Well that went....wonderfully...

[KittyKrochet]

So, yesterday I trimmed my two girls' nails yesterday. Which was not a fun ordeal. I'm used to piggies squirming and twisting and being difficult. But that wasn't even the half of it.

I started with my more docile and affectionate pig, and luckily my boyfriend was here, so he could distract her with carrots and strawberry toppers (which we have since discovered go uneaten). When I first got the girls, my mum bought me a pair of pretty garden gloves, which are fairly heavy duty just in case. I thought, pft, I don't need THOSE I clipped nails on our old piggie AND on much more "nasty" creatures whilst working at the zoo.

Well, my "sweet" pig let me clip one nail, and then proceeded to bit a pretty big portion of my finger almost completely off. It's only hanging on by a few threads of meat. I honestly thought I was going to have to go get stitches for it, but my boyfriend got it all wrapped up and doused in hydrogen peroxide. I had the hardest time trying to clip her nails afterwards, and of course resorted to having to put the garden gloves back on.

And of course, the bite-y piggie was pretty well behaved, all things considered.

I guess I'm just confused. For the past month and a half that I've had them, I've made sure to at least touch their paws every time I get them out, so they'll get used to having someone handle them. It's been mostly successful, in that Cupcake (the one that took a chunk outta me) doesn't care and just gives me this "I better get an extra-large piece of carrot for this), and Dot (my normally nippy one) squirms all over and generally freaks out. I don't understand why all suddenly she bit me that hard. I expected nibbles, of course, and them to be very unhappy, but I've never heard of a pig completely ravaging their owners like that. I didn't hit the quick when I clipped her nails, and she didn't squeal like she was in pain.

Has anyone else been bitten like this, or heard of anyone else having this problem?

She's in a better mood, today. All day yesterday she didn't want to be bothered, but I think she felt badly. She seemed afraid to put my hands anywhere near her mouth. But when I held her today she was extra snuggly and when my boyfriend held her next to me, she would consistently climb over him and onto me. So I don't think she hates me, per-say...

[Cholland]

Oh wow, that sounded like a struggle and a half! I have never owner piggies before, had my girls just over 2 weeks. I noticed they needed a trim last week.. when my mother and little brother were visiting. I didnt even know they nibbled or bit you, my girls would lick me but never nibble, so I was shocked when my brother held Misty and she apparently nipped at his thumb, there was no mark but he said it hurt. but I never got that problem, and havent so far yet. My mum also said Misty had nipped at her, so I thought it best to do their nails with two people. Seen as they were calmer with me (more used to me I guess) I held them while my mum clipped their nails.
I help them under their belly, my one hand flat supporting their back feet, and one finger under their chin with the rest of my other hand supporting their belly. they both seemed to handle it quite well, and didnt try and bite me, they just wriggled a little bit.
Its quite shocking to hear that your piggy could injure you like that, I hope she settles more with time, and hope your finger heals.

[KittyKrochet]

I held them pretty similarly. Ugh, Cupcake must just be a diva... My finger will be fine, though, I think. There's no infection, and the bleeding stopped after a bit, and only started up again after I slept through the night. It's just a pain in the butt, and, well, a real pain when I hit it against something.

[GuineaPigPerson]

That bite sounded painful. I'm so scared of animals biting me! I need to get a pair of thick gloves to use just in case, nail-clipping is no breeze for me and this story got me very concerned!

[CaliMoo]

Wow now im scared to cut my guinea calis nail hopefully it goes better than that. Im deffinately wearing gloves

[madelineelaine]

My pigs are very well behaved when they get their nailes done. One of my pig gets very freak out, but the othet one is very chill about it. They each get a goodie afterwards and we're on our way.

[jade_14]

Gracie will bite but not hard, it's more of a nibble because I don't think she sees very well and she just sees if it's food. She does get a bit upset when I cut her nails, but usually someone will just hold her and hold her foot out, and wrap her in a blanket, and I trim them and just keep my hand away from her face.

[PrincessAngel]

I've never had a piggy bite that hard while trimming nails before in the 9 years of pig ownership! I know that pigs who bite normally have something else wrong ie: mites.

