I am always so saddened to hear of those who have lost their precious
fuzzies.  I dread the day that I will have to face it myself.  My
sympathies to you all.
 
I was doing the dishes in the kitchen last night while my girls were out
playing.  We don't allow our girls into the kitchen, but I can hear them
play in the other room.  I went upstairs afterwards to find Pixie in her
cage (odd).  I called her and Zinc downstairs to play.  Since they came so
quickly to my call, I decided to give them a treat (we like to reward good
behavior with bits of cheweasels -- we cut them into bite size pieces and
use them as treats since they like to eat them).  That's when I noticed
blood on Pixie.  My mind is racing.  (Yes, I panic when one of my girls is
upset or hurt, as you all may have already guessed).  I give the others
their treats and grab the quickstop powder and run upstairs with Pixie in
tow to mend her wound.  I grabbed the peroxide and put some onto a cotton
ball.  It's coming from her back toe.  HER CLAW IS MISSING!!!  I'm freaking
out.  She didn't like me trying to clean it (I only tried once).  Since the
bleeding had already stopped, I decided to let it go.  I seemed to be in
more pain than she was.  She just wanted to be let down to play more.  I
wanted to take her to the vet asap because all I could think about was
those deformed claws I had heard about on the fml.  After calling the
shelter people (we stay in touch), I calmed down a bit.  I learned (again)
that towels or terry cloth material can get caught up.  I think I had read
that their nails could get caught, but just didn't think they'd rip it out.
I intend to replace the towels in the cage but am unsure of the options.
She had suggested baby receiving blankets.  I don't think it happened in
the cage.  Most of the blood was downstairs.  I think she went to her cage
to mend her wound.  But I would like to find the culprit so that it won't
happen again.  I am mindful of keeping their nails trimmed, so that wasn't
the cause.  I'm going to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get
infected or anything.  Has this happened to any of you?
 
Suzanna
Zinc, Pixie, and Riki
[Posted in FML issue 3130]