What is the reason and what to do if a cat’s claws peel off?

There is simply no cat in the world that does not sharpen its claws. Indoor cats do this either with a scratching post or with indoor furniture. However, you should not be angry with the animal, because, most likely, the cat’s claws will peel off. There is also no need to panic about this, since this is a completely natural process. However, there is also an unpleasant problem that causes peeling of the claws. So, let's figure out in order why this happens and what to do when the claws of a mustachioed pet become exfoliated.

Claw growth: Why cats sharpen their claws

When retracting the claws, which have a scaly shell, the cat feels discomfort. That is why she begins to sharpen her claws on various surfaces in order to remove the exfoliated membrane from her nails. In natural conditions, trees that cats like to climb are used for this purpose, and in domestic conditions - any available objects, including furniture. To prevent this, you need to purchase a special scratching post or tips for claws.

There is another reason why cats sharpen their claws. On their paws there are special glands from which a secret is released that is inaccessible to the human sense of smell, but accessible to other cats. During the period, cats mark their territory, especially if there are several of them in the house.

Symptoms and possible complications

It is quite easy to notice an ingrown claw in your pet. The problem is indicated by atypical behavior of the pet:

1. Since the sharp tip of the nail injures the soft tissues, the animal develops noticeable lameness. Painful sensations do not allow the cat to fully step on the damaged paw, and therefore he begins to limp.
2. The pet pays a lot of attention to the sore limb. He constantly licks his foot and tries to bite off the offending nail with his teeth.
3. The pet becomes inactive, lies down more, and does not show interest in regular games.

If you notice uncharacteristic behavior, you need to carefully examine your pet's paws. An ingrown nail is usually longer than the rest, strongly curved, and often stuck into soft tissue. When a mechanical impact is applied to the pad, the cat becomes aggressive, hisses, bites, and tries to escape from the hands.

Related article: Why does a cat lose hair and develop bald spots?

Pet constantly licks foot

If the problem is not corrected, it can adversely affect the quality of life of the furbaby:

• he will have a constant feeling of discomfort;
• pain or discomfort;
• habitual activity and mobility will be forced to decrease;
• lameness and unsteadiness of step will appear.

When an infection gets into the wound, inflammation often begins. If no action is taken, an abscess may develop, which can lead to sepsis.

Why do they release claws?

A cat puts out its claws - it means it’s getting high :)
It often happens that the cat is marking time or lying on its knees and releasing its claws at this time. Why a cat releases its claws is very important to know. After all, many owners begin to trim their cat’s claws and scold her when she puts out her claws at the wrong moment, but this is not recommended.

In fact, the phenomenon when a cat moves its paws and this is accompanied by the release of its claws is called a “milk step”. This comes from childhood, when kittens, when feeding on mother's milk, press on the mother's mammary glands with similar movements. Usually a milk step is a sign of affection from a cat, so you should never scold it. If these movements cause you discomfort, simply purchase soft silicone claw attachments.

What does an ingrown claw look like and what signs can you use to suspect a problem?

Ingrowth leads to discomfort and pain in the paw, which is manifested by changes in the pet’s behavior:

• he often licks the pad and tries to gnaw out the claw;
• his gait changes - the cat steps carefully, becomes less mobile, and limps;
• sometimes in the places where he passed, you can see traces of blood;
• upon examination, a strongly grown, bent claw is discovered that has dug into the soft tissue (see photo above), sometimes the pad swells and turns red;
• if an abscess begins, pus is released and an unpleasant odor appears, the limb becomes hot;
• When you touch a problem area, the cat becomes anxious, breaks away and tries to bite.

Main causes of delamination

Three reasons why a cat's claws completely peel off.

• Growth of claws. Most often, a cat's claws peel off due to their growth, which is accompanied by renewal of the stratum corneum and placement of the claw in a special scaly sheath. It comes off over time and causes separation. At home, you should use a scratching post.
• Incorrect care. When a cat's claws peel off after a haircut. Detachment can begin due to improper care of the claws, namely due to sloppy trimming, which can greatly injure the claws. We wrote in more detail about how to trim a cat’s claws.
• Lack of vitamins. If there is a lack of essential nutrients that can enter the cat's body with food, claw separation may begin.

The first two reasons are absolutely natural. Particular attention should be paid to the third point.

The cat's claws match the color of the outfit

Treatment at home

Only a few know or have heard about what to do if a cat has an ingrown claw in its pad. A person’s first instinct is always to straighten the claw and pull it out with his hand. But this is absolutely forbidden.

