good nail clippers ... the ones for cats

[webjetter]

Just wanted to share this tip I discovered recently ... I've found that the best nail clippers are the ones for cats. I had been using the ones for rabbits but never could get a good enough grip to chop a nail before the piggie pulled her paw away. The one for cats is larger, quicker, and more effective. I purchased mine at Walmart and it's called Pet Nail Scissors -- Cats.

I also discovered that when each of my piggies is placed in an unfamiliar place, she freezes for a little while until I pet her and assure her it's okay. Now I keep the nail clippers handy when I put them in a new spot for floor time. I'll put one pig in at a time and sneak a couple of nail snips before she realizes it. Then I'll put in the other pig and do the same. It's much less traumatic than having my hubby hold her in that awkward "feet out" position while I attempt to cut nails. Ug. Mommy, Daddy, and piggies HATE that!

I came across a hysterical website called The Bad Pets List that had something so funny about guinea pig nail trimming ... this is a list of phrases Guinea Pig and other small furry critter ownees should get their naughty pets to write on a blackboard (like Bart Simpson had to do and maybe some of us had to do when we were kids and misbehaved in class.) This list makes me LAUGH so hard. Here's the one about nails we need to get our piggies to write on a blackboard about 100 times over and over:

"My toenails and hair do not have nerve endings in them. I do not need to act like my human is performing major surgery without anesthesia when she is only trimming my toenails or trimming my long hair so I can see where I'm going." -- (broken link removed)

heee heeeee!!!! lol

P.S. -- here are photos of the nail clippers:

 

[JarBax]

I will look out for scissors like that to try - I find the human toenail clippers that I use kind of slidey.

Love the quote too!

 

[Sugar]

I will see if they are at my local supermarket next time I go, and they may have them at the petstore, I'm not sure. I am currently using normal scissors too cut my guiena pigs toenails - but I have only needed too clip them once before. However, I will need too trim them again soon, so I'll look out for the trimmers. Hehe, I love the quote too XD

 

[aqh88]

Actually alot of people have said normal human finger or toenail clippers are better than the round cat and dog nail clippers. Seems a bit of opinion. 1 danger though with using the cat or dog ones is that you can fit alot more of the nail in them and on guinea pigs little toes you might end up accidentally chopping off too much.

You should definitely not use regular scissors. The nail has a high risk of splitting, it will pinch badly, and you have even more risk of cutting too high. Use human nail clippers if you have nothing else.

 

[sohappy2beme]

I actually use the Safety First baby scissors. I had several for my son, so I devoted one to the piggies. I find that the easiest.

 

[monikah]

Those are exactly the ones I use to clip my pigs' nails. They are just awesome, and IMO work much better than anything else.

 

[babybunny]

I just have been using the infant nail clippers I had for when my son was a baby. I was scared to try the cat clippers because too much of the nail could accidentally sip through.

 

[Guineapigluver2]

I prefer the cat ones. I only could find one human nail clippers in my house and they have a curve in the front making it hard to evenly cut my pig's nails.