clipping cats nails

I recently had my long haired cat, Lucy, shaved. They shaved her under sedation at the vet to check for bite marks from our other cat Cosmo. Also, a few weeks ago we just moved to the warm desert from snowy Colorado.

She is fine now and cut like a lion w/mane and pom pom on tail. Her personality completely changed as well. Lucy seems so much happier without all of her fur and she is walking faster.

While she was being groomed they clipped her nails like a dogs. Lucy goes outside to sleep on the patio, but she never leaves the yard. Can she still protect herself w/ clipped nails?

I would never declaw my cats and I wouldn't want to clip her nails if it hurts her in any way. She can't use her scratching post anymore and I was wondering how many people endorse this?

Lion cuts are great aren't they? I had Sampson shaved like that once but left the legs and he looked adorable. He looked like he was wearing pants!! Not to mention he became more active once all his hair was gone.

The reason(Or at least at the clinic I work at) why they clipped Lucy's nails was because sometimes when they come out of anesthesia they'll paw at their face and if their nails are long they'll hurt themselves. I remember one time one of the tech's forgot to clip the nails on a cat and when the cat came up she tore a few holes in her face. Ow!

It's also a courtesy thing too. I don't think that she'll be able to have the same effect with her short nails if she was trying to protect herself but she'd be able to get away. I would just keep an eye on her outside until her nails grow back, especially if it will make you feel better.