message 1 of 6
by John » Mon Aug 05, 2024 06:19 pm
Around the first of every month I clean Piggy's cage. I was a few days late this year because I had to play Kansas City and that always takes up about the whole day. Cheri holds Piggy and lets him nibble on carrots or celery while I take the box out and dump the litter in a small sinkhole in the yard. After I replace his litter and water and get his breakfast, I check his claws. If I don't cut them back, they just keep curling around back to his feet, making it hard for him to walk.
It's never easy. He's always stressed and wiggles around to try to get loose. Clipping his nails takes a long time because of all the wiggling, and I often have to try several times to get just one cut. It's impossible to know just how short to cut each nail. Too short and the nail will bleed and it's always a guess as to how short to cut, so I tend to leave them a little long.
This time, for the first time in 4 years, I cut one too short. I couldn't believe it! I thought I'd left the nail plenty long, but apparently not quite long enough. Piggy squealed and jerked, and there was a tiny spot of blood on Cheri's shirt and just a trace on my finger. I felt so terrible! Still, I had to finish the other nails and I really didn't want to.
I had watched a video of how to cut them and the lady said, "Don't worry if you cut one too short and it bleeds a little. It's not the end of the world." It almost felt like the end of the world to me. Piggy's squealing let me know that it hurt. Still, Piggy didn't seem to hold it against me and there apparently isn't any real damage. He still likes it when I give him loves and skritches when I feed him a couple times a day. He doesn't seem at all scared of me, though I wouldn't blame him if he was. I check his nails once a month, and it's not every month I have to trim them. I really hope it's a long while before I have to. John