To help his cat, the owner must have special clippers for trimming animal claws. The instrument should be disinfected with alcohol (cologne or vodka). The place where the claw has grown is also moistened with an antiseptic. An ingrown toenail is cut off before reaching the pink part where the blood vessels pass, so as not to damage them .

After trimming, the nail is removed from the pad by grabbing it by the edge with nippers or tweezers, with a sharp movement in the opposite direction of growth. It is important to do the removal quickly, as the procedure is painful and the cat will not like it. As a rule, the nail comes out easily without damaging nearby tissues.

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The place from which the defective nail was removed must be disinfected with hydrogen peroxide or furatsilin solution. You can also apply antibacterial ointment to the wound to prevent infection. The rest of the nail is shortened to the maximum possible height using a nail clipper.

Self-treatment can be carried out only if there is no inflammation at the site of ingrowth. If, upon examination, swelling and redness are detected at the site where the nail enters the soft tissue, then it is not recommended to treat the cat’s nail at home. Contact a specialist.

What to do

There are several ways to solve the problem of claw separation:

• Scratching post. This unit will help the cat to independently get rid of the exfoliated shell of the claws by pointing them. The claw grinder can come in various shapes and sizes. They can be mounted on a wall, the back of a sofa, or any other place that the cat chooses for a claw point.
• Trimming nails. This procedure should be carried out very carefully so as not to damage the claws or cause bleeding and even greater separation. For the first time, it is better to contact a veterinarian who will trim the ends correctly and teach you how to do it yourself.
  

  Tip: When trimming your pet’s nails yourself, you need to be careful and trim only the very tip. If you cut off more than necessary, you can touch the cat’s nerve endings and hurt her. In some cases, this can even lead to bleeding and inflammation.

• Claw attachments. If your cat's claws are peeling off, try purchasing these attachments. They are made of soft silicone and serve to protect both the cat's claws and furniture and other objects that can be used for the point. They do not cause discomfort to the pet and protect its owners and interior items from scratches.

You can choose any color from the anti-scratch pads.
But with an existing scratching post and regular trimming, you will still notice a clearly even separation of the claws. You may just need to feed your cat a balanced diet and give her extra vitamins for healthy nails. Only then will you and your pet forget about unnecessary stratification.

To completely forget about the problem of peeling claws in a cat and the negative consequences of this problem, pay attention to Anti-scratch. These products are made of soft silicone and are absolutely safe for your pet. They simply attach to the claws and prevent the cat from scratching everything he sees in his path, be it furniture or a small child. This product has many color options, which will allow you to choose it exactly to match the color of your pet.

Help at the veterinary clinic

The extent of surgical intervention is determined by the doctor after a thorough examination of the animal. He evaluates the depth of the ingrowth, the degree of inflammation, and the general condition of the cat. If there are no complications, the doctor removes the problematic nail with a special tool, having previously treated the pad with an antiseptic. If inflammatory processes have already begun to develop, the operation is performed under local anesthetic. During the procedure, the veterinarian opens the abscess to remove the claw, pus, and clean out the wound. But very advanced cases require general anesthesia.

Similar article: Main symptoms and rules for treating microsporia in cats

After the manipulations, the doctor applies a sterile bandage with antibacterial ointment to the furry patient. To neutralize the inflammatory process, he prescribes a course of antibiotics, and for a speedy recovery, he prescribes mineral and vitamin complex preparations. If the animal is too weakened, it adds drugs that strengthen the immune system to the treatment regimen.

During the rehabilitation of the furry, it is necessary to regularly change the bandages. At the same time, you should not glue them with adhesive tape, so as not to further injure the surrounding tissues. If the cause of an ingrown toenail is genetic, the problem is likely to recur. During a relapse, it is best not to treat the animal yourself, but to contact a veterinarian for a second course of treatment.

After the manipulations, the doctor applies a sterile bandage to the cat.

Panaritium (inflammation of the claw bed)

If we compare them with dogs, felons (inflammation of the claw bed) are much less common in cats. Normally, near the base of the claw there is a layer of dense, tough skin that protects the organ from negative environmental factors. Due to injuries, this layer is damaged, as a result of which bacterial and fungal microflora gain access to the soft tissues.

Most often, this disease occurs in cats living in rural areas and constantly walking outside.

