Cat's front claws ALL missing.

[DominicStar]

For all the cat lovers - have any of you ever had a cat lose all their front claws at once?

My first instinct was to put it down to fighting but she must have had quite a resounding win as every single one of her front claws have disappeared and she doesn't have a single mark on her apart from some small areas of dried blood around them. She is walking fine and she let me inspect them no problem. I pressed gently and she doesn't appear to be in any pain either which is something at least.

I've seen one or two cat claws missing at a time from over scratching and fighting, but every single one just doesn't seem natural and I can't find anything much online about

 

[DominicStar]

Never. If I saw that I'd be thinking that someone has declawed my cat.

I'm starting to think it was holding on to something in someone's yard and got pulled

 

[DominicStar]

Are you sure its your cat?

Yeah am pretty sure it's mine. I don't get many long haired grey and white cats snuggling up to me on the sofa...

 

[DominicStar]

Yes but if that was the case, your cat would let go before ALL it's claws are out. When a cats claws are cut, you can still see the claw from where it was cut.

Best ask a vet if you can't find out on the net

Maybe it was just fighting, there is certainly no claw left just tiny dried bits of blood. Will have to ask a vet tomorrow it's just a worry in the meantime, don't want the wee thing getting infections from dust or worse in the litter tray.

Possibly been knocked by a car?

I'm sure I read something once about them losing claws when this occurs.

She is otherwise fine though, 100% mobile, happy, purring.

 

[DominicStar]

Surely it's an improvement?

She doesn't do any bother with them so no.

 

[DominicStar]

Has she been missing for any time, one of ours got trapped and wore away her claws trying to dig through a concrete yard for six days before she was found. They grew back fine though.

No she hasn't been out for more than a couple of hours at a time. All 3 of our cats claw the fence a lot (there is no doubt they have marked the territory there!), but normally I just see them split off just the outsides of one or two claws when this happens.

My cats hav neber lost ant claws, take em to vet.

A trip to the vets is in order methinks.

Will be I hope - just waiting for them to open so I can ring ahead.

 

[DominicStar]

it could be a fall from a tree / fence etc etc, if she's dug her nails in to stop a fall but her own weight has already gathered enough momentum then they simply snap off, its the same thing that happens when hit by a car, claws try to dig in and cant, Ruby (on of ours) lost most of hers last year doing this (we think), there was no other mark on her but she also broke her back doing it.

The only vet I can find open is an out of hours service some distance away that I have no means of getting to. I'll have to skip work tomorrow morning and take her then.

Hadn't thought of the tree one that could well be it, especially as the wriggly little thing has just let us finally check her back paws properly and most of them are snapped out too.

A car is less likely because they only go out back and there is a back lane, then allotments, then a area of grass and trees and a wall. This means vehicles very very rarely drive around the back lane as they can't get out.

 

[DominicStar]

Well I whisked her around to the vet first thing this morning and waited for them to open.

She was very subdued this morning (the vet said this was probably from very sore claws and paws). She normally makes cute little noises and gets alarmed when someone walks towards her manouvers around them. This morning for the first time ever (she's about 6 and we have had her 2 years), she just sat still and let me walk backwards and forwards by her.

Three options were likely. First as people said, a road hit, secondly fighting but too many claws gone for that, and the third mis-timing a jump between walls and falling.

After a thorough check the vet concluded that as she has no other injuries, it was likely to be a fall.

He gave her an injection of anti-biotics to prevent infection and another injection of painkiller to last 24-48 hours.

If she is still subdued by Saturday we need to take her back to check her over again.

Poor little thing can't go out for a few days as will have no claws to grip with or defend herself in a fight. She also won't have a proper set of claws for 4-6 weeks!

 

[DominicStar]

just watch and make sure she'e eating ok and using litter etc etc, also consider getting some feliway if you've not got any already, its great for making them feel happy and safe. Ruby was the same though mate, she became almost like a lap cat when she was ill, really affectionate towards us (this of course all changed as soon as she was better ).

Ill look in to that. We are lucky as all three cats are exceptionally friendly and spend most of their time sat with us if they can find the space. I have never known a cat like being stroked as roughly and hard as she does. She submits on her back a lot she just doesn't like people walking around her. Probably from having a house full of children before us. Also the previous owners dumped three cats because they got a celebrity fad shih tzu and it yapped at them all the time.