I just found a severely ingrown nail on my female Maine Coon. It looks like there was some bleeding there at some point. She has never been in any pain that I know of and she jumps around no problem. I'm taking her in first thing tomorrow but just wondering if anyone has had this problem. I really hope this will not require surgery. Both of my MC's have been healthy, knock on wood.

-- Anonymous, March 19, 2000

Answers

I have a 7 year old Maine Coon named Sebastian. We first experienced an ingrown nail at about 4 years of age (however, we didn't own him as a kitten - he was given to us at the age of two). Our vet has informed us that our Maine Coon's claws grow-in extremely quickly and they are extremely thick! He does not allow us to clip his claws at all - we try to keep up with taking him to the vet to get his claws trimmed - but sometimes we notice that they will just keep growing straight into his pads! As far as I know this trait of Maine Coon's is very common. Just try to keep up with your cat's clippings and the ingrown nail should not return.

-- Anonymous, May 03, 2000