mom cat biting nails of her kittens

okay, this has actually been going on since the day after the kittens were born but it never occured to me to ask on here

so, what she does is grab their paws(trying to get their nails) and bites till they bleed, she will actually literally pick them up off the ground by their feet. I dont understand what she is trying to do? I thought at first she was trying to trim their nails, but they were only a day old and their claws really weren't that sharp at all!

Now here is where it really confuses me, the kittens are now 5 weeks old and THEY pull at their nails like their mom did(she still does occasionally, not as much anymore)! she seems to shed her nails by pulling off the loose 'shell' with her teeth instead of scratching them off, but she also scratches on things. The kittens are doing the same thing.

is she teaching them how to do that? I've never heard of or seen any other queen do it

Maybe a obsessibe compulsive disorder? At that age she has been teaching them behavior since the day she had them so that is probably a learned behavior. There is a thing called THUMBS, that is used to get people to stop biting their nail and sucking their thumbs and from what Im told its safe on pets too... maybe something to look into! let us know how its going! And we love pictures! hehe

oh wow I didn't think about it being an obsessive compulsive disorder...but that'd make sense. I will look into that Thumbs thing(any specific site I can find it on?)...that sounds like a cool idea that'd work, thank you glitch!

heheh..hey did you ever get the PM I sent you? well I replied to it,....it had pics in there of my babies

Haha, ya I did thats right! They are beautiful!! You can get the bottle of Thum from walmart for about three bucks. Its suppose to be all natural and it tastes horrible! hehe

http://store.darisimall.com/68262.html

The main ingredient is cayenne pepper! but heres a little bit about it on that site!

Please don't use any over the counter products on your cats without getting a vet recommendation first. Not all are safe even if labeled as pet-friendly.

My guess is that she is teaching them how to trim their own nails.

Till they bleed?? I understand the teaching them to trim their nails but they can only take it so far before it become a problem! If they're already bleeding... that would worry me a little bit!

Again, if there is a legitimate concern it should be discussed with a vet. I would not recommend using anything over the counter without discussing it with a vet, especially on young kittens.

Ya, Talk to the vet first, that way they know whats going on and they probably have something that can help also! That way you dont feel bad if it goes bad, ceyanne pepper is really hot and kitty may not be able to handle it! I dont know for sure, it was just a suggestion! Let us KnoW!!