Cat's front claws ALL missing.

[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.

 

[VFR_KID]

Keep us posted, let us know if shees feline fine.

Ive had cats all my life the most i have ever seen is them loose what looks like an outer shell but never the whole thing

 

[SoSolid]

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

The cat may have been run over. When they are hit by a car, they tend to dig their claws into the tyres and the claws can get damaged from this.

 

[LOAM]

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.

 

[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.

 

[AtreuS]

Declawing is actually the removal of the entire knuckle not just the claw. http://www.moggies.co.uk/stories/declaw.html

Anyway its likely she just had them snapped off via a tree or something, cats claws are strong but are designed to break before the bones become disjointed or snap. This is an in built safety feature :0

Usually cats can retract their claws at will, but if the cats entire weight is on them its sometimes impossible, thats when the claw is likely to break off. I admit its very unusual for all of them to come off, and suggests some kind of trauma thats caused a natural shedding or something. All my cats have left full claws lying round the house on occasion, they do shed naturally.... not all at once though.

If someone had used clippers it would be fairly obvious when inspecting your cats paws. A natural break would look clean, where as a clipper would have left a white ring of pressure around the break point.

Will be interesting to see what the vet says however. They should grow back naturally, if the knuckle itself has not been damaged. Its just like us losing a nail.

 

[LOAM]

tbh i cant imagine anyone could remove the claws of a cat without it being knocked out, just trimming them usually results in the loss of at least 10% of your skin, Theres no way you could do all 20 and still be alive to tell the tale. Its more than likely a fall. Like us though you will never know.

Ruby broke her back and walked back home, got through the cat flap and sat and waited for us to come home from work for X hours. 10 weeks after (happened in May 08) the only thing that is visibly wrong with her is half her tail no longer works

 

[wombraider]

Poor kitty , I would get her to the Vet asap if she were mine

 

[Rich1988]

if she seems fine and isnt showing any other signs of pain and discomfort I probably wouldnt worry, cats lose their claws fairly regularly (not usually all at once but still) but everyone else is saying its vet time so maybe thats the better idea

 

[ThriceNightly]

Possibly been knocked by a car?

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

yep i had a similar situation with my cat

.......get your cat checked over by a vet

 

[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!

 

[LOAM]

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 ).

 

[matt_fsr]

Hope she's alright - glad it doesn't sound like a car hit.

We lost our first cat before she was 2 year old to a car hit, and as far as I can remember she still purred despite having a collapsed lung and was slowly dying.

Though I cant remember too well as I was just so upset at the time..

 

[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.

 

[I get around]

i wish my cat would lose a few he loves to sharpen his claws and teeth on me.