Mags is a 5 year old domestic shorthair cat that presented to Kingsbrook Animal Hospital for a nail trim. He had a tendonectomy performed previously. A tendonectomy is an alternative to declawing. The veterinarian removes a section of tendon on each of the front toes. This prevents the cat from being able to extend the front claws and curbs destructive behavior such as scratching furniture, etc. Since an amputation is not performed (as in a declaw), the nail is still present and must be trimmed every few weeks. Mags middle toenail overgrew and punctured his paw pad. The constant irritation caused the toe to swell to four times the normal size and it became infected. After sedating Mags, we trimmed the nail and cleaned out the wound. He went home on antibiotics and will be back to his normal self soon.
