Yorkie

Question
I have a 6 lb Yorkie that is a rescue, we've had her about a year, and the vet thinks she's about 3 years old - when I take her to get her nails trimmed it's EXTREMELY traumatic for her.  they have to put a muzzle on and she jerks around, and tries to bark and bite, which is not like her at all - she NEEDS to have her nails trimmed about once a month, but it's SO traumatic that I hesitate to bring her, how can I make this situation better?

Answer
If you can take her for a walk on concrete and let her naturally wear off her nails, that may help.  Your vet may prescribe a tranquilizer for her before a nail trim.  They may also do a procedure to anesthetize her and cut the nails really short.  I do that in my practice and then I use a laser to ablate the "quick" so that there is no pain afterwards.  That really lengthens the time between nail trims.