Ingrown Nails

[kittybear7]

I want to make everyone aware to CHECK YOUR KITTY'S NAILS OFTEN. I was going to do a routine clip that I had put off too long.
She had an ingrown nail on each of her front paws. One had some blood on it. I took her to the vet right away. One of her dewclaws was ingrown, too. The vet clipped all her nails while I watched and cried. She said that it wasn't real bad but gave her an antibiotic shot just to make sure she wouldn't get infected. KittyBear is 17 years old and totally indoors. Vet said this happens with older cats. Please check your babies nails!!!

 

[susanm9006]

Thanks for reminding. I had this happen as well with one of my senior girls. I felt so bad that even though she was on my lap every hour I was home, I had missed it. In addition to checking her closely at home we went to the vet every three months to get her claws trimmed and checked.

 

[catsknowme]

That happened to my disabled daughter's 18 y.o. cat as well. We felt terrible. Thank you for the reminder!

 

[di and bob]

It is also a reminder to have readily available, scratching areas in the home. It encourages exercise too, which is often sporadic in older cats. I have checked for ingrown nails in older cats and as soon as they are a little long buy a new cardboard scratcher and add catnip, and take them outdoors for a walk amongst the big trees. Being out stimulates the scratching urge. If they have never been out, placing a cut fireplace log on it's side, anchored to a small piece of plywood, gets then stimulated and interested.
This reminds us all that older cats are very good at hiding health issues, it's up to us to observe and take action. Watch for constipation issues too!

 

[lavishsqualor]

I'm diligent about my indoor cats but now I'm worried about all my ferals! They routinely trot around on concrete but I don't think that's going to do much for the dewclaws.

 

[di and bob]

Cats that are in the wild that get to scratch and run on hard ground do not get overgrown nails. Dewclaws shouldn't grow like regular nails, but if they did and got long enough, they too would be worn off. I have literally cared for hundreds of cats in my 60 plus life and have NEVER had a cat with ingrown nails, feral or house cat. But I have always made sure they have things to scratch too. We can't change the nature of a cat by not allowing them to scratch or provide them with a proper surface to do so and not expect problems to arise. I cringe when I see people not allow scratching at all! Even declawed cats try to scratch!

 

[susanm9006]

Cats that are in the wild that get to scratch and run on hard ground do not get overgrown nails. Dewclaws shouldn't grow like regular nails, but if they did and got long enough, they too would be worn off. I have literally cared for hundreds of cats in my 60 plus life and have NEVER had a cat with ingrown nails, feral or house cat. But I have always made sure they have things to scratch too. We can't change the nature of a cat by not allowing them to scratch or provide them with a proper surface to do so and not expect problems to arise. I cringe when I see people not allow scratching at all! Even declawed cats try to scratch!

My girl that had the ingrown nails was a avid wood scratcher for most of her life, but somewhere between fifteen and seventeen she must has slowed down or stopped scratching. Sometimes these changes in seniors are so subtle you don’t notice them. The other thing is at at least for her there was a change in her nails themselves- thicker and harder than when she was young. That was why I started taking her to the vet every three months, her old cat nails were too difficult for me to to.

 

[sabian]

Tama had the same problem before he passed away. He stop using scratching post when he got older. I watched a couple of vids on youtube on how to clip them. It wasn't much trouble with him as he didn't mind me messing with his paws. Some cats may put up a fight though!

 

[lavishsqualor]

Cats that are in the wild that get to scratch and run on hard ground do not get overgrown nails. Dewclaws shouldn't grow like regular nails, but if they did and got long enough, they too would be worn off. I have literally cared for hundreds of cats in my 60 plus life and have NEVER had a cat with ingrown nails, feral or house cat. But I have always made sure they have things to scratch too. We can't change the nature of a cat by not allowing them to scratch or provide them with a proper surface to do so and not expect problems to arise. I cringe when I see people not allow scratching at all! Even declawed cats try to scratch!

Whew! What a relief! I actually worried about this all day. I even tried to check out a few feral paws this afternoon but had very little luck. You gave me peace of mind di and bob so thank you!

 

[dalpaengi]

kittybear7

Oh man did I ever learn this the hard way! Starr had an ingrown nail. The vet told us this was a birth defect that should have been taken care of when she was a kitten. We fixed it now and thankfully she didn't need surgery. I just keep checking on it and trimming it as needed.

One thing that baffles me though...the claw doesn't retract. I'm not sure why. It's just always hanging out no matter if she flexes her paws or not. Is that normal?