nail trim

I've never had my cats nails trimmed and the ones that have a higher risk of getting their nails stuck in something are my older cats. The older a cat gets, the harder it is to retract their claws. My Stumpy gets his claws stuck in things a lot more lately (he'll be 17 soon), but he also doesn't do as many crazy things as he used to do, so it doesn't happen very often. I have had to come and rescue him once in a while.

In the 40 odd years that I've had cats, I've had 1 incident where one of my younger ones got her claw stuck on the sofa when she tried to jump off. She twisted her leg and limped for a few days. As she was falling, her body weight caused the claw to dislodge, but not before her leg twisted. If they get a claw stuck in carpet, they just pull until it's dislodged - no harm to cat, possible harm to carpet.

So it can happen, but it is rare when they would actually hurt themselves from it.

Trimming your cat's nails (at least the front ones) is really something you can quite easily do yourself. 

 

One of my two cats always struggled when I took her to the shelter where we can get free nail trims. One person would try to hold her while the other one did a quick clip-clip-clip. 

 

Now I simply place her on the floor and straddle her, closing my feet behind her rear end and keeping her firmly wedged between my legs. When I bend forward to clip the front paws she has virtually no way to escape and sits perfectly still...it's a miracle and almost seems enjoyable.

 

Hind legs...I get about one nail a day while she sleeps ;)

Hi, my Buddy hates, hates, hates having his nails clipped.  He used to claw and even bite me.  He also gets very stressed to get into the car to go to the vets for anything so I always ask for a trim when he has to go to the vets for other reasons.  Meanwhile he does get his nails stuck in the carpet when they are very sharp, he tugs until it gets loose but I worry too much so I try to clip them whenever I get a chance.  Mostly I get them when he is sleeping.  I have a good quality clipper and I get a few of them at night when he is sleeping and do it every night until they are all clipped.  I usually worry about the fronts first as they are the longest and sharpest. Once they are done the backs get a trim. Buddy never even knows, if he wakes up while clipping, he usually does, I just hide the clipper and act innocent, he goes back to sleep.  Hee hee hee!  Try it one toe at a time while sleeping, good luck!

 

Here's a video of the process with Punkin.

 

 

Yes, I know he doesn't look reluctant in the video.  Believe it or not, he hates having his claws trimmed, but he's learned this method is essentially escape proof.

 

I do as many as 20 cats each time I go down to the shelter, and it's the rare cat I'm not successful with (maybe 1 in a hundred), and, amazingly enough, I've never been bitten doing it.  I even did a cat that was considered "unadoptable," because of his aggressive play.  Everyone was amazed.

Try the way Mrblanche has shown in his video.  This is the way I pill Buddy and put ointment in his eyes.  They really have nowhere to go and it is the easiest, give it a shot. It feels a little hard at first but after you do it a time or two it becomes natural and they really can't get away, also it keeps their back claws out of your way (harm).  I also feel that Buddy is more calm when I use this method.

 

Janice and Buddy

 

That's exactly how I do it and it seems to have a calming effect. I believe holding your cat up in your arms or even on your lap makes them want to jump and escape. Mine struggles like a maniac that way. But tugged between my legs and held down with my body works like magic for nail trimming, force feeding (poor thing wouldn't eat when my second son went off to college this year) and pilling.

Are you nervous about it? Try to be calm and nonchalant...it's no big deal if you only get one nail. Keep at it and your cat might get used to it. 

 

Also, try doing it in a quiet area of your house with no distractions. Or, if your cat is really into birdwatching, do it in front of a patio door if you have one and let her focus on the birds outside.

 

What general area are you located in?

 

You undoubtedly know your cat better than we do.  However, my brother swears he can't clip his cats' claws; I grabbed them and did it without any trouble.

One of my cats hates having his nails trimmed, and I found a way similar to mrblanches that works well. The problem I was having when I tried doing it exactly like mrblanche was that my cat hated me pulling out a paw he had is weight on, so I had to make him sit in a way that his weight wasn't resting on his front paws. First, I put him on my bed so I can push him a little harder into the bed to immobilize him without hurting him. Then I hunker down on top of him so he is put into the "meatloaf" position, which is him sitting down with his front paws folded under him. He hardly struggles at all now because when I pull out a paw, he doesn't have to shift his weight to adjust for sitting on three paws.

 

As a word of forewarning, I do carry my cats in the meatloaf position whenever I pick them up, rather than holding them like babies. This may have something to do with his comfort at me clipping his nails in that position, but I have no way of testing since I have never had a cat who I held differently.

my inside cat was declawed, but her back claws are still torcher to our couch and chairs...and she has found a way to sharpen them in a fun way by getting on her back on the floor, getting underneath one of our wooden chairs and she will push herself untill she thinks they are sharpened enough.... My question is, can I trim Nala's BACK nails or is it bad for her in any way? Thanks

You can trim back claws, no problem. When I took my cat to petco, they trimmed both front and back. Once I learned how to trim the nails myself, I only did the front, but there is nothingwrong with trimming the back nails.

Petco....do they groom cats? I know that may sound silly, but If they Do groom cats, how so?