Nail cutting

Question
I just attempted to clip my guinea pigs nails. I finished with two paws and then on the third I was cutting and she squirmed and I cut her quick. The nail is still attached because I barely made a cut when she yelped so I stopped. Her nail had a small amount of blood so I wiped it off and applied slight pressure. Will she be ok? And she is very squirmy when I hold her so what can I do to cut her nails easier?


~thank you

Answer
Cutting the quick is all too easy to do. As you said, they don't hold still well. She will be fine. The blood is coming from a vein not an artery. If you have some powdered stiptic that is made for this kind of thing you can put a dab on the end of the nail to help stop the bleeding. Otherwise simple flour or cornstarch will do as well.

If you can hold the pig on her back with her head in the bend of your arm at the elbow you can grab the foot and anchor it. That helps to stabilize the toes so you can nip the tips.

Don't feel like you're the bad guy, this happens to everyone more than once. It's a tricky skill and takes lots of practice but even then hitting the quick happens.