Remove Blood on the Carpet After Pet Nail Trimming
Our furry family members need to be groomed to not only keep them clean, but healthy as well. Paying a professional to take care of the grooming for you can get pricey so some pet owners opt to do pet grooming themselves. One very important part of dog grooming is nail trimming. If your pooch’s nails get too long it can cause foot problems such as the spreading of the paw and pain and discomfort to your pet.
Unknown to some pet owners is that dogs have blood running through their nails through a vein know as a quick. It is not uncommon to cut the dog nail and hit the quick inside. When this happens the nail will begin bleeding quite a bit, and may cause an unknowing pet parent to panic. If this does happen don’t worry, your pet will be ok and you can help to stop the bleeding without taking your pet to the vet. Just grab some styptic powder or cornstarch.
You will want to get a good amount of the powder or starch to dip the bleeding nail into. You can either do this by putting a fair amount in a shallow dish or wetting your finger and letting it stick. If you use your finger just make sure you have a good amount where you can’t see the skin of your finger through the powder. Gently dip the nail into the powder. Beware as the powder is going to sting and your dog is probably not going to react pleasantly to the powder. You may want to employ the help of another person to hold your dog and maybe pet or rub their ears to help keep them calm. You can also give them a treat in a Kong toy or something else to help distract them and keep them busy. Hold the powder in place for about a minute and hopefully the blood stops flowing. This could take several minutes so don’t panic if it doesn’t stop right away. If the nail is bleeding for longer than 30 minutes it is time to go to the vet.
Now that your pet is taken care of it is time to clean up any blood that likely got on the floor and other objects around you. So how do you get that blood out of the carpet?
- Get the stain as soon as you can. Begin by blotting any blood you can out of the carpet with a clean white cloth or paper towel. Be very careful not to rub, this will spread the blood around.
- Next grab some peroxide and water and mix them in equal parts. Test a small amount of the diluted peroxide on an unseen area of carpet to ensure it will not bleach out the color. Once you know the peroxide is safe for your carpet, apply a small amount to the stain with a clean cloth or paper towel and gently blot working from the outside of the stain to the center.
- Follow the peroxide with an enzymatic cleaner and follow the directions on the cleaner package.
- Finish up with a deodorizer so your pet does not return to the stain with interest. You can try several different things to neutralize pet odors so your dog can no longer smell them including:
– Cover the stain with baking soda and let it sit for two hours then vacuum
– Apply a solution of half vinegar and half water. (Don’t worry the vinegar smell will go away
as the vinegar dries.
– Apply an over the counter neutralizer, deodorizer, or disinfectant