thick toenails

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JeffJ

JeffJ

Member Since 2016
Leo has real thick toenails. They used to be normal before diabetes (and before acromegaly). I didn't see any other threads on this issue.

Is this from acromegaly? Or just diabetes. His toenails don't really shed like they used to (like other cats). They are more like dog claws, except for a couple that are almost normal. My poor kitteh Leo.
 
Weird.... Never heard of that. I have one cat with crazy back nails. She pierces me every time she walks over my feet!

Is your cat climbing less since being diagnosed? Maybe that's why his back nails aren't shedding?
 
I don't have much to offer except to say that one of my past kitties developed a couple of very thick nails as she got older. She lived to be almost 22.
 
My diabetic J.D. had fairly thick nails (especially in the back), that didn't seem to shed normally. He lived to 20 and I mainly noticed them in his older years. My civies 13 year old Ginger has razor sharp thin as needles and almost translucent nails, and my now almost 3 year old Jackson has thick back nails that don't seem to shed normally like J.D. had. They scratch and dig and climb trees and are very active, especially Jackson because he's so young. I've asked the vet about his back nails and she says they are fine.
 
Squallie's back nails are thick, especially the two inner nails, and they don't shed much. He chews them, though.
 
My acro kitty Lily also has very thick nails, although not all of them are thick. They are thick enough that I cannot trim them for her and have to take her to our vet for her pedicure. I thought perhaps its because she isn't as active as she used to be and not because of her age since she is young at 8 years old.
 
Thanks for the replies. I don't think this is just age. It is diabetes or acromegaly as the cause.

Leo is 11.5 years old. Diabetes for 2 years. Acromegaly for 1.5 years. SRT (radiation) treatment 1 year ago...he already had the thick nails. There is not much I can do about it, mostly just curious.
 
Leo also still uses a scratch pad. But his grooming habits have declined. I recall seeing his thickened toenails right about when he was diagnosed with diabetes - so it has been about 2 years. I suppose we could give him mild sedation and try to trim off the layers.
 
My non-diabetic has thick nails, and he's a healthy 8 year old. My vet said it wasn't anything to worry about. But it sure is harder to clip those nails!
 
My kitty (previous diabetic-currently normal) has very thick nails, almost double the thickness of a normal cat. The male vet who usually does the larger dog nail trimming has to do his now.
 
Phoebes are crazy thick. Can't get the front ones trimmed her dew claw is curling back around on her pad. Hate to take her to vet for that. Would a dog nail trimmer work you think?
 
Phoebes said:
Phoebes are crazy thick. Can't get the front ones trimmed her dew claw is curling back around on her pad. Hate to take her to vet for that. Would a dog nail trimmer work you think?
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I once took Ginger to a groomers once, where I held her up while they trimmed her claws in like 2 minutes and charged me only $5.
Now, I just trim all their claws myself.
I know you know you need to get that declaw before it embeds in her pad. I don't have any experience with dog nail trimmers.
 
I had an elderly kitty (21 yrs.) who had her back claw grow into her foot pad before I realized how bad her nails had become. I was young and stupid at the time not realizing they need to be checked when they get older and no longer are running up trees etc to keep them filed down. The vet was able to fix her but I felt like a really bad cat mom afterward.
Our vet office here has vet techs that can come to the house for injections and nail trimming. Maybe you could schedule someone to come for Phoebe?
 
Phoebes said:
Phoebes are crazy thick. Can't get the front ones trimmed her dew claw is curling back around on her pad. Hate to take her to vet for that. Would a dog nail trimmer work you think?
Click to expand...
Rover's nails grew like crazy, didn't shed and OMG were they thick. If the nail had started to curl, I couldn't get the nail through the opening of dog clippers. Instead, I just used human nail clippers (sometimes the toe clippers) and started in at the side of the nail with little cuts on an angle rather than the tip. It was like cracking nuts. Once you got a good break in the outer casing, it was easy to get the shell off. Does this make sense?
 
Why do you have to clip their nails? I've never clipped any of my cats and would often find claw sheathes around. Not the claws themselves, but just the outer nail.
 
My boys have become thicker with age and it seems the thicker ones are more sensitive.
I don't want them getting caught in anything so I trim them about once a month.
 
Thick toenails is common with acros. Neko's were thicker, but if I kept at it every couple of weeks, they never got so bad I couldn't trim them. But I often saw other acrompet parents having to take their cat in for a trim, so we were lucky that way.
 
Our vet techs use the really large human nail clippers. I might trim a few of Leo's toenails today. The nail trimming process for him, makes him growl. It is kind of cute because he has never ever tried to bite us. He just gets cranky.
 
I trim my cat's nails about once a month (the same as my own nails), and afterwards, they get to play with the laser toy as their reward. I want them to race around the carpet and get used to the feel of their new shortened nails. They seem to enjoy it.
 
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