[Gpdd] CARE: nail clipping

rmalsberg at comcast.net rmalsberg at comcast.net
Sun Sep 19 12:20:11 EDT 2004


Hi, Piggies and Piggie People:  (24  hour piggie people???)
Just had to stick my oar in re:  nail clipping.
1)  I used to consider it well worth the $$$ to bundle Sundae and Tosca (and before that, Taffy and Sundae) into the laundry basket and up to the dog groomer's for a nail clipping.  I recall it being US$10 total for the 2 piggz, not to mention Ooohs and Aaahhhs from the staff:  Oh, guinea pigs!  How cute!  These professionals would usually sit with the piggie on their lap, facing away from the human, and hold up the paw they were working on.  Like most people who are good at something, they made it look easy.  HAH!!!
2)  Then I decided that if I bought clippers and did it myself, I would save a bundle.  People on the digest suggested wrapping the piggie in a small towel (make a piggie burrito!) and gently extract one paw at a time to work on.  I couldn't get this to work.  Taffy wiggled terribly, and I felt I didn't really know what I was doing (I frequently feel this way, not just about clipping piggie nails :-)
3)  Now that I have a live in friend (Big Pig Daddy), we take the piggie to the bathroom, where the light is best, he holds her up (or sometimes sitting "up", bum on a little towel on the counter) and I take a paw at a time to clip, trying to get the clippings to fall in the sink.  HAH!!!  And trying not to be so jumpy that I jerk the paw.  It's tricky, I admit.
4)  True confessions:  I get a bit nervous while doing this, although it DOES become easier with practice.  I did clip Tosca's nail too close and she bled.  I think Daddy was more traumatized than she was.................I didn't know the trick about the flour, and had no styptic powder, so she bled (alarmingly) for a few minutes.  She does not seem to have suffered lingering ill effects, so I will just be extra careful from now on, and TRY to relax while I'm doing this.
5)  If any of this helps any of y'all, it's all good.  Best of luck.  Thanks to whomever suggested baby nail clippers.  I've been using the cat style that they sell at Petco.  Maybe I'll try the baby ones and it will work better.
This is what makes the pigdig great:  we help each other, learn from each other, gain support, share the sad times and divide the sorrow,  share the good times and multiply the joy.
Wheeks and parsley,
Rayna, Sundae and Tosca


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