Furry feet

[Sam I Am]

I need some advice. I send Sam (and Rosie)to our vet clinic to have his nails trimmed about every 6 weeks as I am way to nervous to do the job myself. This is after me nicking previous dogs nails and making a bloody mess!  No more trimming nails for me! However the  issue I have is that in the middle of the paw where fur, pine sap, needles seem to make a tight furry ball. Sam isn’t overly keen of me holding his paw, separating the pads and digging around. Of course walking around on a tight ball of hard fur can’t feel all that great. So last time I took him to our clinic I asked my favourite tech, after trimming his nails if she could remove this ball of fur. Well she did but it took some doing no doubt, with the help of another tech. She said the ball of fur was so tightly bound  against his paw that in removing it she nicked the skin. No big deal, it’s a scratch, he is free of this furry attachment,  but moving forward can I use small clippers to get in between the pads, is there a risk of cutting the skin? I am terrified to use scissors as he is not overly keen on cooperating. Suggestion and what others do please.

[bradl]

Very little risk. Use the small, curved, round-tipped baby scissors. A second pair of hands can help with immobilization  

[sanford]

I was about to say the same thing as Brad. Working on the paws is much more easily done as a 2-person task.

While I’m trying to trim the nails on one paw, Ruffy is pushing my hand away with is other three.

4 paws require 4 hands!

Edited November 19, 2020 by sanford