Symptoms

The pathology has quite characteristic symptoms:

• Since inflammation is accompanied by severe pain, the cat prefers not to lean on the affected paw. If he has to do this, the pet hisses and meows strongly, “with anguish.”
• For the same reasons, the animal constantly licks and even gnaws its own paws.
• When examining the paws, it is clearly noticeable that the skin around the base of the claws is red, swollen, hot, and in many cases exudate oozes from there.

Treatment

As in the previous case, the treatment is not particularly difficult:

• The affected paw is kept in a saturated solution of Epsom salts (Epsom salt) three times a day for 10-15 minutes, or in a saturated solution of ordinary sodium chloride (table salt). This helps to pull exudate from the tissues and stop the inflammatory process.
• In severe cases (especially with the interference of putrefactive microflora), complete excision of the claw, and in some cases of the entire finger, is recommended.
• In most cases, broad-spectrum antibiotics are prescribed.

How to deal with it

• Buy a scratching post. This device will easily help the animal get rid of the dead stratum corneum and, moreover, will keep your furniture safe and sound.
• Trim your nails correctly. If this procedure causes difficulty for you, then you should contact a specialist. He will explain to you and show you how to trim your nails correctly. The main thing in this matter is to cut off only the very tip of the claw, otherwise you can damage a blood vessel and cause severe pain to the animal.

If, after purchasing a scratching post and proper trimming, the claws continue to peel, it means there is a lack of vitamins and minerals. Today, veterinary stores offer a very wide range of these products. However, you should not run after them without first consulting a veterinarian. You may have to analyze your pet’s diet and introduce missing foods into it, or you may still have to give your cat a vitamin-mineral complex.

In any case, the specialist will tell you how to act in the situation that arises.

Source

Fungal infection

A fungal infection on the claws is one of the most serious options. These pathologies are difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat.

In addition, the drugs used during treatment are dangerous not only for pathogenic fungal microflora, but also for the cat itself (due to the high toxicity of these compounds).

Symptoms

The claws themselves are affected by the fungus in rare cases and this happens, as a rule, only in animals with extremely weakened immunity. In cats, infection is usually caused by representatives of the genera Microsporum and Trichophyton, sometimes the disease is caused by yeast from the genus Malassezia.

The following symptoms indicate a fungal infection:

• When the claw tissue is affected, it becomes porous, brittle, cloudy or translucent. In severe cases, with light pressure, the claw breaks off easily and effortlessly.
• In addition, strange sores and growths appear on the paw pads and in the space between the toes, and hair falls out in regularly shaped, rounded areas.
• Malassezia may smell like old cheese.

Treatment

In this case, treatment is much more difficult. For mild cases of the disease, a regular alcohol tincture of iodine can help, which can be applied to all claws up to four times a day. This requirement is associated with the high contagiousness of fungal pathologies. But these are only half measures; these diseases can only be cured with special medicines.

Antifungal drugs

The following antifungal drugs may be used:

• Fluconazole. It is considered one of the safest drugs, but it is not very effective against some pathogenic fungal strains.
• Itraconazole The highest quality, effective and at the same time completely safe drug. The only drawback is its cost. In addition, you have to buy it in regular pharmacies.
• Terbinafine. In some ways similar to the previous remedy. Also not approved for veterinary use.

The dosage, frequency and duration of treatment with all these medications should be determined exclusively by a veterinarian! They are too dangerous for uncontrolled use.

Unbalanced feeding

Delamination indicates the carelessness of the owner. To ensure normal regrowth of claws, building material is needed, primarily vitamins. Most cat owners have no idea about the diet and feed them whatever they need: table scraps, raw fish or meat, milk, treats that the pet begs from the compassionate owner.

For owners, especially children, the sight of a pet eating something delicious evokes emotion, but such food does nothing but harm the cat’s health.

It’s even worse when the owner combines natural products with ready-made food. Nutrients enter into an antagonistic interaction and an imbalance of vitamins and other biologically active compounds develops. Owners thoughtlessly use vitamin supplements, which are sold in abundance in pet stores. However, in this case there is an excess of biologically active substances, which is more harmful than a deficiency.

The optimal solution to the problem is to use ready-made food of at least premium class. It contains all the necessary amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids, minerals that ensure the health of the pet, including its claws. Adherents of natural food will have to work hard: to create a diet from natural products that is not inferior in concentration of nutrients to ready-made premium food. In this case, you cannot do without vitamin and mineral supplements. And your veterinarian will help you choose.