Vet trimmed cat's nails with a grinder--how long till they come back in?

KittenAppliance

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My cat loves climbing and we have climbing poles set up on our walls for her.... after a recent vet visit, they used a grinder on all 4 of her paws and whenever she tries to climb now, her feet slip around and she falls. At first i was worried she was.going to hurt herself because she would jump up with her usual confidence and take a tumble, but after a couple days she seems to have sadly understood her situation and will trot over to her poles and just sit and look up at them... it's been 2 weeks now, and her nails still look smooth and ground and i still dont see her new sharp ones coming through...
 

neely

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When you say grinder do you mean a dremel?
 

FeebysOwner

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I believe iPappy iPappy has experience with using a grinding tool/dremel - maybe they can share with you their experiences relative to growth and if there is anything you might be able to do to 'work around' the situation as your cat's nails grow back.
 

Babypaws

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That’s a shame they did that to her paws. Usually cats nails grow pretty fast, at least my cats do. is it your regular vet office that did it? I’d complain so it wouldn’t happen again…Never thought a vet would do that, they’ve always used clippers, a lot faster. I had taken a cat to be neutered several years ago at a traveling clinic and when I picked him up they said he had been limping and there was something wrong with one of his paws…well, that was an absolute lie. He wasn’t limping when I dropped him off and when I got him home I saw they had clipped his nails and one nail was cut too far down (it must have bled) After that whenever I took my other cats to be spayed/neutered I made sure I wrote on their carriers “do not clip nails”.
Sometimes they have kids working in the office and they just don’t think, in fact there’s a lot of people out there whether kids or grownups that don’t have any logic!
 
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KittenAppliance

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When you say grinder do you mean a dremel?
I think so? The nails are shorter but also very smooth now...so i know it wasnt a normal clipper and have seen ads and stuff for the nail grinders that do look like dremels.

She also can barely use the scratching post now. I wonder if that it making it take longer for her new nails to come through, not being able to grip into her post and pull...her nails dont really grip into the sisal now. She used to get a good grip in there and really pull on it. It definitely seems to be related to the grinder vs a normal nail clipper. When my other cat had his teeth cleaned, they gave him back to me with his nails clipped but not smoothed down.... he still could get a good grip on his sisal posts when they were clipped normally.
 

iPappy

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I never knew dremels for cats existed until a few seconds ago. Wow! My cats wouldn't tolerate it I'm sure.
IME nails that are dremeled do take a little bit longer to grow back in, but they will, especially since this is the first time she's had it done. Most people who want short nails do it once a week or so to keep the quik receeding so the nails won't grow so fast over time.
I was giving one of my dogs beef collagen (one ingredient beef collagen, not flavored or sweetened!) to help his skin, and it really made his nails grow fast. IDK if this would work for your situation or not.
If I were you, the next visit I would nicely tell them that, while you appreciate going above and beyond to get her nails as short and smooth as possible, all she needs is a clip. I hear almost daily how fast nails grow, and the vets have probably heard that too and decided dremeling them shorter and smoother would make clients happy.
 
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