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Sorry I'll stop singing .

Ermm, so I have these two cats, they like to paw at stuff a LOT. I dont believe in declawing cats, and they have plenty of carpet on the stairs to sharpen their claws on (not to mention the dineing room chairs and the handwoven rug in the living room ).

Does anyone trim their cats claws ? How often ? What method? Any other bits of info ?

The cats i was raised with were indoor outdoor cats and had plenty of trees to climb and critters to catch and never really pawed at anything....these two are more than a handful .

^_^

i cut my cats' claws whenever i notice that they get snagged on stuff, or every couple weeks whichever comes first.

*or* if i am playing with them and they stab me and my first thought is "OH !%@# that hurts!" then it's time to trim

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

I trim my indoor cat's claws, but not the outside cats (they need them to kill mice and such).

The first time you do it, they will act like you are putting them through excruciating pain and/or killing them. Don't believe them - it's just an act. As long as you don't cut the quick (the white part), it is a painless process.

After a few times the cats will learn to put up with getting their claws trimmed and not struggle and yowl so much.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

I've seen claw caps for sale, they're colored devices that are supposed to be glued onto the end of each claw. They will allegedly bypass the need to trim the claws, but probably wear out or fall off after a few months.

My cat always hated it, and I doubt other cats are any different. I had to sit him in my lap with his back against my chest and hold the paw with one hand while I clipped with another. It's a whole lot easier with two people, so try and get a friend to help!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i remember having to trim my cats claws. what a traumatic event.. for me!!! you have to be careful just to trim the white tip off.. too much and poor kitty will bleed!

i held mine the same as sirbooks but wrapped him in towel just in case he tried to wiggle and attack me.

i just used regular toe nail clippers and did it every month or so as needed...

they will appear distressed and in pain but it definately is just an act!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

There is also a spray that we use for my roommates cat that they are supposed to not like the smell (green apple or something of the sort) and it makes them walk away from whatever is sprayed... I don't usually spell it and we spray the bottom of all the furniture. I don't know how often she clips the cats nails but I have noticed on days that we spray the cat uses her actual scratching post a lot more frequently and tends to leave the living room alone.

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"it's the neck, it creaks under the weight of too much heavy thinking."

I've got a similar problem with my cat and I've been wondering the same sort of thing. She used to be an indoor/outdoor cat, but over the last six months my paranoia got the better of me and I gradually turned her into an indoor only cat. It's been good - i'm happier, she's turned into a much nicer, more placid animal and I know she'll probably live a longer life because of it. However, the big downside is that without the trees to scratch on, she uses the carpet in the bedrooms. She always did it a bit, but now it's ridiculous - she's really ruined it. She has a scratching post but no matter what I do, i can't seem to convince her to use it. She's one of the most stubborn creatures I've ever met.

i've been thinking about cutting her claws, but I can't see her sitting down and letting me do it. She is a very big, strong cat and if she doesn't want to be held down, she won't be. So how do I go about it? Or, how do I make her use the post instead of the carpet?

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

We have six indoor cats. None are declawed. Besides spraying them with a nice high powered water bottle, there isnt much you can do to teach them not to claw. My mom has re-inforeces the corners on all of our couches with nice sturdy peices of denim....which looks fine as long as you are neat about it.

As to trimming: this is best started when they are very young, as it is something that takes getting used to. For the most part, I recomend useing human nail clippers, as the ones for kitties and dogs (they have a kind of geuteen blade on them...) actualy pinch the nails. The ones mad for pets only have one cutting surface, and so it squishes the nail between the cutting surface and a flat edge. Its not hard to imagin that this would be uncomfortable, especialy with all the nerve endings in/under a nail.
Human clippers have two cutting edges, so while they do still pinch a little, they are much more efficient. (Cant use them on dog nails though, unless you have a very small dog)

Bassicaly, all you want to do is cut off the white part of the nail. Try to get as close ot the pink as you can (the pink part is called the Quick) but dont cut into this part...it bleeds, and it hurts, much like cutting your own nails too short! When you are first starting out, cut only the very tips of the nail, every day. This will get your cat used to haveing its paws handled, get you used to clipping, and you will eventualy work your way close to the quick...by the time you get there, you can stop, and only clip them when they need they done.

