Trimming claws? Yes or no?

daze

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This might seem a bit silly but I've never had to trim a cat's claws before as a child because we had declawed cats. Now that I'm and adult and on my own I have two young cats they are around 9 months old and I'm not familiar with the claw trimming ritual. I bought a clipper and everything so I'm prepared, but I'm not sure how often I should try to trim them and also it's been a complete battle just rounding up my cats they HATE being held, wrapped, etc and will not cooperate. So along with how often I should trim, what's the best method to actually get them in place to trim their claws. Treats don't work- they ignore treats for the most part. The minute I bend down they run so that's another thing. Advice? Tips?
 

jcat

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The easiest way to trim claws is to wait until the cat is sleepy and just do a claw or two at a time to get them used to the procedure. I wait till the cat is stretched out, ready to doze.How often you do it depends on the claws. Many people do it about once a month. Our cat has huge claws. The front ones are clipped at least every two weeks, the back ones about once a month. He's now so used to it that I can clip the claw tips on all four paws in about a minute.

Make sure you just remove the tips. Cutting into the quick will result in pain and bleeding, making it far more difficult to keep the cat calm enough for future claw trimming.
 

raphael lippi

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I am also having the same problem, and @jcat 's advice does seem to work most of the time. However, mine keeps getting harder and harder to trim as it grows up, and I am thinking of using a "vet technique" , using a clip behind the head to paralyze the cat. Does anyone know if it is safe doing this?
 

Primula

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I am also having the same problem, and @jcat 's advice does seem to work most of the time. However, mine keeps getting harder and harder to trim as it grows up, and I am thinking of using a "vet technique" , using a clip behind the head to paralyze the cat. Does anyone know if it is safe doing this?
Paralyze the cat? Sounds like a great way to traumatize the cat forever.

I have never in my life trimmed a cat's claws & have no intention of ever doing so.
 

raphael lippi

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Paralyze the cat? Sounds like a great way to traumatize the cat forever.

I have never in my life trimmed a cat's claws & have no intention of ever doing so.
I Guess you didn't understand. Vets do this to give mefication, it's safe for the cat.
 

hexiesfriend

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You seem to be describing putting a clip on his scruff simulating what a mama cat does.. I have never see a vet do this. I've seen it on YouTube and I can see it being very painful and damaging the scruff tissue if you use a clip that's too small. Clipping a cat's claws is not that important to risk that. Cats need to be trained very early for claw clipping. Yours are a little old for training. Jcat is right you need to clip one at a time while they are sleeping. The alternative is to not clip at all. I don't and my cats are fine. Buy scratch pads and let them scratch. DO NOT USE A CLIP on their scruff
 
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raphael lippi

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OK, I will not use it. Btw mine os Just 4 month old .
 
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tabbytom

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(I copied my post from another thread)

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' in the claws.

Or this article :- [article="29669"][/article]
 

hexiesfriend

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Unless your cat is around adults on blood thinners or very small children where a scratch can do a lot of damage I don't think you need to clip you cat's claws. Just have a cat scratcher or 2 out. If you have a cat that scratches you a lot I can see the issue. If you really need to keep the claws short clipping while they are sleeping can be done it just takes a lot of patience. I never had it so I left it.
 
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kittylover100

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I am sorry that I am later talking about this but when a cat is declawed it is painful to them and can actually cause depression they like it because they have options to do things and it is not painful! Sorry again about talking about this later also ask advisors about this they will help you through
 

NewYork1303

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Our cats have their nails clipped about once a week. (This is because we have a Polydactyl cat with thumbs and her thumb claws must be kept short since otherwise they make her walk weird). They all have learned to tolerate it. It is easiest for me to have my husband hold the cats and I just clip their nails pretty fast. After doing it a lot, they've gotten used to it. They always get a treat when they are done.
 

Winchester

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Do you have a friend who might be willing to help you? Your friend could hold your kitty (in a towel or blanket) while you be the bad guy and trim the claws. Sometimes it does take two people. We need to trim claws around here, especially with Mollipop. She digs in when I pick her up no matter how gentle I am with her. Every single one of my t-shirts have claw-holes as proof. She also tends to get caught in the living room carpet and I swear she forgets how to retract her claws to get loose. So yes, we have to trim. I also think it's good practice, simply to look at the claws, look at the paws, just to make sure everything is OK. (That's why I think it's important to brush and groom your cat, simply so that you can take a look at things, look for bumps, look for mats, looks for scratches, and the like.) Trimming claws is simply part of grooming for many cat owners.
 

I am married and what we do is I hold the cat while Rick does the trimming. We are to the point where I don't need a towel with Mollipop (although I used to). She's a squirmy thing and she yells the whole time; you'd think we were killing her. Tabby, OTOH, is pretty much fine with the whole thing, although lately, she's started to get a bit squirmy, too.

One of my GFs who has a cat, will get behind the cat and hold the cat in place with her knees and thighs and then trim claws that way. I can't describe it exactly; it doesn't hurt the cat at all.

We trim claws once a month, usually on the first Sunday afternoon of the month. And then lots of treats afterward! You need to reward them because they were so well-behaved.....well, you still need to reward them! 
 
 
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rubysmama

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My Ruby hates having her claws trimmed. It's impossible to try to restrain her and clip them all at once. She is as slippery as an eel (I assume eels are slippery) and always squirms away leaving a cloud of flying fur. 

She does, however, love sleeping on my lap when I'm watching tv or reading. So I keep the nail clippers within arm-reach and every so often I attempt to clip a claw while she sleeps. It doesn't always work, as she can go from deep sleep to wide awake in a flash, but sometimes I get one or even two clipped at a time.  
 

kittylover100

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My Ruby hates having her claws trimmed. It's impossible to try to restrain her and clip them all at once. She is as slippery as an eel (I assume eels are slippery) and always squirms away leaving a cloud of flying fur. 

She does, however, love sleeping on my lap when I'm watching tv or reading. So I keep the nail clippers within arm-reach and every so often I attempt to clip a claw while she sleeps. It doesn't always work, as she can go from deep sleep to wide awake in a flash, but sometimes I get one or even two clipped at a time.  
My cat hates having her claws trimmed too! It is because she was a stray and we took her in and she does have her shots and stuff but she would never let me trim them so I just ask my Aunt who works at a Vet.
 
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