My kitten, who is about 7 1/2 months old, is a terror, when it comes to clipping his nails. I have been handling his paws (and clipping his nails) since he was two weeks old, when I got him and hand-fed him. He's been progressively getting worse as the months go by, and I'm not sure why. I have never once quicked any of his nails, so I don't think he associates clipping with pain.
He has a slight problem with biting, anyway, but when it comes to clipping his nails, he's like a feral, untamed cat, spitting and biting like crazy.
I have clipped other cats' nails in front of him, especially our perfectly behaved Siamese, who "shows" him how to do it, but it obviously isn't doing much good.
Last night, a friend was over with her two cats, both of whom are pretty friendly with him. I tried clipping his nails, so my friend, who is better with cat behaviour than I am, could see how he behaves, and how bad he's gotten about it. Her cat actually hit my kitten when he started screaming and biting (her cat has this -thing- about loud noises; I guess she bites whatever is making the bad loud noises, and that's exactly what she did last night!). We didn't know that would happen. And now, I'm worried that he might act even worse when I try to clip his nails.
Does anyone have any ideas for me? Any ideas of what to do, or why he does this?
He has a slight problem with biting, anyway, but when it comes to clipping his nails, he's like a feral, untamed cat, spitting and biting like crazy.
I have clipped other cats' nails in front of him, especially our perfectly behaved Siamese, who "shows" him how to do it, but it obviously isn't doing much good.
Last night, a friend was over with her two cats, both of whom are pretty friendly with him. I tried clipping his nails, so my friend, who is better with cat behaviour than I am, could see how he behaves, and how bad he's gotten about it. Her cat actually hit my kitten when he started screaming and biting (her cat has this -thing- about loud noises; I guess she bites whatever is making the bad loud noises, and that's exactly what she did last night!). We didn't know that would happen. And now, I'm worried that he might act even worse when I try to clip his nails.
Does anyone have any ideas for me? Any ideas of what to do, or why he does this?