claws ridiculously long/cat won't cooperate

Perhaps try a good firm scruffing as well.

Petco here charges $10 a cat for a simple clipping.

If I try to scruff (firmly or otherwise) a couple of my nail trimming resistant cats, I will end up bleeding while no nails get trimmed.

I take my cats to the vet regularly (at least once annually) and have the techs there cut their nails.

It once took 5 people to get Miss Penny's nails trimmed: four to hold her down and one to trim quickly - that tiny Bengal is a powerhouse!

If you wait until he's sleeping (and he lets you pet him while he's sleeping and isn't hypervigilant--jumping up when yout touch him), you can usually clip 2 or 3 claws before he wakes up enough to notice.

If that doesn't work, I'd probably take him to the groomer for the first couple times. Just so he doesn't get freaked out about it and think he can't trust you.

I would just play and pet his feet as often as you can. Have the clippers nearby and every so often try to clip just one nail. Then play with his feet and give a treat. It will take awhile, but I'm one for NOT waiting for the cat to be sleepy.

You eventually can train them to accept nail clipping without wrapping them up and to do it when its convenient for YOU - not for the cat.

It took me 3 years(well, almost) to get Ku Ku used to regular nail-clipping(once in 2 weeks).

When I was living in FL, I always had to ask my roommate to hold Ku Ku so I can clip her nails without getting bitten or scratched. Back then, she never let me touch her paws, also got freaked out so easily whenever I tried.
I tried a lot, even purchased this useless gadget to file her nails that I had to trash after months of trying.

I proceeded slowly, though.
First step was to wait for the time Ku Ku gets either sleepy or comfy, avoided when she was in the playing-mode or overly excited.
While (trying) clipping, talking to her in a very calming tone(I usually baby-talk to her anyways but I do so extra gently when I trim her nails).
If she let me clip even just one, I gave her a treat. If she let me clip all, I gave her treat and praised her well.
Some ppl call it a bribe but I call this "a compensation".
It perfectly worked for Ku Ku.

Whatever methods you'd take, patience & persistence are the key, my friend.

OK, can someone explain to me why you trim your cats claws? As I've said in other posts, which may be a boring by now, but true, I've had cats now for 50 years. I've NEVER trimmed their nails, nor found any reason to. If I were them, I'd be pretty irate at the whole proposition. It probably hurts, besides being rather invasive.

With new cats to my home (and I'm very picky about my furniture) I use Sticky Paws to train them not to scratch the couch and stuffed chairs. It really works. After they are home a couple of months, it isn't necessary and I remove it. I have 3 scratching posts of various materials. They use them. They never scratch me, or anyone else. Occasionally one will claw the oriental carpets. I ask them to stop, and they do.

So, what is this all about? It mystifies me.

Robin

I doubt it hurts. It's just like trimming our nails, and that doesn't hurt if you do it right. I suppose you could make it hurt if you tried, or didn't know what you were doing. But Scotty purrs the entire time I'm doing it (attention hog!) so it can't be too bad.

I have some indoor ferals and I have never trimmed their claws (obviously! I can't even pet them). They do fine. But some of the tame cats do need their nails trimmed...Bitsy gets her stuck in the carpet (they curl funny), Scotty and Scrappy like to knead me and I don't like getting poked, the kittens try to climb my legs and I would rather avoid looking like I fought with a cactus, etc.

If they're too irate I don't even try. Silka will NOT let me trim her claws....fine. As long as she doesn't want to knead me or climb me, and her claws don't get stuck on things, I see no reason to bother her.

I trim close to every week. I burrito the cat. The cat doesn't mind and is good with grooming time. It doesn't take long and doesn't hurt if you know what you are doing (just avoid the quick, easy to see, then it is pain free). My cat plays with dogs and likes to knead everything and a neatly trimmed claw is better for this household.

Oh, kneading! Yes, well I only have one that wants to do that to me, and if it hurts I stop her. Kittens do climb legs, but I haven't had a kitten in a long time. I always get adult cats when I get new cats. But I get plenty of kitten time at the shelter. But I always wear long pants, so it doesn't matter.

Thanks for answering my question.


Robin

Robin, what kind of flooring do you have in your home....in carpeted homes, sometimes the claws do grow very long because they're simply not getting worn down during walking.

To OP, glad things are working out - my girl gets her nails done by either vet or groomer because she simply does not cooperate with me.

We have an 83 year old house. All the flooring (even in the kitchen and the bathroom) is yellow pine. They are lovely, long, old growth boards that can't be found anymore.The floors were all redone when we bought the house 11 years ago. I have area rugs (oriental carpets or the like, one berber) in every room except the kitchen and bathroom. The floors look almost like they did when we moved in. The cats don't harm them. The basement has a concrete floor, and the litter pans are there. Some of my cats like to hang out in the basement, but they spend no more than and hour a day down there. Some only go down there to use the facilities.

I grew up in carpeted homes, and we never clipped the nails of our cats. I never even heard of clipping the nails of cats until a couple of years ago. I've never had cats' nails grow so long that it was a problem for me or them. However, I've rarely had dogs living with me, so I don't know about interactions between kneading cats and dogs.

If one of my cats starts kneading me, and I don't like it, I just hold paws with them so to speak. Most cats don't care for their paws to be touched, so that's the end of the kneading.