As to the nail caps someoen else mentioned: I have seen them. You glue them onto the nail with something very like the glue that you use on artificial nails. They do eventualy wear off, and you have to replace them. They come in colors. I have talked to people that swear by them.

Oh, stock up on kitty treats. You might not be able to train a cat like a dog, but giving your kitty her favorit treat after a nail clipping sesssion, will go a long way towards halping her except them.


Edit: Just begining, it might be hard to convince a large, half wild cat to let you trim her nails. sty sitting down beside her and playing with her paws a little every day...eventualy work you way to clipping the tips of the claws. Do this while she is laying beside you, rather then holding onto her. Let her leave if she needs too, just start again the next time you are sitting beside her. Your big trick is going to be giving her the room she needs and still doing things YOUR way. As to the scratching post: all of our kitties are tall, and none have ever used the posts...try getting some carpet remnants, and a nice peice of board, and makeing your own. It needs to be taller then what you bought her, and it will also need a steadier base.
Then, rub some good catnip into the carpet on it.

And get out that squirt bottle. Squirt her whenever you catch her scratching somethign you dont want her to scratch. Does it work? Not always, she learns not to scratch when you are in the room...but it helos *shrug*

I wouldn't relish trying to trim Mia's nails either JB!

I agree with Nyteflame, avoid the guillotine style clippers, they crush the nail and really seem to hurt. I use scissor-like ones that spring back to an open position when i'm done. They are less fiddly than human clippers (small area to fit the nail in) and have a better shape for round nails. They are designed for small dogs, about $20AUD, and well worth it IMO.

I can often manage to clip 4 nails or so before the cat notices i'm doing it, but if its an unknown cat, or a particularly wiggly one, i bundle it up in a towl, stick its head under my armpit to prevent it taking off forward and liberate one leg at a time. That cat'll carry on a bit, but if you can do it quickly it'll be less traumatic than drawing it out, especially if its not used to being handled at all and the nail squeezing seems like a far off goal. Sometimes time is an issue, so although is seems confronting and cruel, fast, painless and controlled is much easier on a cat than a few hours of chasing and having the cat try to bolt off while you are madly holding onto a leg. This method works best on old grumps, outdoor cats who are newly indoor, and the ones who aren't keen on humans touching them at all. Retraining would be preferable, but it isn't always possible.

IF you draw blood, get a wet cake of pure soap and run the nail through it. You can use styptic powder or just pinch it, but its not as pleasant for he cat. It will be a bit tender on any nails that bleed. try to leave about 1-2mm of white as the quick comes down a bit further than it appears. On black nails, just de-tip until you get the hang of it.

If you want, do a paw a night.

My big thing is that I refuse to let go of a struggling cat. Meowling yes, but not wiggling and carrying on, otherwise they learn thats all they have to do to get free. I hold them until they are still for about 3 seconds, and then put them down. If you can use that, i find it works well, as even freshly cut nails make a mess of human skin, and when jumping away they need to kick off.

Other options are taking it to a grooming parlour or vet, as both employ people to di it as quickly and painlessly as possible

Cats will rarely scratch aluminium foil, so if you have couch covers, pin aluminim foil under the arm parts to retrain.

Look up "scat mat". Its an electrified pad that gives a zap when touched. Pricey, but it'll fix the problem.

Also, habits are easier to modify than break. Get a few scratch poles (tall ones so the cat can stretch out, they are selling completely silly small ones atm) and pop them around the place


EDIT: DONT PEEL THE NAILS. It'll be tempting, but its a surefire way to expose the tender bits of the nail.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

So glad I have fish... this never happens with catfish... not even digging, nuttin'

Good luck

[great advice from Calla about not letting go until they are still for 3 secs]

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

Thanks guys! Lots of helpful words.

