The most useful feature on a nail grinder is not the motor, it is the light. Filing a dark nail blind is how owners hit the quick, and an LED aimed at the working surface lets you watch for the pale chalky centre to appear, which is the signal to stop on that toe and move along to the next one before anything bleeds.

Five speed settings cover the range that actually matters: a low, quiet setting for a nervous dog or for a cat's thinner nails, and more speed for the thick nails of a large breed that would otherwise take an age to shorten. The head is diamond-coated, so it files rather than cuts and leaves a smooth edge with nothing left to catch on carpet or scratch a leg. It runs cordless on a USB charge.

• Five speed settings
• Built-in LED light over the grinding head
• Diamond-coated grinding head
• Low-noise, low-vibration motor
• USB rechargeable and cordless
• Sold with one or two grinding heads, in white, black or orange
• Suits small, medium and large dogs, and cats

Quiet is relative, and technique matters more. It is quieter than most grinders rather than silent, and a sound-sensitive dog will still need several sessions to accept it. Work in short passes instead of holding the head against the nail, which builds heat the dog can feel. On badly overgrown nails the quick has grown out too: take a little each week and it recedes.

Who it's for: Owners doing nails at home on dark-nailed or large-breed dogs, where seeing the nail as you work is the difference between calm and chaos.