Easiest and safest way to clip my kitten's nails

calliekitten16

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I am just wondering what would be the easiest and safest method for trimming my kitten's nails? They are quite long and sharp. I don't see this as being an easy task with my new kitten. She is 7 months old and quite hyper which I know is normal for a kitten. I play with her three to four times a day for at least 10 minutes.
 

moorspede

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The bane of my life.

You need to have cat nail clippers like these:

http://www.thecatsite.com/products/category/claw-care

You cut just the tip, if you accidentally cut the quick (the pink bit) you can stop the bleeding with a bit of flour or a styptic pencil. 

This man on this vid has great technique. 

 
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tabbytom

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Calliekitten16,
I used to clip my boy's nails when he is asleep. Now he has gotten use to the clipper and I don't have to wait till he's asleep. He'll watch me hold his paw and clip his nails now.
I gotten him to get use to the clipper by letting him smell it without cutting any nails and after that I'll just keep the clipper. Then I let him get use to me by holding his paw and pressing gently to get the claws out. I do that a few times and then say good boy and walked away. I repeated this two actions for several days.
Then the next time was with the clipper, let him smell, touch paw and gently press and clip one nail. Repeated this several times till he got use to it and now whenever I need to clip his nails, I just go straight to it.
Don't rush into it and finish the four paws in a few days till your kitty is ok with nail clipping and you can do it at one go. Just make sure you get a good pair of clippers and watch for the 'quick' as moorspede mentioned. Mod MoochNNoodles provided a good article on it too.
 

shiaena

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When Espa was little and we had to cut her nails, we tried to use a normal cat-nail-clipper, but for some reason it would squish and crack the nail. So we switched to a reasonably sharp human baby nail clipper which snips easily. Make sure to have lights on to see the little pink outline where the vein is, and stay a reasonable amount away from that point. When Espa was a baby, we clipped her nails while she was napping.

Here's another method: If you have someone else in the house, wrap your little fur baby in a towel or blanket, leaving one leg out, and have them held close. If possible, wrap the blanket/towel in a way so the head is kept away from said paw, so you don't get bit. Keep a firm grip on the paw, but be ready to let go or stop if said paw is moved, to prevent hurting the kitty. Both of you (or the one the kitten is most comfortable with) must talk softly to the kitty, comfort it, Espa usually fell asleep at this part no matter what. When it's all said and done, distribute some treats between the both of you and give it to the kitten little by little (Mom and I usually give Espa four tiny bits of treats, two for each of us), then let the kitten go and you're done!

It's a learning experience for both you and the kitty so remember not to get frustrated, be patient and take your time while keeping in mind the kitten's mood. If you see the kitten is struggling too much, consider cutting the claws of each paw at different times/dates!

The best time to do any of this is after play time, make sure to get your kitty extra exhausted and tired before nail clipping time, and she'll put up less of a struggle than when she's extremely hyper!
 
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