My kitten's nails crack when clipped. Is this normal or harmful?

Hello and thank your contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is hard to say what happened to the nail without seeing and examining it in person. I suspect the claw is shedding and the hanging bit is only a thin layer of the shedding claw. If that is the case, you should be able to gently pull it off with your fingers or clip it off with a nail clippers (you should clip the white part of the claw only). If the claw is broken close to the nail base, touching the toe will be painful to your cat and there will be usually blood around the nail. So, try very gently to pull off the hanging part of the claw. If it is causing pain or discomfort, most likely there is also some damage to the nail base and you may need to take your cat to your local vets to clip the nail very short to remove the damaged part.

It is normal and common for cats to knead or "make biscuits" as a way of showing affection. The problem with kittens is that their nails are so sharp! I usually recommend trimming their nails every week to keep them short and dull, so it is not painful. Another option would be use Soft Paws ( https://www.softpaws.com/ ). Finally, you can sometimes utilize a blanket to have her knead on the blanket, so her claws do not touch your skin. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Getting appropriate toys and scratching posts/mats can help tremendously is giving your little guy something GOOD to scratch. You can also use human nail clippers for a kitten this size to help blunt the tips. (Added bonus, he will tolerate it better when its time for the vet to examine his feet or trim his nails!) As he grows, you’ll have to graduate to a veterinary nail clipper. Best wishes to you and Oliver!

Hello, and thank you for your question. It is not abnormal for cats to have thick nails. There is no treatment I can think of to reduce the thickness, unfortunately. It is important to keep the nails trimmed short, as you have been doing. If you notice the nails are getting frayed, or torn, then I would recommend taking them to the vet as there is a risk of infection and pain. I hope this helps, and your kitties are otherwise doing well!

It may be "normal" for Tegan. A cat's nails will change with age. It's possible she injured it previously, causing the odd growth. Keep an eye on it and keep it trimmed to prevent snags or overgrowth.

Flour is a great way to stop a quick from bleeding. Unfortunately, I've had to use that trick myself to get a quick to stop bleeding. When we hit the quick when trimming nails, the biggest problems are that it bleeds and it hurts. That blood can get underneath the layers of the nail (similar to when we have bleeding under our nails) which is probably why it is red. That may change to purple and look bruised in the next couple of days, but it will heal. The other thing you need to make sure when trimming Mona's nails in the future that you use treats or verbal praise to make sure she is comfortable for nail trims. Most kittens are pretty forgiving for nail trims, so don't worry about it, but make sure future nail trims are good experiences, so she doesn't start to dislike them. Congrats on your new kitten! I hope that was helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. This could be a behavioral issue, or a behavioral issue plus paronychia ( skin infection around the nail/claws ). Even though you do not see anything unusual, a veterinarian can examine the skin, do a skin impression to see if there is a population of bacteria or yeast organisms present around the nail beds. An appropriate treatment can then be started. Often, this could also be an indication, & the only evidence of, an allergy. Allergies can come from the food or the environment & can be challenging to distinguish in cats with mild symptoms. So it is very helpful to get professional help with this. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.