lost claw

touie · Jan 12, 2005

one of my bunnies Niamh lost her claw whilst running round on the carpet yesterday and there was blood everywhere! I was quite worried. She won't let me turn her on her back to look at it though, it seems ok today, she is not worrying about it but I'm worried she might get an infection. should I take her to the vet or just keep an eye out to see if she starts limping? I have never had this happen before! :?

Rexy bexy · Jan 12, 2005

is it her dewclaw, they brake quite often and had some brake on my buns but were fine with it
becky

BevBunny · Jan 12, 2005

Both of mine have had broken claws in the past, they do tend to bleed lots but they've never had an infection. When its happened I have cleaned the claw though and made extra effort to keep the cage clean for a few days. Bunny claws have a vein quite far down them which is why they bleed so much.

You said she did it on the carpet, if your bun lives in the house and doesn't go outside you may need to clip her claws, theres not much to wear them down on in the house - this may be why she broke it. Your vet can show you how if you've not done it before.

When I first got my two the vet taught me how to pick them up, and sort of flip them over, and hold them in your arms on their back like you would a baby. If you v slightly lower their head they go sort of dopey and you can do almost anything to them. He said it doens't harm them, and I've done it to mine all their lives. Its worth trying so you can look at her claw, and comes in handy for other stuff (checking teeth, eyes, cutting claws, giving drugs etc). If you don't know what I mean let me know and I'll take a pic.

Hope thats helpful.

Bev

Caz · Jan 13, 2005

Zeus' front claws seem to be a bit brittle and during the summer he jumped over me as I was knelt down and managed to break off two claws as he came down, they snapped off dry luckily and grew back just fine. When I trim their claws I have on a couple of occasions gone too deep, twice with Zeus (his back claws are really tough and very black) and once with Athena.

The first time I too was shocked by the sheer volume of blood and phoned the vet in a panick. He advised dipping the nail in styptic powder or if that is not available flour! The flour has worked on all the bunnies and even the poor GP, it helps stop the bleeding but does mean you then get blood and flour glue all over the place. The bleeding usually stops in an hour or so and the claw grows back just fine.

Caz

LurcherGirl · Jan 13, 2005

Broken claws are not normally a problem, but do keep an eye on it. My rabbit Pippa developped an abcess when she ripped hers out once...

Vera

lost claw

touie

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Rexy bexy

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BevBunny

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Caz

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LurcherGirl

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