Hi from a Newbie!

Hi all,
I adopted my new best buddy, Gemma, from the humane society a year ago. She is doing great: healthy, happy, well adjusted, and is much loved. She is also my first cat! I have been doing a lot of research online about common behavioral and health issues.
Question: Trimming claws? There is a link on your site about this, but is it safe/ recommended at home?
Thanks!

Welcome! Your Gemma is gorgeous!

Nail trimming is perfectly safe and relatively easy (depending on the cat) to do at home. You can buy special pet nail clippers, but I use regular human nail clippers and they work just fine.

Most cats have to be trained to be comfortable with having their paws handled, so it can take a while to teach them to tolerate nail clipping. It's definitely easiest if you can do this rather than trying to restrain an unwilling cat. You can start by just gently stroking a paw with your finger and then giving her a yummy treat frequently until she doesn't flinch anymore. Then you can start handling the paws at bit more and then treating, and then gently manipulating her claws with your fingers so her nails are exposed, and then start trimming off the very tip. Be generous with the treats, and move on to the next step once she's comfortable with the current one. I'd guess that Gemma has mostly white nails based on her fur, which is very helpful because you can see where the quick is. The quick is the part of the nail that contains blood and nerves, so as long as you don't clip too close to the quick, there shouldn't be any pain. If you can't see the quick, just trimming the very end of the nail to dull the sharp edge is a safe bet. 

If you or your cat would rather have this done by a groomer or a vet, that's fine, too. My parents take their dogs in to the vet to get their nails trimmed every few weeks for $2 just because it's such an ordeal for them at home, and the vet techs are much more efficient and calm about it so the dogs don't get as worked up. But cats are usually much more stressed out by travel than dogs are, so I think most people opt to do it themselves.

Molly92,
Thanks for the helpful advice. Gemma does allow her paws to be handled (front more than back), and I will keep working on this, with the 'treat' incentives you recommend.
You are correct, her claws are white; I can see the end of the blood vessel. Will just trim conservatively and let you know how it goes!

Welcome to TCS with Gemma, who seems to be of Australian ancestry. 

Trimming claws carefully and not excessively is OK, but for heavens sake don't declaw that lovely animal. But instead of trimming, try getting her a scratching post, vertical or horizontal as she prefers, and encourage her to use it, also giving her treats when she does. Any problem with claws may be solved then. In fact, there should be at least one such post easily available, often combined with a cat tree.

Bobkater,
Thanks! I have a cat tree for her, but she never showed interest. I purchased two additional scratching places for her. One is of natural fiber, the other of cardboard. I place dried catnip on these scratching posts and Gemma seems to like them and uses them often. I reward her with verbal praise and a scratch on her face and ears. I am already working on the suggestions for paw handling and giving treats as incentives.
I will not declaw her, as I have read that is is psychologically difficult and physically painful for the animal , and it deprives them of their natural defence mechanisms.
I will pos t under a different thread as I have more questions as a new owner and this looks like a great site!