How to Stop Bleeding Dog Nail?

How to Stop Bleeding Dog Nail

Here’s how to stop your dog’s bleeding nail and key things to remember:

Reasons for Bleeding Nails

  • Accidental trimming into the quick (the sensitive part of the nail).
  • Dog shaking or struggling during nail trimming.
  • Lack of proper trimming technique.

Why Trim Nails?

  • Prevents scratching and discomfort for the dog.
  • Reduces damage to floors or furniture.

How Long Does Bleeding Last?

  • Minor bleeding: 2-3 minutes
  • Heavier bleeding: 5-10 minutes

How to Stop Bleeding

  1. Stay Calm: Your dog senses your anxiety! Reassure your dog everything is okay.

  2. Styptic Powder: Dip the nail in powder or apply it with a cotton swab. This quickly stops bleeding and numbs minor pain.

  3. Baking Soda/Cornstarch/Flour: If styptic powder isn’t available, these household items can help clotting.

  4. Bar of Soap: Soften a bar of soap with water, then press the nail into it to form a plug that stops the bleeding.

  5. Ice: Cool temperature constricts blood vessels and numbs the area. Wrap ice in a cloth before applying.

Key Takeaways

  • Minor bleeding from nails is common and easily treated at home.
  • Have styptic powder on hand as it’s the most effective method.
  • If the bleeding won’t stop, or the nail looks infected, consult your vet.
  • Proper nail trimming technique and regular trims can prevent future bleeding incidents.

What is the Reason Behind the Bleeding of Your Dog’s Nails?

Almost all the dog owners trim the nails of their canine friends to keep them small in size, and this process primarily causes the nails of the dogs to bleed. The factors that are responsible for the bleeding of your dog’s nails are discussed below.

Shake of the Dog’s Body

We all know that most of us used to hold the paw of our canine friends while cutting their nails.

This can sometimes be irritating for the pet as they can’t bear their paw getting stuck in a position for a long time, due to which they often shake their body to get released from the tight grab of the owner, causing a disturbance to the cutting process which leads to particular bleeding of nails.

Lack of Proper Training to Trim Nails

It’s not always the pet’s fault whenever it suffers from a dog bleeding. Sometimes the dog’s bleeding can also be caused due to the mistakes of the owner.

If the owner doesn’t have proper training or proper knowledge of how to trim the nails of their canine friend, it can often lead to the bleeding of the nails of the canine friend.

The above discussed are the most common reasons why the nails of the dogs bleed, so a dog owner can take care of the above-discussed steps to prevent the bleeding of their dog’s nails.

Why Do Dog Owners Trim the Nails of Their Dogs?

The nails of the dogs possess some materials, due to which they keep on growing and get sharp if they don’t get trimmed.

The dog’s strong nails can often make the dog scratch himself, causing the canine friend various discomforts. This is the reason why all dog owners use to trim the nails of their dogs.

The toes of the dogs are usually supported by some living tissues, which contain a type of cells named keratinocytes that is mainly responsible for the hard material called keratin found in nails that makes the nails of your pet grow and sharper in appearance.

The living tissues which contain the cell keratinocytes are paired with a type of blood vessels, and specific nerve cells together known as the quick, severe damage to this short while trimming the nails of the dog causes the nails to bleed.

Hence, we can say that as the keratin produced by the keratinocytes make the nails grow and get sharper, the dog owners trim their pet’s nails to limit the growth.

How Much Time Does the Bleeding Dog Nail Take to Get Cured?

Sometimes the blood loss from your dog’s nail seems terrible, but it’s a minor issue, and following some proper steps and tricks for its curing process can heal it quickly.

If the cut is not that serious and the bleeding is more minor, it will take almost two to three minutes to stop after getting proper treatment.

In contrast, if the bleeding is significant, it can take nearly five to ten minutes for the blood vessels to contract again for the clotting.

How to Stop Bleeding Dog Nail?

As we have already discussed, a little bit of a mistake while cutting your dog’s nails can make the nails bleed.

