A So Cal Girl in the Desert

Scary thing happened last night. I noticed that our guinea pig's toenails were getting very long. That's not the scary part. See, usually she keeps her feet pretty much tucked under her body, so it's hard to tell how her nails are doing. I checked the guinea pig book, and it said to clip them when they get too long, so I got out the dog nail clippers. I cut eight of her back toenails with no problem, but she moved on the ninth one. I clipped it right through the quick. For those who have never clipped an animal's nails before, the quick is the fleshy center of the nail that tends to bleed and hurt when cut.

Rosie Rose let out a squeal and blood started dripping out. I didn't think much of it at first because I've cut my dogs' nails and many times cut just a bit of the quick. It usually produces a small drop of blood, then stops. I thought that's what would happen. We noticed that the blood wasn't stopping, so we got a paper towel and held her nail. The paper towel was soaked with blood, and I started to get really worried. That little thing can't have that much blood in her. So I asked my husband to call the vet. He called a 24-hour animal clinic (it was about 9 PM), and they suggested a little baking soda. We poured out a pile of baking soda on the kitchen counter and stuck her foot in it. We then had a nice little mountain of red baking soda. It wasn't working!

I started to panic, but my stepson started to worry so I had to cool it and do that parental "everything will be okay" even when you're not sure that it will. My husband said that the vet told him he could get a substance called "Quick Stop" at the pet store. Well, by now it's well past 9 PM. Where are we going to find a pet store? Hubby called the PetSmart down the street, and they said they were closed. He explained the situation and said he could be there in five minutes. They were nice enough to allow him to come.

When he got to the pet store, the manager was there ready with the Quick Stop. He gave it to us at no charge. It looked just like baking soda, but brown. The manager explained that we should hold her out and take some of the Quick Stop on a finger. Then jam as much of it as possible onto the end of the victim nail. He said it would hurt her, but save her. Poor Rosie!!! I felt horrible!

We did what the manager said, and Rosie Rose grunted and squirmed the whole time. It must have really stung. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped immediately and she is fine now. Whew! I held her for the rest of the night--for so long that she eventually had to pee real bad and it went all over me. I deserved it. I hope it made her feel better.

We always make up silly rhymes and songs about the animals. Rosie Rose's new rhyme is "There's Rosie Rose with nineteen toes." I guess I got so cocky as a pet sitter I thought I could do grooming too. Never again. I'll leave it to the professionals.