Juicy's getting neutered tomorrow! Question about getting nails trimmed...

Aww good luck with the neutering. It's not nice that you can't bring him home the same night.

As for the nails - I trim Lily's nails every week. It's just like cutting your own nails - you have to know where to trim to so you don't go into the quick but it's really quite straightforward. They need to be done weekly though really. We had the vet do them first while we watched - then I've done them myself afterwards. I wait till she's asleep and then trim them.

Good luck - I'll be thinking of little Juicy

I'll be thinking of you and Juicy all day, and I just know he'll sail right through this procedure! It's so natural for you to be worried, I'm a wreck with all of Sierra's procedures, however routine they be! I'll be praying for your little boy!
It will not hurt Juicy at all to have his nails trimmed as long as it is done properly. I trim Sierra's nails myself. In fact, Sierra receives her manicure every single week, and has since she was a baby. She doesn't enjoy it, but she's quite used to the routine!

Eric is the master manicurist at our house. He just gave little Saba a very nice manicure. He soothed her and gave her treats very slowly, while he took a pedicure clipper (the big ones) to her little and VERY sharp claws. He only went 1/16" in, not too far down at all!!!! Then another treat, and then he filed them with a large buffer, not an emery board. She LOVED IT!! She was prancing around and he put her on the webcam and sent me an IM!!

She is a little diva anyway.

And good luck to your Juicy! Everything will be fine. I hate ANY time away from them, it just kills me.

I'll say some prayers tomorrow for Juicy, too. Like Stephanie, I'm nervous about any procedures that my babies go through, so I understand what you must be going through right now, Lacey.

As for trimming nails, I do Penelope's and Molly's myself every 2-3 weeks. It won't hurt him so don't worry about that.

I had Sophies done when she was spayed and it was great but they started to grow back after 2 weeks.

I can't do them myself because i flap, plus they wouldn't sit still, well Rosie wouldn't!!.

Awww and don't worry about Juicy!, he'll be home with his mum before you know it!

My kitties nails are long. I suppose its just when youhave to cut your toenails because it gets annoying.
Mine sharpens his nails on the wooden shelf.
Have any of you notice that your cats chew on their nails?
mine does.. lol
Good luck with the spay tomorrow.
Mine has to get done in april or may

Clipping claws is very straightforward -- really it IS just like cutting your own nails -- once you've seen how to do it, and get a routine of your own. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they clipped his claws while he's under the anesthesia. All our girls' claws were clipped when they were spayed, and we never thought to ask to have it done. Don't worry -- it'll be the longest day and a half of your life, but he'll be fine!

I trim my kittens' claws all the time, at least once a week, front and rear. And, yes, it helps. Part of what cats are looking for when they scratch is the sensation of snagging on their claws. Blunt claw tips don't snag as easily, so the cat is less inclined to scratch, and when s/he does, it does MUCH less damage.

Originally Posted by LaceyDF

Goodness! You all are brave! The thought of my trimming Juicy's nails makes me nervous, I'm so scared I'd mess something up!!! Does trimming them help out a lot? I sure hope so!!!

Thanks so much for all your kind words! I will be very nervous for him, but he will be better off afterwards!!!

Thanks again everyone!!!

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Aww poor Juicy. We all send him good wishes and Baylee insists you keep us updated on how he does!!

I trim my gang's nails on a weekly basis too, although when we got Max I was scared to clip his nails... I started Baylee out really early so now she doesn't mind and doesn't put up a fuss. I did need my fiance to hold Max while we clipped his nails but he was fine, not too upset.

If you do decide to trim Juicy's nails, I recommend doing it weekly - just a teeny bit at a time until you're sure you know where the quick is, and until he gets used to it. If you can have someone hold him while you trim them, that'll make things easier - after a few weeks you won't need any extra help. When we first started with Bay, we would put treats in her mouth so she wouldn't notice what we were doing!

I usually try two times to get Buddy's claws trimmed.

1) When he is asleep/sleepy and in the same room as me so I can get to him easily while hes laying around.

2) When hes in the same room with me and his little furry toy. This is not as good as method 1, however does allow easy distraction and claw extending as well as some toleration of paw touching.

If you can get your cat to sleep on your lap its quite easy to massage their paws some, get them used to being touched and push their claws right out. When you trim, you do NOT want to trim into the inner pinkness of their claws, you only want to clip off the curved clear tips.

IF you do clip to far, you will want to use a stiptic pencil to stop the bleeding by holding it on the "quick" that is exposed for a few seconds. I imagine the kitty will not be happy at that point...

If your not sure how far up you can clip, clip less. Some is better then none after all and will get them used to the process without negative effects. Offer a treat after as well and only do a single claw or paw if thats all they will tolerate. Its better to stop before they get upset then after because you do not want this to be negative at all.

Buddy is SO food happy treats make it harder to do stuff with him sometimes, but when hes sleepy/asleep its easy to get him to be "good" Also the front are generally more of a concern then the back, so if you can't do the back also don't worry so much about it.. but if you can thats great!

As long as you only do the claw and not to far (like into the quick of it (pink area)) he wont feel a thing other then the pressaure of the cut and will quickly forget it ever happened. Don't be stressed, just make it a casual experience and he will too. Good luck!!

Aw Juicy will be in my thoughts Lacey!

I had Bakker neutered yesterday. Dropped him off at vet at 7:30 and by 10:10 the vet called me and said everything went ok-in fact he was coming out of anesthisia already. Brought him home last nite at 5:00 he ran out the carrier to tussle w/OX & Grizzly and ate(he wasn't supposed to eat for another hour) Last night he was FINE!! His normal pain in the butt attitude. I told him he is to take it easy for a couple of weeks but evidently the surgery didn't bother him at all!!!!! They trimmed his nails while he was under but I really never got in the habit of trimming nails.

You must miss your baby so much, Lacey. Please let us know what the Vet says!

Awwwww he'll be just fine!!. And your not a sucker because i'd have done the same!.

Great news, Lacey! Juicy is resting comfortably and will probably just sleep the rest of the night.Oh, I bet 8am couldn't come fast enough for you! I know it's just so tough when our babies are away from home. Juicy will be back home with his Mommy in no time at all where you can snuggle up together and love, and won't he just have plenty to tell you!