So it becomes essential for the dog owner to proceed further in the process with utmost accuracy to prevent their dog from any kind of discomfort.

The steps that a dog owner should follow to stop the bleeding of the nails are discussed below.

Stay Calm and Composed

If you have accidentally cut your dog’s nails, then staying calm and composed is the first thing you have to take care of.

This is because the dog might also get anxious by seeing the blood flow from his toes and can try to run away to get some help.

If you also panic in this condition, the condition might even worsen for your dog. So the owner is suggested to stay calm to tackle this critical situation.

Use the Styptic Powder

Now it comes to stopping the bleeding of your dog’s nails, the use of styptic powder is the most preferred option in this case by almost all dog owners.

Veterinarians and groomers also use styptic powder to prevent certain bleeding situations with a dog.

The active ingredient present in the powder, benzocaine, functions as a topical anesthetic and is used to ease the pain caused due to the cut on the toes.

And along with this, another active ingredient named ferric subsulfate helps the cells to develop in the place of the cut to stop the bleeding.

For using the styptic powder on the cut of your dog’s nails, all you have to do is take your dog’s paw and dip it in the powder or use your hands to take some powder and apply it over the place of the cut. The application of this powder will be helpful in stopping the bleeding of your dog’s nails.

Use of Baking Soda, Corn Starch, or Any Other Flour

We all know that home remedies also work wonders when we don’t have access to our needy medications. The other best option to stop the bleeding of dog nails is baking soda, corn starch, or any different kind of flour.

The sodium and potassium bicarbonate present in the baking soda possess anticoagulant properties, which promote the prothrombin and thrombin to interfere with the clotting process faster to stop the bleeding of the dog nail abruptly.

The process of applying baking soda or any kind of flour to the dog’s nails is similar to that of styptic powder.

All you have to do is dip the dog’s nails in the baking soda, and if the bleeding doesn’t stop after baking soda, then apply flour or cornstarch over it.

Always remember baking soda is a secondary process. If you have easy access to the styptic powder, then the use of styptic powder is the best in this case.

Use of a Cleansing Soap

The other best method to stop the bleeding of the dog’s nails is the use of cleansing soap. Yes, it might sound not very clear, but the cleansing soap for dogs possesses some anticoagulant properties, which can be very beneficial for stopping the nails of the dog.

For using a cleansing soap to stop the blood on your dog’s nails, all you have to do is make it wet by applying water to it and then let it rest until it gets softened. The more the soap gets softer, the more it will be beneficial for treating your suffering dog.

Once the soap gets softened, use your fingers to take a pinch of the soap and apply it over the bleeding dog nails with a bit of pressure, and then let it rest there until the bleeding stops.

This remedy also gives perfect results, so a dog owner can go with this remedy to treat their suffering canine friend.

Use of Ice Over the Cut

The use of ice over the cut of the dog’s toenails is also a convenient option to go with. The cool temperature of the ice cubes makes the blood vessels contract again, resulting in minor bleeding. It numbs the pain as the excessive cool temperature of the ice also possesses some anesthetic properties.

Sometimes the dog might refuse to take the direct application of the ice cube over the skin. To tackle this situation, you can use a piece of cloth to wrap it up and then apply it over the cut of the nails of your canine friend.

All the above-discussed steps are based on the experiments done by veterinarians to treat a bleeding dog nail. So if a dog owner is looking for measures to cure their dog’s nail bleeding, they can entirely rely upon these steps.

So, here we are, done with the entire article. We hope that the information discussed above in the article has helped you complete your search and has cleared all your doubts regarding how to stop bleeding dog nail. Thanks for staying till the end with us and reading the whole article.

Aapt Dubey
Aapt Dubey

Aapt Dubey, a devoted canine enthusiast and experienced dog Owner, brings boundless passion to our team. With a heart full of love for our four-legged friends, Aapt is dedicated to sharing insights on dog care, behavior, and training to make every pup's life happier and healthier at ItsAboutDog.com.

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