hi. i have a cat who can get pretty viscious. she's about two years old now. she constantly swats at us and pounces at our feet, etc and always uses her claws. well, now her nails have gotten to be pretty long and sharp. it wasnt a problem until she was about a year and a half. or at least, i never noticed any problem.
now, however, she gets stuck in everything. she likes to claw at curtains, the couch, blankets, etc, but she always winds up accidently getting her claws stuck in them. after a short struggle, she can usually free herself but sometimes we find her meowing helplessly with her claws stuck in something. usually she gets angry when we try to help her get unstuck. she's even caused herself to pull a nail out and i found her with a bloody paw on one occasion (only once thank god! i think she learned not to pull so hard after that point)
she wont let me get near her feet. ive tried touching her feet more and more, gradually, while i feed her and give her treats, while we play nicely, etc, but she has never gotten used to it. i had the vet try to trim her nails during a visit, but she became so viscious that the vet ended up having to get out one of those long poles with the slip loop on the end. it was very traumatizing and scary for all of us!! the vet didn't even finish clipping her last foot because it was just too risky for getting injured. during this, the vet used the towel method to restrain her and i think being restrained is really what freaked her out. so using a towel and a friend to try to cut her nails is really out of the question.
after that point, i didn't make an effort to trim her nails. i've noticed little nail sheddings on occasion and i've read that thats normal from scratching, etc and a healthy way for cats to shorten their own nails. (the sheaths, i guess?) however, she still gets stuck in things all the time and if its not painful, it must at least be very annoying for her.
some people recommended getting a light sedation pill and try to do it then. i got the pills from a vet but he warned me that they won't put her under all the way and i could be dealing with the cat equivalent of an angry drunk. he said if i really felt it was necessary, i could try it, but he thinks having her be stuck in things is better than risking serious injury to her or me. i still have the pills and havent tried to use them. she's had scratching posts but doesn't ever seem impressed with them, and still gets stuck in things, even when she's not scratching persay, rather just playing i guess, even sometimes just walking around! i just heard about the soft nail covers but i saw that you need to clip their nails to put those on, so that sort of rules those out. i have no idea what to do!
any advice?!?
now, however, she gets stuck in everything. she likes to claw at curtains, the couch, blankets, etc, but she always winds up accidently getting her claws stuck in them. after a short struggle, she can usually free herself but sometimes we find her meowing helplessly with her claws stuck in something. usually she gets angry when we try to help her get unstuck. she's even caused herself to pull a nail out and i found her with a bloody paw on one occasion (only once thank god! i think she learned not to pull so hard after that point)
she wont let me get near her feet. ive tried touching her feet more and more, gradually, while i feed her and give her treats, while we play nicely, etc, but she has never gotten used to it. i had the vet try to trim her nails during a visit, but she became so viscious that the vet ended up having to get out one of those long poles with the slip loop on the end. it was very traumatizing and scary for all of us!! the vet didn't even finish clipping her last foot because it was just too risky for getting injured. during this, the vet used the towel method to restrain her and i think being restrained is really what freaked her out. so using a towel and a friend to try to cut her nails is really out of the question.
after that point, i didn't make an effort to trim her nails. i've noticed little nail sheddings on occasion and i've read that thats normal from scratching, etc and a healthy way for cats to shorten their own nails. (the sheaths, i guess?) however, she still gets stuck in things all the time and if its not painful, it must at least be very annoying for her.
some people recommended getting a light sedation pill and try to do it then. i got the pills from a vet but he warned me that they won't put her under all the way and i could be dealing with the cat equivalent of an angry drunk. he said if i really felt it was necessary, i could try it, but he thinks having her be stuck in things is better than risking serious injury to her or me. i still have the pills and havent tried to use them. she's had scratching posts but doesn't ever seem impressed with them, and still gets stuck in things, even when she's not scratching persay, rather just playing i guess, even sometimes just walking around! i just heard about the soft nail covers but i saw that you need to clip their nails to put those on, so that sort of rules those out. i have no idea what to do!
any advice?!?