Clipping Nails..I am Very Brave

I finally got up my nerve to try clipping Bailey's nails today. Sam is declawed (front only) and I just don't bother with his back claws at all. But Bailey has sharp little claws that eventually get caught in my sweaters when we snuggle, and caught in her favourite wool blankets. I have taken her to the vet a few times for trimming, and had a friend do it for me, but today I tried for myself.

Bailey is a very sweet tempered girl, and was extremely co-operative, and I managed to get three done in my first try. But now I have a very stupid question. How many nails should I be clipping?

She is a regular cat, with the normal number of claws. Is that four on each foot, plus a dew claw? Should I also be clipping the dew claw?

I think that I will still leave the back claws for the vet or braver people than I am to tackle.

I try to clip them all, even the back lol. Rabbit kicking hurts!! I clip the dew claw too because that one has a tendency to get stuck in stuff often. Zoey has extra toes so its always a chore to try to get all of hers in one sitting

Just do a few at a time, even one paw a day will work, and don't cut to much off and hit the quick or the nail will bleed.

I did a search here to find the collected wisdom, and have applied all of the lessons; just a tiny bit off the tip, just a few a day, massage the cat's paws to get her used to being handled, be careful not to cut into the quick. Very helpful pointers. And my vet showed me how to extend the nails properly, so Bailey didn't even object much.

I'll try the dew claw eventually, so far I have just managed the front claws. But I should be looking for four nails, plus dew claw on each foot, right?

Now the rabbit kicking is a problem for Sam, but because he is front declawed, I don't want to leave him defenseless, which is one of the reasons I have not tried to trim his back claws. However, both cats are very mild tempered, and I have only rarely been scratched by either of them. I think I will stick to front feet for now.

I trimmed Reggae's last night. She put up a huge fight at first, biting & scratching! I thought it would be an impossible feat! I tried again, when she was on her way to sleep and she was much more tolerant of me clipping her nails. I got all of them done, plus the dew claw!!!! I was so proud of myself! So now I've learned that when she's fully active and alert, she doens't want to be bothered, but when she's relaxed I will have a better chance

I have someone hold Emmett and I clip all his claws. I just clip the little tip off. When they get really long I usually take him to the groomer and they clip them shorter.