Cat Refuses To Retact His Claws!! Please Help!!

[swilson56]

Okay so I have two siblings, a boy & a girl, about 1 & 1/2 years old. & Their names are Boy & Girl lol.
Boy seems to have his claws out almost 24/7 except for when he sleeps. His sister Girl has learned to put her claws away when sitting/walking/running/ across me or my boyfriend. But for some reason Boy does not understand that & continues to shred mine & my boyfriends skin.
Is there any way I can teach him to be more like his sister Girl, when it comes to putting his claws away when interacting with us? I do trim both of their nails regularly & they have plenty of scratching posts.
Also, it's not that he is physically unable to put his claws away, it is just that he simply wont. It gets very frustrating as well as painful!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

 

[ArtNJ]

If your right and there is no physical issue and he uses his scratching posts, I have no idea how to train him. So maybe the question should be different -- is there a way to deal with it? How about nail caps? They work ok for some and you are already able to handle his nails for cutting, which will help you with putting the caps on. I always found them a PITA, and normally I don't think they are the ideal solution to any issue, but its quite possible you might find them worth it here.

 

[rubysmama]

But for some reason Boy does not understand that & continues to shred mine & my boyfriends skin.

Do you say "owwww", when he scratches you, so he knows he's hurting you? That's how cats let other cats know they are playing too rough. Hissing can work too.

 

[swilson56]

Oh definitely. My boyfriend gets really upset when it happens & yells at him & squirts him with water. (I don't like him spraying water at Boy at all & I do my best to make sure he doesn't do it) but my point is that Boy knows that it's hurting us when he does this. It's almost like he's doing it on purpose but I can't see why he would want to intentionally cause us harm. He's a happy, spoiled cat. He doesn't get mistreated & has more than everything he could possibly need or want. (My cats are very spoiled lol). That leads me to believe it's behavioral & I just need to find a way to train him against it. I think I might try the kitty caps after I do some more research to make sure it's completely safe. I'll keep you guys updated & if you have any other suggestions please let me know! Thanks for your time!

 

[ArtNJ]

The issues with the caps is the glue. The caps either fall off too easily, or stay on too long. However, staying on too long is fairly rare, and easily dealt with. Its mostly an annoyance and not a safety issue. Just buy a brand with reviews because its always possible that some brand decides to save money by buying them from a Chinese company that normally makes widgets and doesn't know or care what they are doing and uses glue that is much too weak or too strong.

 

[swilson56]

Okay thanks for the tip! Pun intended

 

[rubysmama]

Their names are Boy & Girl lol.

I just reread your first post, and noticed their names this time.

I do trim both of their nails regularly

It must help, though, when you trim them, even if you just remove the sharp tip.

 

[swilson56]

It does help but only so much... It seems like Boy is somehow able to sharpen his claws within a few hours of me trimming them lol. I'm really glad that it's not Girl that scratches us though because she will sit & bite at her back nails & she sharpens them into a point. So instead of how usually cats claws are curved downwards, hers are just straight & pointed, like little freaking daggers lol.

 

[basschick]

Boy may not be able to voluntarily retract his claws if they're only retracted when he's sound asleep with all muscles relaxed.

have you taken him to the vet to see if there's an issue?