*every time* the vet trimmed Beauford's nails, they cut them too short (blood all over the examination room- but fortunately not panicked or upset basset/beagle mix). However, this has the nasty effect of making my sweetie downright queasy whenever I mention trimming dog nails.

The new basset needs his nails done. Last time was at the vets- but they offer a grooming service. I may just save my pennies and "drop him off at the spa" every 3 months or so. He enjoyed it last time, and they enjoyed it, and the spouse never caught onto the nails being shorter. :)

The other pets get their nails trimmed when the vet offers to do so- I figure if they ask if I want it, it's because *they* would appreciate dealling with a cat who is "less armed" and as far as I know, none of them are really horrid about it.

I have a HORRIBLE story regarding this. An owner of a rottweiler and I took an agility class together. One day she didn't show up. It seems her one year-old rottie HATED nail trims. So friends told her to tie the dog up to a chained link fence and prop her body up against the dog while she trimmed the nails. The poor dog fought so voilently that she tragically broke her neck in the process and died. I've never seen a person so devastated in my life. It was one of the most upsetting dog experiences of my life.

You are right... expose your young puppy to feet touching. Have someone give them peanut butter cookies and all kinds of goodies while you trim their nails.

I find the Dremel drill much easier for me to use when trimming my poodles' nails. There is much less chance of drawing blood. All in all, though, I hate the process.

This suggestion won't work for cats, but for dogs, tell your clients to bring their dogs for walks on pavement. The pavement acts like a natural nail file. It keeps the dogs nails trim and the dog and owner get exercise.

My mother's Jack Russell has never had his nails clipped because the floor of his kennel is made up of concrete pavers, so while he's running around barking at squirrels and such, his nails are always being trimmed. The only problem with that is when he plays too hard, he sometimes makes his nails bleed.

I don't have any simple suggestions for cats. One of my cats is good about having his nails trimmed, the other not so much but I think alot of it has to do with the fur between his pads. He has a medium coat, so his feet look as though he's always walking around with slippers on. What we end up doing is scruffing him and tossing a light towel over his head. The towel acts as a layer between his my teeth and my skin should he decide to act like a putz and try to bite me.

Kimberly: That is the most horrible nail-trim story I've ever heard.

Dremelling is a good idea but the same phobias seem to apply for the real phobics. Some dog people swear by them and I say: use whatever method works best.

As to pavement. It does work, but not for all dogs. My Frenchie can't stay out in the Mimai heat long enough for this to work well. Plus--some dogs just have "lifted," or upturned nails that don't scratch the pavement unless they're at a full run.

Thanks for the comments!

HELP! I have a cat...it's a black cat and it's about 18 human years old. You talk about this curling of the nails and I just noticed that he has an extreme case of that. You see I never gave much attention toward's him until recently because he's better than the new prissy cat we adopted. So because of my entire family's neglect on Sammy(cat) nobody noticed what was happening to him. Today he crawled into my bed and layed down but I noticed blood on his foot. So a lot of his nails have completely curled around and dug into his pads...So obviously he needs to go to the vet but I don't think my parents will really care about it...I'm worried, he doesnt seem to care much that he's in so much pain and I have no idea what to do. I managed to clip the nails that didn't grow through the pads but I didn't even have a clue on what to do with the one's that grew through. I don't want to lose my kitty...he's been with me my whole life so far.

i have to add this, as this entry alone is one of my favorites. last sunday one of the groomers in our salon accidently quicked a Silky terrier... the dog was screaming and attempting to throw himself off the table, making an absolute scene, but this groomer was determined to get through the nail trim. as sometimes happens, the nail trim was completed with no instant appearance of blood. so the groomer soothed the dog's damaged ego, tied a bandana around his neck and sent him out the door.

five seconds later we watch as a storm cloud of anger stomps to the in-store vet. she's yelling, freaking out. they send her back to us. the pressure of the dog walking on the floor caused one of the quicks to bleed. it wasnt a puddle of blood at all... more like a few streaks of red on the white linolium. the groomer applied some stypic powder but the woman would not shut up about how incompetant we were as a salon, how we should have known better (Silky nails are BLACK, mind you), etc etc.

she appealed to the store manager, who was new, and being that the salon manager was off that day... yeah. she got away with a free groom. a full body haircut worth $34 was given away free of charge over a quicked nail.

needless to say, she's been red-flagged and is not to be scheduled again.