Wrapping cat in towel for clippings?

ping

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
2,205
Purraise
2
Location
Ga
I have read on here that some people wrap their cats in a towel so that they can trim the claws. How do you go about doing this? Is there any sites that help?
 

abigail

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2005
Messages
1,418
Purraise
11
Location
Latitude: 45° 31' North Longitude: 122° 39' We
i call it burrito. [pace the towel on the floor. put your cat on it, and bundle him up FAST before he gets away, be esoecially snug around the neck or the pars get out and you have to start all over.

if that cat is VERY skittish, approach from the top, covering the head first will often calm him down to give you the extra second needed to wrap.

Abi hates being restrained so I prefer the "dangle" I lift up her front paws, rest her back paws on something w no traction so she cants push off and I clip. it takes some practice to hold and dangle with one arm whilepressing feet and using the other to clip, but she prefers this to being wrapped.
 

mzjazz2u

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 6, 2003
Messages
10,133
Purraise
4
Location
The Beehave State!
I just put the towel on the sofa, put the cat on it and wrap them very tightly like you would a new born baby. Then I just pull one paw out at a time and clip the claws. It makes it much easier at least for the front paws.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

ping

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
2,205
Purraise
2
Location
Ga
Thanks I bookmarked that site.
 

amy-dhh

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
824
Purraise
2
Location
LI, NY
I don't wrap mine, and I promise you, he does not like getting his nails clipped.

Best time to do it is when they're groggy from a nap. Don't attempt to clip their nails on YOUR schedule


I go for it when he's real mellow and kind-of just waking up from a nap. I can usually get six nails clipped before he realizes what I'm doing and tries to bite me -- I mean in the time it took the guy in the video to swaddle the cat, I'd have had a paw and 1/2 worth of nails clipped
. I'll got back again for the rest after another nap usually the next day.

I do not get his back claw all that often. He's REAL sensitive with his back feet and most of the time is too unhappy for me to even touch them, let-alone let me clip the nails. I get his fronts pretty regularly... every 3 weeks or so. The backs only get clipped maybe every other month.

Also, I give him kitty treats when I'm done and tell him what a good boy he is
 

jokieman

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 18, 2006
Messages
90
Purraise
1
Location
Florida
The only problem I have with the towel method is that the guys cat didn't bite. hehe. I'm more worried about being bitten than getting clawed. (I really don't feel like a trip to the emergency room due to a puncture wound. hehe.)
 

msrpavao

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
27
Purraise
0
Location
Mississauga ON Canada
My kitten is very sensitive about his back paws too ... he doesn't let me touch them. I actually clipped his front paws for the first time this weeked .. while he was down and sleepy. I just kept petting his paws and talking softly to him. It was a bit challenging though ...
 

tiffanyjbt

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
795
Purraise
1
Location
NW Indiana
Duke is the best cat until its nail clipping time. Any other time, he has no problem being picked up and held, by me or anyone else. But the second I press his paws to expose his claws, its all out warfare! I have a huge gash on my pinkie right now from him trying to scramble away. He will squirm and scream and hiss and growl! It takes me and my husband several sessions over a few days to get them all done.

He's going to a cat show this weekend, and one of the requirements is that his claws be trimmed. I'll be taking him to the vet tomorrow for that! For some reason, what is a 45 minute ordeal for three days straight for us only takes the vet like 2 minutes! I even held him once while the vet clipped his nails... Not a problem! Duke is SUCH a brat!!!

I'm actually starting to think he's picking up on my apprehension about doing it myself. I'm not exactly the most calm and collected when I try to do it... I guess I need training too!
 

lme1616

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
26
Purraise
0
Location
New York City
I trim their nails when they are taking an afternoon snooze. they are usually on the rocking chair so I can go behind it and go through the spindles to get the back paws too
If they are awake they are not cooperative at all. But they don't even flinch when they are zzzzzz.
 

shambelle

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Mar 15, 2005
Messages
327
Purraise
1
I burrito a little differently. I trap the cat in the towel by throwing it over her back half (actually, more than that - everything but her head). Then, I flip her over and tighten. However, I'm not doing the burrito to clip nails, I'm doing it for pills, so I try to get all the paws in the burrito. Inevitably, a back paw slips out which makes it clipping-friendly...
 

momto3cats

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2006
Messages
1,143
Purraise
131
Location
TX
I have never had much luck with the towel method. I find it easier to do it when they're sleepy and relaxed - I pet the cat and talk soothingly to her while clipping as quickly as I can. If she gets upset, I just stop, and finish another day. My attitude seems to make a big difference, also. I try to be very calm and matter-of-fact about the whole thing, and that makes it much easier than before, when I was apprehensive about the cat's possible reaction.
 

shanynne

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Messages
580
Purraise
4
Location
Bellingham, WA USA
Originally Posted by momto3cats

I have never had much luck with the towel method. I find it easier to do it when they're sleepy and relaxed - I pet the cat and talk soothingly to her while clipping as quickly as I can. If she gets upset, I just stop, and finish another day. My attitude seems to make a big difference, also. I try to be very calm and matter-of-fact about the whole thing, and that makes it much easier than before, when I was apprehensive about the cat's possible reaction.
And as Amy has also said "Best time to do it is when they're groggy from a nap. Don't attempt to clip their nails on YOUR schedule

Very good advice!

Personally, I did try the towel technique and it only made it worse. Once the cat associates a negative feeling with what you're trying to do, it just makes it worse. But that is just my experience.

My youngest first got his nails clipped at the vet, without my permission. I had brought him in for something and they went ahead and did it, "as a curtesy". I was SOOOOO UPSET
. Why? Because all my hard work to build up his trust was down the drain. When I next came to trim his nails, he screamed and fought it like I was going to cuttoff his paws.

First thing I did was quit trying to cut his nails for a while. Then, each time I would hold him and be petting him, I would make sure to gently rub/touch all of his paws.

As Amy and Momto3cats have suggested, I too waited to do it while they were asleep or just waking up. If he started to wake up as I was trimming his nails, I would simply stop and gently stroke him, and just softly murmur to him.

You can't cut their nails when you're in the mood to, it has to be when the cat is very relaxed.

It's all about building up that trust. Once your kitty realizes you're not going to hurt him, he will relax a whole lot more. Also, I tend to leave the back paws alone as their nails don't get so sharp back there.

Hope this helps!
Shanynne
Extreme Kitty Lover
 

catpaws4me

TCS Member
Kitten
Joined
Jan 11, 2007
Messages
12
Purraise
0
Location
ONTARIO CANADA
I wrap my cats up by placing the towel over their bodies and bundling them up in it and sitting on the couch and bringing one foot out at a time. Only their head is exposed but if they are biters you can cover their head and just bring out one foot at a time but talk to them while doing this to keep them calm.

My cat Taffy is a constant stuggler and meows all the time throughout her clipping and I do the cats front feet every six weeks or if they start clawing too much and grabbing their nails in things or if my dad complains about getting scratched when one of the cats is on his lap. LOL.


I do all four feet at one sitting and then for two months I do just the front ones as the back feet don't grow that long and fast so I just do the front feet for two sittings and then all four all over again and I give them some whiskas temptation treats afterwards as a reward and to comfort them to show them that it was okay and that it was painless.
 
Top