But, whatever works. I'm not criticizing. I was just curious. I'm just glad that I don't have to worry about it.

Robin

It wasn't that long ago that I awoke to find my 16 year old had gotten a claw stuck in my desk chair sometime in the night.
God only knows how long she struggled to free herself.
I found her with her shoulder dislocated and she had peed and pooped all over herself either from panic or simply due to being stuck there for hours.
She was sore, but ok afterward, but I can only imagine how frightened she must have been.

Just because you've never had any issues like this, does not mean that it can't happen.

Its always better to err on the side of caution.

We never clipped claws when I was growing up, but we always had indoor/outdoor cats and their claws got worn down naturally.
Some of my past indoor only cats would actually bite the sharp tips from their claws.

Oh, your poor kitty. What a freak thing.

None of my cats have ever gone outside (with one exception of a stray I took in, and that ended badly).

Lots of weird things can happen, but they usually don't. I still won't clip my cats nails, unless there is any indication of a problem. Since 1960, no problems yet. I'm involved with caring for about 90 cats a week. We don't trim their nails. No problems.

But, for anyone who thinks this is necessary for good cat care, or maintaining peace and harmony in their home, good for you. I'm glad you do it. To each his own. I just wondered why. I wasn't hoping for conversion.

Robin

If things are going well with your cats and their claws with no clipping, no need to change that. Our first cat was a polydactyl that we took in as a stray. The claws next to her "thumbs" were so overgrown they were growing back into her paw pads. We always had to keep an eye on those two claws. With Abby, if her claws get to long, she starts getting caught in the rug, blankets, me , etc. She always struggles to detach herself and I worry that she will pull a claw out of hurt herself, so I clip them.

IMO trimming nails should be part of the grooming routine. Even before I showed my first HHP I would trim nails.

When I first rescued/adopted Ritz, never having had cat before and not knowing better, I routinely petted her all over her body, including her paws. So I guess Ritz associated the good petting and massage (her neck) with the bad (paws) and didn't react much when I did pet her paws.
I trim Ritz' claws when she is in REM sleep, preferably on my lap. When she is in this deep of a sleep cycle (her body twitches and sometimes she talks) I can clip her claws without her waking up. (It takes me longer to figure out how to extract the claw than it does to clip it.)
I do clip her claws on a regular basis; otherwise, her claws get caught in the carpet, the screen and some of her toys, which is uncomfortable and potentially dangerous.

Since none of my cats have ever had their claws clipped, and getting their claws caught in things is not a problem, at all, I'm wondering if clipping their claws prevents them from learning how to deal with normal, unclipped claws.

Again, I'm not criticizing, or asking for reasons to do it, because I'm not going to do it unless one of my cats has a problem with their claws. It's just that, like my cats, I have a curious mind and wonder about things.

I do believe all of you about your cats claws getting caught in things. But since it doesn't happen at my house, I wonder why some cats can't cope with their natural claw growth, and others can.

At the shelter where I volunteer, there is one cat, beautifully marked (black and white but especially interesting pattern), Valentina, who is extremely shy. She doesn't want out of her cage, but every week I pull her out, with her resisting - because she has to learn to deal with people and being outside her cage if she is ever going to get adopted. She is the only one, of the about 30 a week that I interact with personally, who gets her claws caught in her bedding as I'm pulling her out of her cage. But, she is resisting being taken out of her cage, and she doesn't even want to walk around. If I take her to one of the adoption rooms, she just wants to sit in my lap. She actually likes the attention and likes to be brushed. But every week we play out this scene where she fights coming out. I'm probably the only one who ever takes her out of her cage, because she is so resistant. So her claws are extended, trying to hold on to her bed so she doesn't have to come out. I'm wondering why cats who walk around and live more normal lives, even indoors all the time, like mine, would have claws that get caught in things. It is something I don't see very often, and I see, touch, and hold a lot of cats every week.

(Please don't bite my head off.)

Robin

Ku Ku actually self-grooms her claws except for dew claws.
I'd still have to trim them anyways.
From what I read, dew claws do not get worn by scratching, it would grow into foot when it gets longer.
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/cliented/cat_claws.aspx

I guess you don't have to worry about trimming if your kitties don't have this problem.

If cats are able to shed the outer layer of their claws, that's fine. Years ago we had an old lady cat who no longer shed them. Her claws would grow longer and longer. She'd "click, click, click" when she walked and the tips of her claws would curl around so much that they'd grow into the pad if not clipped.

Whenever I hear Mist, our present cat, clicking when she walks I know it is time for a trim.

I sit her in my lap, her back against me. She complains but doesn't struggle too much. I just sweet talk her, and clip away. Guess we're both lucky.

Robin-
I, too, have an inquiring mind! When I was growing up I never clipped my cats' claws, but they were outdoor cats. I don't think I would ever have started clipping except that when my late Butterscotch became indoor/outdoor she was no longer shedding her claws properly and my vet recommended it. Once I got my two current furbabies I just always clipped their claws.
I am also interested to know if it is an "acquired" thing.

i would take him to a groomer or vet to have them clipped at least until you are more comfortable doing it it should not cost more the 10.00 good luck

This is why I regularly clip my cat's claws.