Perhaps no other home grooming activity is dreaded more by both owner and pet than cutting a dog’s nails. Lucky we’re here to help! Every pet owner is hesitant to trim their pets nails mostly because they are worried they will have a bad experience or have already had a bad experience cutting the “quick” causing their pet, or previous pet’s nail to bleed! Before you trim your pet’s nails let’s make sure that you know exactly what and where the “quick” is. If you take a look at your pets nail (view the side area of the nail), you will see that part of the way up there is pink line portion inside the nail. This is the blood vessel of the nail and is called the quick. This is much more difficult to detect on black or dark colored nails, but if your pet’s nails are white you should be able to see it easily. Okay, let’s get started! First, you will need a pair of nail trimmers and you can choose from two types, a guillotine type or scissors type. Next, you’ll need to learn how to properly trim their nails. To help we’ve inserted a diagram to show you exactly how to trim your pet’s nails properly. (Click on the diagram to enlarge it.)
Okay, now that we know how to properly trim a nail, let’s see what you can do if you accidentally clip their quick. Some people choose to use a styptic powder such as Kwik-Stop to prevent further bleeding, but most of us don’t have that on hand. There are a number of everyday products that work just as well to stop the bleeding and that are guaranteed to be found in almost every home.
1. Grab a Dry Bar of Soap and gently rake the nail across the soap to block the blood flow.
2. Fill the palm of your hand with Baby Powder, Baking Soda or Flour and dip the nail into the powder, making sure to coat it well so that the nail stops bleeding. Apply pressure when doing this so that the baby powder, flour, or baking soda is entering into the nail to stop the bleeding.
The trick after you have stopped the bleeding is to keep the animal lying or sitting still for a good period of time to ensure that the bleeding does not begin again. If bleeding reoccurs we advise calling your veterinarian. You still have the option of taking your pet into the groomer or veterinarian to have their nail’s trimmed but at least you now have all the tools and capabilities to perform a proper nail trim by yourself just by reading this blog!