When you have a dog, a lot of grooming and maintenance is required to keep them clean, happy, and healthy. One of those is their nails. Dog nails have a blood supply; as their nails grow, so does the blood supply.
If you cut the nails too short too quickly, you risk cutting the blood supply, which is very painful for your pup and will cause bleeding. Be sure to look at your dog’s nail to see where the blood supply stops, then trim below it.
How Do You Stop it?
Prevention is better than fixing the problem afterward. Be sure to keep up with the maintenance of your dog’s nails. If you keep them nice and short, there’s less risk you’ll cut the blood supply. If your dog doesn’t let you trim them, take them to a groomer.
Let’s say you have a rescue. Maybe you found a dog roaming the streets and decided to give it a home. Unfortunately, that dog hasn’t been cared for and might have long nails. The best thing to do is to trim them slowly every few days.
Should You Go to the Vet for it?
If your dog is problematic when getting their nails cut, not even letting a groomer do it, then it’s best to take them to a Vet. Vets can access sedatives to help calm their dogs down while getting a procedure done.
If you see that your dog’s nail is broken or split, Vets offer a procedure where they cut and cauterize the nail. This is still very painful, but it will lessen the amount of blood and end up with your dog’s paw wrapped in bandages.
What Possibly Caused it?
The most common reason a dog’s nail bleeds is when you cut them after letting them grow too long. If you see that your dogs’ nails are bleeding and you haven’t cut them, then check to see if their nails split or if they got something stuck in their paw.
You must take your dog to the vet if you notice that something is wrong. For example, if they got cut by something outside, you don’t know what kind of infection might spread. If they have a thorn stuck, it will be easier to let your vet remove it.
How Often Should it Happen?
Hopefully, it never happens. You don’t want your fur baby to be in pain, especially if you’re the one who caused it. They will yelp in pain if you cut their blood supply, letting you know that you hurt them. Be sure to get their nails trimmed every 3-4 weeks.
Remember to take them to the groomer or the vet if you can’t do it. It will be more expensive to do it this way, but it’s better than the potential outcome if you don’t.
What Should You Do About it?
Maintain their nails by clipping every few weeks. If you have found a rescue, take it slow by trimming a little every few days until the nails are at a maintainable length. It may be hard to do, so seek out your vet for other options.
Having a fur baby is a lot of work, so be sure that you’re ready to handle it when the time comes for you to take care of them. Do your research on what breed of dog you’re looking for and how big they will be when fully grown.
Final Thoughts on Dog’s Nails Bleeding
If you see that your dog’s nails are bleeding, you cut their blood supply while trimming them, or they got something stuck in their paw. Therefore, maintaining your dog’s nails is crucial because there’s less risk of you causing bleeding.
If you let them grow too long, then the blood supply grows with it, so you’ll have to continue to trim the nails a little bit at a time every few days. Otherwise, be sure to cut them every 3-4 weeks.
If you see their nails bleeding and haven’t cut them in a while, check their paws for anything they might’ve gotten stuck in them. Be sure to take them to the vet if you notice something wrong.