Trimming pug’s toenails no task for faint of heart

Dear Dr. Forsythe: I had a terrible experience trimming my pug’s toenails last week. My brother held her down for me and I cut them the best I could, but she moved and I cut one of them a little too short. It bled so bad that at first I was afraid I cut her whole nail off. It took about an hour to get the bleeding to stop, but I don’t think I will ever forget that day. Now she won’t even let me touch her foot. I feel so bad. What do you recommend about her nails in the future?
V.C.

Dear V.C.: First, I recommend taking deep cleansing breaths. You did the best you could, right? Anyone who has a pug, or has worked with a pug, knows that they are the most adorable but occasionally frustrating scoundrels on the planet when it comes to nail trims. These luscious, bulgy-eyed wonders also often have toe nails with long quicks and dark pigment, which can make it very difficult to see how short you should trim the nail. Combine this with a natural tendency to wriggle when being confined and a constant desire to give the handler kisses, and you have a very difficult nail trim to get done. In the future, if you don’t know how to get the bleeding stopped at home, you can try using a little baking power on the tip of the nail until you can get to the veterinarian’s office for help.
One solution to this problem may be to do what a few of my pug owners do with their little baby’s nails on a regular basis. They bring their pets into our office for a “regular” nail trim every three to four weeks, and we “tip” the nails down at this interval without causing any bleeding. Then about every eight weeks, they bring the pet back in for a “show cut” with sedation. For a show cut, we use some very safe, short-acting sedation, and trim the nails very far back until they bleed (while the pet is snoozing), then quickly cauterize the quicks. When the pet wakes up in five minutes, the nails are very short and the ordeal is avoided. These shortened nails will now have quicks that are receded when the nails grow out, making it easier to trim the nail without causing bleeding for the next couple of months. This is a suggestion to you to avoid the catastrophe you went through, since I know you adore your little baby so very much. Perhaps you could ask your veterinarian about getting on a regular schedule for nail trims and see if a “show cut” may be best for your pet.
Dr. F

Dear Dr. Forsythe: Do I have to worry about my puppy getting parvo if she has had a vaccination? She is eight weeks old and I love taking her on walks, but a friend of mine told me that she could get parvo from just going down the street.
JG, Sonoma

Dear JG: Your friend is right. Your puppy is at the tender young age where the antibodies she received from her mothers’ milk a few weeks ago are “wearing off” and the vaccine she got is still “taking effect.” During this time, the puppy may have what is thought of as a “dip in maternal antibodies,” which is a vulnerable time of low protection as the puppy vaccine series is being given to stimulate her immune system to develop antibodies to protect her from several diseases such as infectious parvovirus.
Parvovirus is a molecule that is potentially everywhere in the environment. It is spread by infected dogs through their waste and puppies are the most vulnerable to succumb to the disease. Although the disease is not rampant in Sonoma, there are outbreaks. It is impossible to know where your puppy could pick up the virus, but public areas such as parks, sidewalks or places where other pets roam are more likely to harbor the virus. Vaccination clinics where large numbers of puppies are congregated together may increase the risk of parvovirus exposure. The deadly pathogen has a three-to-five-day incubation period, which means it can take that many days following exposure to see signs of disease develop. Typical clinical signs of parvovirus include vomiting, foul-smelling bloody diarrhea, lethargy, and anorexia. The best way to prevent parvo is to make sure your puppy completes a comprehensive series of puppy vaccines. During this time, an ounce—make that a pound–of prevention will be well worth the effort. Thanks for a great question and good luck with the new “baby.”
Dr. F