Is nail cleaning necessary?

[Misty Lee 123]

(Apologies if this is mentioned elsewhere but I couldn’t find what I was looking for)

I often see comments on here about people cleaning their Sphynx’s nails and nail gunk. Would someone be able to post a photo giving an example of what dirty nails look like? I trim Misty’s (1 y old neutered girl tortie Sphynx) nails and bathe her regularly, however have never seemed to have needed to clean her nails any more than she does. Is it the case that some cats don’t get dirty nails? What does this look like? In general she seems to have good skin and is not particularly oily, but after seeing others mention it so many times I wonder if I am missing something….
Thanks in advance

 

[Catzzzmeow]

@Misty Lee 123 Hoping this video will help you. Clipping your Sphynx cat nails. 2 of ours get thick gunk on some nails and 2 of our others are pretty clean all of the time.

 

[Sheldon13]

Some of them do well cleaning their own toes. My current kitty does not need help nearly as often as my previous one did.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[pussiette]

I love your girl.

It looks like dark wax and it gets trapped at the back of the nail under the skin folds. It's a build up of oil and poo.

 

[Misty Lee 123]

Thanks everyone. This is super helpful. I have had a look at her nails and think she might just be very good at cleaning them herself. Plus we have carpet so maybe that helps. It’s good to know though for future reference if I’m ever able to get another baby.

 

[Cleopatra Beers]

I took a poll, and Cleo and Marcus say, no, that it isn’t necessary to clean their nails. Then I looked at their nails. They are getting cleaned this weekend.
You will know if they need cleaning, because they will have thick, brown/black gunk that you can scrape off with a fingernail. It’s kind of like how our fingernails get after we might dig in the garden without gloves.

 

[Lukassmile]

my boy needs a little help if I want them to be spotless, its about the only thing I use baby wipes on. this is all so nice to see it is very individual