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sharp claws

post #1 of 6
12/12/10 at 12:21am
Thread Starter 
got a 6 month old siamese, just made his last vet visit 2.5 weeks ago, had his claws trimmed, now sharp as razor blades again......i was playing with fake mouse today, and he got me on thumb....gash and started bleeding ...this is no fun to me, though he did not seem bothered by it,,,mostly interested in the mouse...

i have heard you could get a scatching pad that they could scratch on , and take the bite off the claws....are these pads any good????or do i have to trim his nails with clipper
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post #2 of 6
12/12/10 at 12:58am
Depending on the cat, it is recommended to trim the claws every 2 - 4 weeks. Also, scratching is a natural cat instinct, so a scratching post or scratching mat would be a very good idea for him to relieve that part of his instint, and it does take the edge off of his claws for a longer period of time. However, usually only outdoor cats work their claws down enough to avoid trimming completely. Indoor cats can scratch a post and help, but sometimes it's necessary o trim the claws. My cats have multiple scratching posts and a cat tree they claw at, but I still find it necessary to trim their claws about once a month.
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post #3 of 6
12/12/10 at 4:44am
You may be thinking of the Emery cat. There is a thread on here for it that you may want to read through. So many didn't like it, or their cats didn't like it, though.

Scratching posts, mats, and cardboard scratchers do not shorten or dull a cats claws. Many make the mistake of thinking this. When a cat scratches at a surface, they're sharpening their claws by removing the outer sheaths. This is important as it keeps the claws growing properly and strong.

Kittens claws grow faster than adult cats do. You'll need to check your kitten's claws weekly, and likely trim them weekly to every week and a half. The more he scratches on surfaces the more quickly they'll sharpen back up.
Ultimately learn to trim them yourself and keep up on it.
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post #4 of 6
12/12/10 at 5:00am
Cute kitten, but you really need to be clipping the nails weekly. So I suggest you get some good nail clippers (scissor kind seems to work best) and start doing your kitten's nails every week.

Scratching pads really don't keep the nails wore down.
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post #5 of 6
12/16/10 at 3:59am
Coworker has it, and when asked about it, he told me "waste of money". He has seven cats thanks to his girlfriend, so thats a pretty good sample IMO. He said they just wouldn't use it.

As was said, frequent clipping is the way to go, and most scratching pads just make the claws sharper by shedding the outer dull layers and revealing the razor sharp fresh claw layers underneath. Thats the whole point behind scratching after all.

After that, more training, softclaws, and laser declaw would be the progressively escalating options to control destructive clawing.
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post #6 of 6
12/16/10 at 9:37am
My heavens, when we have to trim Mollipop's claws, you'd think we were torturing that girl beyond belief. Scream! Yowl! I think they could hear her on Pluto! I hold her and DH wields the clippers. And we're so paranoid that we're going to clip too short that we tend to err on the side of caution, which means that her claws are probably still a little on the long side.
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