I'm sure my cats would manage to chew off the tips, they have theis weird gnaw at their paw thing that I've never seen another cat do.

Yeah they struggled a lot, the fatter one managed to escape once or twice but I tricked her back into letting me pick her up by pretending to put food in her bowl. They got fed after I had finished with them.
One claw managed to split or something. It hadnt bled at first but noticed a few days later that it was a bit bloody, but she wouldnt let me touch it. Few days later and it was fine but I am trying to keep an eye on.

Before deciding to trim I did try this garlic spray I got from the petstore, seemed to encourage them The worst was that they insisted on getting their claws caught up in my quilt which just pulled the feathers out !


Hopefully the next few times will be easier !...it's just getting harder to catch zelda...and of course right after I trimmed was the first time she ever got brave enough to dash out the door when i was trying to get in one morning .


EDIT: Wish...yeah exactly...and they dont meow non stop to feed them even if they are a bit on the already overfed side guess it's because they were used to always having access to food...even if the tomcat would chase them away sometimes .

^_^

Check these out. They're designed for the smaller claws of a cat, and will not crush like human nail clippers, as mentioned before. If you do decide to go ahead and clip them yourself, it might be worth it to pick up some Quik-Stop while you're there. On the off chance the cat jerks as you clip and you do happen to clip too short and the nail starts to bleed, you put some of the yellow powder on it and it will stop the bleeding. It's also useful for yourself if you get a nick that just doesn't want to stop bleeding.
The shop should have a variety of cat clippers, so you can choose what fits you best.

They'll fight you at first, like mentioned before. Paws on animals are their livlihood, they use them for everything from transportation to eating, so they're going to be protective.

Good luck!

Hi, I was browsing a web blog about neat products, and saw those nail caps that everyone was talking about. I thought i would send you the link, in case you were still haveing trouble: http://www.softpaws.com/default.htm

http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=5400

They are the ones I have, but the kitty ones look pretty cool too

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

The cat specific ones are a little smaller, to accomodate the smaller nails. We used both at the shop.

I dont think im comfortable disarming cats, they have fights to win when they go out at night, and the claws are a deterrent to other cats, if a cat gets into a fight (and lets face it , they do tend to!) and its disarmed , another cat may well just beat the hell out of it. Cat claws are also integral to the way they support themselves and use grip when jumping, climbing and running, so I feel it would limit the animals ability for movement which someday might just save its life. Imagine that moment when a car approaches or a cat killing dog turns up, and kitty there lacks that instant grip . Cat claws are supposed to be sharp, that the cross to bear for cat owners, but you can always tip them with nail clippers if they get a bit long or overly recurved, cat claws often shorten by shedding the entire outer layer, so a tip clip is all thats required to get the nail to shorten over the coming weeks. Even then a cat can pretty much find a tree or similar and sharpen their claws in hours.Surely vinyl nail tips would only make the problem of overgrowth worse.

I dont think you can stop a cats claws being sharp without being cruel, but there are always scratching posts, or failing that the cats preferred option - a bit of a tree!

Tip- put scratchy post next to litter tray, then using it often becomes ritual, like scent marking , cat often has a poo and has a scratch. Sorted.

I have 2 cats, 1 indoor and 1 indoor/outdoor, I trim the indoor ones claws when I notice him scratching me when he jumps out of my arms, the indoor/outdoor cat's claws get trimmed at the first snow fall because he stays inside more in the winter.

I keep a spray bottle around so I can spray them when they start to scratch the furniture or the carpet or climbing on the dining room table eating the flowers or dinner scraps.

claw trimming is pretty easy. But they will meow and fight so it works best as 2 person job. we use a cat claw trimmer we got at a pet store a long time ago, it has a hole you stick the claw in and then a blade chops of the tip. Be careful not to cut of the pink because it will make the claw bleed, we only had a claw bleed once.

Have Fun and don't get hurt!