I feel so bad - would this have lasting impact?

I adopted two adorable 8 week old kittens last week.

They're beautiful, but they had razor sharp claws and were tottalling my expensive furniture. So I decided to trim their nails.

Cats obviously hate their nails being clipped. Kittens more so. (yes, I'm careful) the little girl was first, and although she squirmed and I may have squished her a bit, she was fine, all done.

The little boy came next, and he kept squirming, and I keep trying to keep hold of the loose skin at the back of the neck where mommy cat holds baby cat like usual, and he tried to squirm away and I jolted him back a little too much, which made his little head move in a shaking motion

As soon as it happened, I thought omg, I'm so sorry, and now images of shaken baby syndrome are plaguing me... will this apply to kittens? may I have inadvertently caused my baby permanant brain damage? do you think he will be ok? should I get him checked?

God, I feel so bad I fret too much about my babies.

Just keep a good eye on him. I know something like that can make you feel just awful, but he is probably fine. If he starts doing anything strange, take him to the vet.
Sending out vibes for your baby!

Try wrapping them in a towel when doing the nails. You need to trim/check at least once a week. Front nails grow faster then the back ones.

And get a good treehouse scratching post (minimum of 4 feet high) so they use that instead of the furniture.

I start trimming nails at 3-4 weeks old and do it regularly. By the time they are older, they don't give me too much problem. Some will even purr when trimming nails

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Try wrapping them in a towel when doing the nails. You need to trim/check at least once a week. Front nails grow faster then the back ones.

And get a good treehouse scratching post (minimum of 4 feet high) so they use that instead of the furniture.

I start trimming nails at 3-4 weeks old and do it regularly. By the time they are older, they don't give me too much problem. Some will even purr when trimming nails

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That's good advice. And I always use the towel method. Jake used to just let me clip away. He was such a good boy. Now my new guy, Maxx, he's a different story! He hates having it done. But he's a scratcher so he better get used to it! I have to move the cat tree out where he can get to it and use it easier.