How do I get her to let me trim her nails??

Ok, so I've had Little Helen since November....

She comes out of a hoarding situation, and needed to be socialized when I got her.  She'll tolerate being picked up for a few seconds now, even upwards of a minute if it's me. She follows me to the bathroom, and likes to have conversations. She's a very vocal cat. 

But I've yet to teach her to have her nails trimmed and if I went near her mouth, I"d lose the finger lol!

How do I go about teaching her to let me cut her nails? It's clear with this one that simply doing it is not going to fly as it did with the boys-with them I went ahead and did what I needed to, and they learned that I meant no harm because I always had treats for them afterwards...Helen would shred me if I tried that with her! Plus she's too squirmy to hold

@Matts mom -- have you tried clipping just one nail at a time, when you're able to catch helen napping solidly? that is, if she doesn't wake up at the slightest noise. definitely give her a treat even if she just lets you handle her paws. she should start to associate getting treats with letting you handle her paws/claws.

i just within the last week found the best way/most comfortable for kitty to trim our jasper's claws. he's our foster (just going to adopt him this month) and has been with snick and me since last october. it was an 'epic struggle' kind of thing until this last time trimming. this most recent time i just sat in the oversized rocking chair and put jasper in my lap (he absolutely loves laying on my lap and getting scritchins and lovins) and trimmed front and back claws -- done in about 6 or 7 minutes tops. then jasper got his treats, and praise for how good and brave he was. jasper's claws grow at supersonic speed, i end up needing to trim about every two week or so.

by contrast, snick (my 14 year old girl) only needs her claws trimmed about every 4-5 weeks. but i always do both cats nails the same day.

snick does best being cradled tummy up in my arms, then laid over my upper legs while i'm sitting (but i'm still cradling her with my left arm) -- i sit on the edge of the tub. i then trim her front claws. then i turn her so she's cradled in my right arm and over my upper legs, and trim her back claws. snick knows she'll get treats after allowing me to trim her nails, and she's allowed to complain (or as i say, 'tell me about it') while i'm trimming her claws.

so i've found that my two cats do best having their claws trimmed in different positions, and i had to try different positions in order to find the way they prefer (or rather, tolerate the best).

if you're unable to actually trim helen's claws at this point, then it might be good to start by getting her used to you handling her paws and then extending her claws. and always give her a treat(s), just for allowing you to touch her paws/claws or simply because she's trying. be calm, patient, and gentle.

has helen seen you trim matt's claws?

Helen's seen me trim everyone's claws(including my own) I use regular nail clippers, as I have more control than with cat trimmers. She's all good to watch, but the minute you touch the paw she pulls it back and takes off.

Most recently, I've been having someone cradle her in their arms, scruffed so she can't escape, while I cut two claws at a time. We let her escape after two, feed treats, then repeat the process............but she's so wiry that we can't get her back claws at all

the way that you describe trimming Snick is also how I trim the boys. I do them in a minute or two and let them go to have treats. If they protest, I re-adjust and start again where I left off

Matts mom said:

 
Helen's seen me trim everyone's claws(including my own) I use regular nail clippers, as I have more control than with cat trimmers. She's all good to watch, but the minute you touch the paw she pulls it back and takes off.

Most recently, I've been having someone cradle her in their arms, scruffed so she can't escape, while I cut two claws at a time. We let her escape after two, feed treats, then repeat the process............but she's so wiry that we can't get her back claws at all

the way that you describe trimming Snick is also how I trim the boys. I do them in a minute or two and let them go to have treats. If they protest, I re-adjust and start again where I left off

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i use regular nail clippers too, that i use to trim my own nails as well as the cats.

have you looked at helen's back claws? i mean, if i'm not mistaken some or many cats don't actually need their back claws trimmed. i do for snick because she's older and her claws tend to grow until they would curl around and into her paw pads if i let them. and jasper gets his back claws trimmed because my boy's claws grow at record speed and they're very sharp -- and since he's on my lap every day and several times during the day, i don't want to get accidentally scratched (he's gotten my legs quite a few times, accidentally).

something that helps when i trim jasper's back claws is when he seems to want to pull his foot away i release his foot, and i just gently use my fingers to push up lightly a few times under his foot and then gently grasp his foot again.

yes, that's exactly how it goes with my snick too.

I can't touch blighty's at all. He has to see the vet tomorrow so maybe she'll be able to clip them. I can do whisky's front paws bit by bit when he's asleep on my lap. I don't bother with his back claws. Neither of them bite or scratch.

We get scratched when they jump if we don't take the ends off the back claws. We don't shorten them, just take the point. I do both the boys, though Matt only needs his two outside claws on each back foot-the middle claws are bigger and don't get as sharp. Helen and Midnight are both 9-11lb cats with little pin-prick claws, so not trimming them is hazardous to our health lol!