I have never had a problem trimming any pigs nails. I've had 6 pigs of my own that nails I've trimmed without much fuss. And I have trimmed 2 of my friends piggies nails. One friend has a sow who hadn't had a nails trimmed before and she was completely fine with me. My other friend has 2 boars and they were a breeze. My friend with the boars, her mother told me how they always need 2 people to do the nails, I did it alone. Even my vet has trouble trimming piggy nails alone, they fuss and squirm and she was surprised that I do it alone.

Maybe some people just have the magic touch when it comes to nail trimming? But I would check the piggy over and make sure she doesn't have any hair loss to mite or doesn't have any sensitivity in her sides, it could be ovarian cysts causing pain.

[KittyKrochet]

They were recently to the vets, and they're all good. The had lice when I got them, but they've been treated and I haven't seen a recurrance. The only thing that I can really think of is maybe they were nervous with how my boyfriend was shoving the carrot in their face-- they might not like the not-so-subtle hint? I'm thinking maybe they thought they were gonna get poked and prodded like they were at the vet. I held them a bit similarly to how he held them, and they did not appreciate that. Dot, the more nippy of the two, bit him pretty harsh, too.

On the bright side, I think Cupcake feels guilty about it. She's been extra snuggly, and seems worried about getting her mouth too near my fingers. And my finger seems to be healing nice. The best comment I've got about it had to come from my mum. "You should clean that out a few times a day, you never know when you'll get rabies!" My boyfriend didn't think she was serious, haha!

[Zuidy]

I just need to address one thing:

Do NOT use gloves! It will only make the Guinea Pig more scared!

__

I have never heard of a bite that serious! Ouch. How is it feeling?

Honestly, I don't think anything you can do will "prepare" the Pigs for things you want to do.

When the time comes the result may be totally different than what you envisioned. That is why I would always hope for the best but expect the worst for things like clipping nails with Pigs.

Most of the time things don't go wrong, at least not far TOO wrong. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Just be sure to use nice sharp clippers and some Qwik-Stop/styptic powder get a tight hold on her, trim the tips of the nails, and treat her when you are done. That is all you can do to prepare when it comes to nail clipping. You can use a lamp to see the quick, as well as use a color behind the nail like Black Fleece or a towel that makes the bloodline stick out.



Good luck next time! I need to trim the nails sometime this week as well. So you aren't alone.

[spy9doc]

Oh, boy, someone didn't do her research! If you do a search on the Forum, there are lots of good suggestions. I trust that your finger will heal, but maybe your pride won't? (I'm just teasing).

I've found that cavies react unpredictably when it comes to nail trimming. I've never had anyone to help me so I've learned to do it alone. My technique may not work for everyone, but here's how I do it.

Roll the cavy fairly tightly in a small hand towel with just back feet sticking out for back nails. (Mine hate having the back ones clipped so I do them first) If you are right-handed, of course you will clip with that hand. I've tried both people toenail clippers and the rounded opening kitten clippers.......like the kitten clippers the best.

I use my left forearm and elbow to hold the piggy tightly against my body and extend his back foot....don't permit him to bend his "knee" and jerk the foot away. With your thumb and forefinger, extend the individual nail (steadying it as you go) and clip it. TAKE YOUR TIME. The times when I have rushed to get it over.......are the times I cut too short, or when he withdraws his foot quickly.

My cavies don't mind the "cutting" part so much, but I then use a small Dremel to smooth the nail........they don't like this. I do it because the clippers leave jagged edges on the nails and I'm tired of having scratches all over my chest. I cut all the back nails first, and then quickly Dremel the edges.

I unwrap the piggy and provide a treat and lots of soothing talk. Then he is wrapped once again with just his head sticking out. The front nails seem to go quickly and he doesn't struggle much at all. I often don't use the Dremel on the front nails but will sometimes lightly file the edges with an emery board.

Baby girl is a challenge........she has one dark foot with black nails. I haven't found that I can see through them even with a good backlight, so I tend to be a bit conservative with that foot.

It really just takes practice and I suggest that you try surgical gloves. You will still maintain your dexterity and although they won't protect like heavy garden gloves, they won't scare the cavies and will protect to some extent.

[KittyKrochet]

They actually didn't mind the garden gloves, and I don't want infections with the constant biting. We'll see how it goes next time.

[KittyKrochet]

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!

