I noticed the Nu was limping on her front right paw leg last night.
Now the Nu is not a cat to takes kindly to casual picking up or touching outside her strictly enforced parameters of acceptability. Stroking - ok, examining body parts - not ok, stoking belly at night on the bed - ok, touching paws - not ok, sitting next to you - ok, sitting on the lap - not ok, brushing - ok, picking up - not ok, anything the vet might want to do - definitely not ok. We put this down to a traumatic youth and try to accommodate her foibles, however she obviously needed some closer inspection last night and so without further ado Jean-Luc exercised the skill gained in misspent teenage years working at a vets and 'scruffed' her. After some initial and vocal protest I was able to get a good look at the paw and was horrified to see that one of her claws had overgrown and was now piercing the pad.
I managed to pull it out and then quickly clipped the claw down, all accompanied by the most vocal of protests, a quick bathe in some boiled and cooled salt water and she was released and placated with tinned tuna. Sounds smooth but it wasn't and none of us were happy at the end of it, least of all the Nu.
Today she is recovering in bed - and milking it for all it's worth.
She's not limping any more, the pad doesn't appear infected and she seems fine. In future I'll be keeping more of an eye on her paws, no matter how unpopular that is.
We're not sure how it happened as her other claws are fine, but it may be due to her not going out so much this winter due to the almost constant rain and so not wearing her claws down naturally.
Lesson learnt but with hindsight we should have known better and been more vigilant. It would have saved her some pain and the stress of being handled in a way she didn't like.
All it takes is one claw to be growing at a funny angle and this will happen. Just keep an eye on that one in particular. Poor Nu.
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting on my blog. I'm trying to add you to my reading list down the side of my blog but google won't let me for some reason - very odd
ReplyDeletePoor Nu, I am sure he feels so much better with that sharp nail gone. I will have to keep an eye out for that as I have never heard of a cat having that problem, dogs yes, but not cats. Good to know, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteCarol
The Nu would like to thank all those who sent her good wishes in her time of suffering - although tins of tuna would be better.
ReplyDeleteYou know all those touching videos on YouTube showing sick, trapped or injured animals being really grateful to their rescuers? That would so definitely not be your Nu or my Millie!
ReplyDeletePoor Nu! I'm glad to hear she is recovering well. From your description she sounds very like a tortie we once had - a lost cat that we adopted, whose fragile temperament we always put down to having been traumatised in some way before we got her.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor baby, but big kudos to you for knowing what to do and taking such good care of her :-}
ReplyDeleteI went through an almost-identical scenario with old Catkin a few weeks ago, when I examined her paws to see why she was limping, but as she was so upset with me, I bundled her off to the vet. Turned out that the huge claw hadn't pierced the pad, and it was useful for me to see how short the vet cut her claws compared to the way I do it. And she was completely passive while the vet handled her! But I felt so guilty and neglectful for not noticing sooner......
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