Why Cats Bite Their Toenails

On the outside there s the old used up sometimes broken or chipped and often quite dull layer worn due to use.

Why cats bite their toenails. You must have noticed that some people start biting nails when they are suddenly stopped of doing a particular task like on red light signal some people bite their nails because they want to move but compulsively they have to stop which shows the conflict and they displace into grooming this is called compulsive. In the vast majority of cases however this annoying symptom which can sometimes lead to secondary redness inflammation and bacterial or yeast infection of the feet is usually due to. Up to a certain level it is a normal part of feline grooming routines explains dr. Cats also chew on their claws at times to help them remove their nails outer layer.

Cats are normally fastidious in their grooming habits and this includes their nails. This old outer layer eventually falls off. For people nail biting is a nervous habit that must be conquered. Cats do bite and chew at their nails as part of natural grooming.

Cats do not chew their nails all the time they do it more or less continuously. A cat biting his nails may not be cause for alarm. When it comes to cats biting and chewing fingers there are quite a lot of reasons that do a good job explaining away this common feline behaviour. Joined dec 5 2011 594 posts.

Callie the 1yr old calico cat chews on her toes. For cats it s a pretty normal grooming behavior. The same is technically true of why cats bite feet they do it for a variety of reasons but to me there s a massive difference in terms of explaining away why cats chomp on fingers versus why cats chomp on toes. If it seems excessive it might be a symptoms of an underlying anxiety.

Cats can show displacement behaviors such as nail chewing in the face of anxiety or changes in their routine or envioronment. My 7 year old indoor female spayed calico mixed breed cat often chews on her back feet and toenails when she grooms herself. Essentially a cat s finger and toenails are a bit like an onion. However continual nail biting can be an indication of anxiety injury infection or of old nail sheaths remaining longer than they should.

Carlo siracusa clinical assistant professor of behavior medicine at the university of pennsylvania school of veterinary medicine in philadelphia. Often clients mistakenly think that it is a nervous habit or that their pet s nails are too long. Jump to latest follow 1 17 of 17 posts. A few times she s almost completely bitten a nail off or cracked it up and down and in half.