It's not just that Cupcake is a diva! Although, she is, quite honestly, the biggest diva-pig I've ever met, just not in this instance.

So I just went to give the pigs their midnight snack (ie- they run out of hay way too quickly to be believed), and noticed something on Cupcake's claw. This requires some backstory.

When I adopted the girls, I had asked the shelter what their history was. Apparently, they didn't ask any questions, and all they were able to tell me was, "Well, she brought them in a tupperware container and dropped them off". Three piggies, one full grown, two babies, in a tupper ware container. *le sigh* When I brought them home, I noticed that their claws were broken off on the tips, so I am pretty sure that they never had a proper nail clipping, and that the owner just let them break off naturally. Not really my style, but then again, I'm of the opinion that my girls are too good for tupperware, which clearly conflicts with their previous owners...views. I showed it to the vet, and he said it wouldn't cause any lasting damage to their claws, and after clipping them when they got too long would just start them off as new. I hadn't given it much thought after that. I noticed that the claws were uneven of course, so that was a pain, but I didn't realize just how badly they had been cracked.

Apparently, one of the front claws on Cupcake had broken off at the tip, but I couldn't see or feel that there was a bit of a fissure on the underside of the claw. Which, under the pressure of the nail clippers, pinched, and caused part of the nail to crush right at the tip of the quick on that particular claw. It didn't break the nail entirely, or I would have noticed immediately, what with the blood. She's a trooper, she didn't squeal or scream like I know piggies will do when they normally have the quick cut and exposed to air. She must have bitten me hard because of the pain, and didn't want to make it seem like she was weakened and an easy meal, had the thought crossed mommy-predator's mind.

I wouldn't have noticed had I not kept up with my customary "I know you hate this part of laptime" routine of make sure they're used to me handling their paws. The nail is still attached where is got "crushed" but there is a scab where the quick seeped a very small amount of blood. I'm keeping an eye on it. Her walking is good, and it doesn't look infected, so I think she's fine. I'm just glad I have a reason WHY she freaked out and bit me that way.

Just thought I'd share this, because this isn't a "she didn't do her research". These are not my first pigs, and when I decided to get pigs again, after several years of not having them, I made sure to brush up on my knowledge not for just a few days, but for five months. Five months of youtube, and creeping these forums before even thinking about creating an account. Compound that with four years of working for a zoo and working with their pigs, and, as such, I'm pretty sure I know how to clip nails.

I'm just glad her entire nail didn't crack. -.- If I could find out who owned her before I'm break all nails... Poor things. At least Dot didn't have the same problem..

[spy9doc]

I FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT!!!!!!

You'll note that I said "I'm just teasing". Your original post on the subject sounded as though you had never cut your cavy's nails previously. Sorry if I misunderstood.......certainly didn't mean to offend.

Thanks for sharing all the information with us. I'm sure that it will be of benefit to others who read it. I know that as a healthcare professional, my job is to take that additional step to figure out the "why" of a situation. Kudos for doing just that!

[KittyKrochet]

I didn't mean to sound offended! I'm sorry! After 1 am, I tend to lose any ability to show emotion through my typing, haha.

I just feel horrible that she got hurt, even if it wasn't something that I could 100% prevent. I'm thinking of going out later to get something to put on the nail, though, just in case. Being home from Uni sucks, I can't just drive out and get something, and my parents don't want to pay for anything specific, because "We already have neosporin". Which isn't actually what we have, we have the generic stuff... It doesn't even have a name, it's just sold as "polymyxin B sulfate/bacitracin/neomycin sulfate". Anyone know if this is safe for piggies?

[bpatters]

Don't put that ointment any place that the pig can lick it off -- it's not safe for them to ingest.

If you want to do something for the toe, soak it in a diluted chlorhexedine solution, but be sure not to let the pig drink the solution or lick it off her foot. You can put a bit of solution in a bottle cap and put her foot in it, then rinse it and dry it.

[KittyKrochet]

Don't put that ointment any place that the pig can lick it off -- it's not safe for them to ingest.

Thank you! I didn't think it would work. I might try the solution tomorrow, but it looks like it's in pretty good shape. She's still not favoring the foot or anything. I'm just super paranoid about my babies... My family thinks I'm absolutely insane.

[SweetGuinea]

Kitty, you sound like a great piggy mommy.