as long as the cat is not elderly....

do you *have* to trim their nails?

i cannot clip my Nell's nails, so i take her to the vets, where a tech will do them for a small fee. but i do not go more than three times a year, sometimes only twice


is it bad for her not to have her nails trimmed more often?

my elderly girl has thick nails now and is not able to care for them herself so she gets done at the vets more often, but then she is *at* the vets more often because she is ill. i would never let an older cat go with out getting the nails done, but i am wondering if it bothers my younger (age 8) cat to have her nails long?

she does sometimes get stuck in wooly fabric, her nails i mean.
but not too often, and she usually figures out how to get un-stuck

Trimming the nails is more for our benefit than theirs. I wouldn't worry about it too much. They tend to keep up with thier nails on their own.

The only time my cat has had his nails trimmed is when he was a kitten and we took him to the vets(for some reason, cant remember now).
But he has never had his claws trimmed for 14 years now, he's looked after them on his own!

I only trim claws if there's a jagged one. Most cats can keep their nails in good shape themselves.

I trim Polly's just because she's still in that playful kitten stage and she will scratch us otherwise. I never trim Prego's; I don't think he'd let me. I can find little claw sheaths around his scratching post.

Originally Posted by Charcoal

Trimming the nails is more for our benefit than theirs. I wouldn't worry about it too much. They tend to keep up with thier nails on their own.

Click to expand...

I trim our two every week to ten days. It keeps them from being tempted to scratch things they aren't supposed to (although they're very good about using their scratching post,) and since their play can get a bit rough at times, keeps any "oopsies" to a minimum. Also I have a Pekingese dog, and I don't want to take a chance of her getting a claw in an eye although mostly she and the cats ignore each other (except for occasionally when Mithril really, really wants to go after that poufy tail!)

We also clip nails about every 10 days to 2 weeks. Since Bijou loves to suckle and knead my neck, it's important that his nails are short!

Trimming the nails can be more of an issue then most think. Especially for an inside cat. I've seen cats whose claws had grown so long they were curled under and poking into their little pads.

The more you trim your cats nails, the more you and kitty will get used to it and be comfortable. I just trim Jake's about once a month.

I clip YY's (and the Sphynx Girls') nails about twice a month. Cats need their nails clipped to prevent potential problems like overgrown nails or infection. Cats do help themselves by using their scatching posts or sisal toys but I believe in helping them by clipping the nails.

These articles explain the reasons why clipping is important:

http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?ID=66&sid=2

http://www.azcentral.com/families/ar..._petnails.html

I think it really depends on the cat - some cats maintain their nails quite effectively on their own, as long as they have plenty of good surfaces to scratch on. Other cats may have nails that grow too long & curl under, &/or catch on everything.

If they don't seem to be causing problems catching on things, just check them every week or two to make sure they're not becoming too long & curling under.

I trim my cats' nails every couple of weeks, because I have skin that scratches easily, and to protect the furniture from accidental scratches. Also, my girl Sylvestra has the type of claws that grow too long and catch on things and curl under, so she needs regular nail trimming.