toenails, so I know they are growing back in.

That being said, maybe, Baby Girl is irritated by the bases of the older nails still attached -- maybe she's trying to remove them and can't, so keeps trying. Maybe, she can get to the outer nails, or doesn't need to, but struggles with the inner ones.

That's the only possibility I can think of.

 

[1 bruce 1]

My cats, occasionally, chew their nails. They are removing the "old nail" as the new ones grow in underneath. I do not clip their toenails. (My cats are, basically, outdoors and I want them to be able to fight and climb trees, if they need to.) I, occasionally, find their toenails in my bed, and elsewhere. I've even watched them tear at their nails and, after they've ripped one out, I've checked and saw another smaller nail in it's place. My cats are never without toenails, so I know they are growing back in.

That being said, maybe, Baby Girl is irritated by the bases of the older nails still attached -- maybe she's trying to remove them and can't, so keeps trying. Maybe, she can get to the outer nails, or doesn't need to, but struggles with the inner ones.

That's the only possibility I can think of.

This cat gets chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture, and if someone would have told me, 20 years ago, that my common house cat was getting these types of treatments I would have laughed. We live and learn, she's worth every penny. (Sometimes I tell her that each treatment costs ten thousand dollars, so she feels special and important )
You may be onto something. When she's knocked out of whack I can tell a difference in how she walks. When she goes to give herself a bath, she'll hesitate, then go for it, so maybe you're right about being able to get the outers OK but the inners aren't so easy for her and her structure.
When she's been recently adjusted I can tell a difference. I've noticed the same with our older horses, when they're due for some help they don't work as smoothly but when they've been adjusted and have had a day or two to rest, they outshine the younger ones.

 

[Genesis123]

...so maybe you're right about being able to get the outers OK but the inners aren't so easy for her and her structure.

Just to be clear, what I meant was, if you are clipping her nails, her nails are too short for her to grasp with her teeth to pull out. Cats bite their (unclipped, full-length) nails and pull at them until they come out/off. They do this when a new nail is trying to come in underneath. By your clipping her nails, you are leaving the base (the inner-most part) of her old nails (in her toes and) so short that she can not pull them out -- and she may be trying to do that (with all the nail-biting). I am not talking about Baby Girl being limber enough to reach her back feet, or inner nails; I'm talking about the length of the nails (what you have left of the nails after clipping) being too short for her to bite and pull out.

I can't explain it any better than that, but, judging by your response, I feel you missed what I was saying. Maybe not. Chances are I'm way off base anyway. So forget what I said... don't try to make sense of it.

Wow... acupuncture, and... wow! I can't imagine doing all that.