Clipping kitten claws

Seems like you might be able to answer this for me.

I purchased one of those cat tree type of things tonight and it's covered with low pile carpeting. I have 2 eleven week old kittens that seem to like it well enough. The problem is that they seem to get their claws stuck in the covering. I'm worried that they might hurt themselves if left alone with it. One already got "stuck" to the carpet so bad she kind of panicked a bit so I pulled her off of it. They don't get stuck to the sisel (sp?) wrapped scratching post I bought...

Should I not use it until they grow up a bit?

No I'd leave it out. You can start trimming their nails - if you take off the sharp tips, they can still climb but shouldn't get stuck like they would with the really sharp nails.

Takes a few months for kittens to retract their nails - that's why they are getting stuck now.


Also I start trimming nails on kittens at 3-4 weeks old, so they get used to it and don't give you a hard time when grown up. At almost 3 months old, they should have been getting their nails clipped a month ago.

Yes, nail trimming is important. Jack is only 6 months old and is still learning to retract his nails.

Leslie

I see. They offered to show me how to do that at their first vet visit but I wasn't interested because they are being really good about not tearing stuff up. Wish they had told me about kittens not knowing how to retract their claws. That explains why they get caught a bit on the old futon they have access to. Although on that they get out pretty easy. This new tree... not so much.

Well, 2 weeks until the next visit to the vet. They kind of explained to me in at the vet. I'm sure with that and some research on the internet I'll figure it out. I'll just take off less until they show me exactly what to do at the vet.

Thanks for the advice. I could have had a hurt little kitty!

Do you have someone to help you when clipping their nails?

I found a couple of kittens that were ~5 weeks old (and are now 8 months) and have been clipping their nails since they were about 6 weeks old... Kitten nails are SO sharp I had to clip them or risk little prick marks all over me, lol.

What I did, at first, when they were litte, was have someone hold them with their thumb behind whichever arm was going to be clipped (so they couldn't move it around). I then held that paw in my left hand, splaying out the toes (as gently as possible, but firm enough so that they couldn't move) and then looked at each nail from the side. In good light, you can easily see the quick (pink part) from the side. I started just clipping the very tips of the claws off because I was afraid to clip more, as the kittens were so tiny.

I had to do this about 1-2 times a week (and still trim once a week) as I think kitten nails grow faster than those of an adult cat. Now, due to repitition and the fact that I've never cut the quick with either of them, they tolerate it pretty well. I can even do all four paws in one setting.

HTH,
Art

I removed the cat tree as it's just to much for them to handle at such a young age. I clipped just a little bit off each claw (about as small an amount as I could) on the front paws tonight just to get them used to it. Caught them while they were sleepy and docile. Unlike some cats they play REAL nice with people and with each other but I want to get them used to this while they're young.

Thanks for separating this into it's own thread. I would have started a new one but brand new members can't start new threads apearantly, which is understandable with spam and all.

Anyway, I'll probably just lurk here and learn for a while. Been ~20 years since I had a kitten(s) in the house.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Originally Posted by roncoop

I removed the cat tree as it's just to much for them to handle at such a young age. I clipped just a little bit off each claw (about as small an amount as I could) on the front paws tonight just to get them used to it. Caught them while they were sleepy and docile.

Unlike some cats they play REAL nice with people and with each other but I want to get them used to this while they're young.

Thanks for separating this into it's own thread. I would have started a new one but brand new members can't start new threads apearantly, which is understandable with spam and all.

Anyway, I'll probably just lurk here and learn for a while. Been ~20 years since I had a kitten(s) in the house.

Thanks for the help everyone.

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Hi and welcome to TCS!

There is no restriction on newbies starting threads. If you're having trouble, you can let one of us mods know. You should be able to start threads.