Often this is not necessary, but in other situations it is done for medical reasons, cosmetic reasons or to prevent the animal from causing damage to the owners property.

Medical Reasons. When the claws become too long, or become curved, this can cause difficulty in movement, or become ingrown into the pads.

This occurs when the dogs are exercised only in soft ground, in dogs insufficiently exercised, in light boned dogs, in old animals with abnormal gaits, eg caused by arthritis, or in those animals with diseased feet, leg or nails, eg a fungal infection of the nail or a broken toe.

Cutting Nails. This should be undertaken with care, preferably by a trained person. If the nails are white or light coloured, it is comparatively easy to see the blood vessel. It is important that this is not cut into, as pain and haemorrhage will occur.

There are various types of nail clippers, either of the scissor or guillotine type. They must be sharp and only used for which they are designed.

If the nail is black or dark coloured, an estimation must be made of the position of the blood vessel, by applying slight pressure with the cutters to the nail and watching the reaction of the animal. If a pain response is noted, the clippers should be removed down the claw before the cut is made.

If the blood vessel is cut into, the haemorrhage can be controlled by such substances as ferric chloride solution applied on a cotton bud, or silver nitrate applied as a caustic pencil with care.

Special attention should be made to the dew-claws, which are the claws that do not touch the ground, and thus do not wear down. Because of this, they sometimes require more frequent attention than the main claws.

In cats, the claws are retractable, and it is unnecessary to cut their claws except in very aged animals and in cats that damage furnishings.

Claws of all other small mammalian pets need cutting from time to time, chiefly because of the way they are housed. Rabbit claws can be very long and cause problems in walking. The general principles outlined above regarding clipping also applies.