I am embarrassed to say, I have never had a cat who got their claws "clipped" before. I have always had indoor/outdoor cats and they seemed to take care of their own claws well enough, sharpening, etc. I really had no idea it was something that needed to be done.

My next cat will be indoor only. Will it be more necessary in this case, to learn to clip their claws regularly? If so, how often should it be done and do you start when they are kittens? What problem does it cause if you do not clip them?

I clip once a week without having the soft nails on. Since putting the soft nails on Puff it's once a month or whenever a soft claw falls off. Make sure you provide scratching posts so they can wear them down some. But you will still need to clip often.

It's always a good idea to start clipping them young so they are not trying to pull away when their older.

I agree with starting young. If you seach this board there is a very good thread where I learned to clip my girls nails. I only do it about once a month though. Or whenever they start gettin me too good!

Alley never scratched people, or furniture, so I guess I never thought about her nails as being a problem. She had a favorite tree outside that she liked to sharpen them on most of the time.

It will be very different having an indoor only kitty, so I want to do everything I can to make sure it is happy and well adjusted, so I'm trying to learn everything I can before July.

I think this is the thread that I got my 'method' from: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8417&highlight=clipping+nails

Thanks! I will check it out.

Getting them used to clipping nails - younger the better. Indoor cats don't wear them down, so you have to clip. I'd start by handling the feet a lot when petting (not just for nail clipping). If you don't clip, they can either snag on carpet, drapes, etc and the cat can pull its nail out! You only need to keep the sharp tip clipped. The more you clip the further back the "quick" will be and you don't have to worry about bleeding.

Check and clip as necessary about once a week. I keep my cat's nails clipped really short. I had a Russian Blue kitten almost loose his eye in playing as kittens - so I start any kittens I have at 3 WEEKS old in getting nails done.

I usually hold them on their backs as they get bigger or let them lay on my lap and do each foot. If they are done as kittens and done once a week, they learn to tolerate it pretty well.

Ling doesn't like getting them done - never has; she'll act like its killing her but I don't take any cr*p off her :) Charlie on the other hand is a love bug no matter what you are doing - he actually purrs when getting his nails done; only had one other cat do that - a devon rex cross :)

i started clipping kya's nails as soon as i brought her home at around ten weeks. she was extreeeeeemly tolerant. but now at almost 9 months she sits there and growls at me and now she actually scares me but i do them anyway because they get stuck in clothing and furniture, etc, and it scares the crap out of her and hurts her too. definately clip them once a week if you can.

my new 8 month old boy kevin, doesnt like it either but he didnt get it done regularly throughout his life, but instead of growling at me he just squirms out of my hands.