Feet Handling

[Desertmouse]

So I’m one of those people who is scared of cutting their cats nails. I tried it before but ended up cutting the quick and since then both Sadie and I have been scared to try again. However Sadie loves to climb on my chest when I lay down and kneed.....it hurts ! On top of that I recently had someone ask if I was alright because they thought the red little pinpoints on my skin was a rash . I then found and bought a pair of zen clippers (Home | Zen Clipper) which sound like even I can’t mess up with. I’m now ready to try again!

Sadie, however, has no idea what zen clippers are. She doesn’t seem afraid of the clippers themselves, I’ve let her smell them and she, of course, rubbing up against them marking them as hers. What she does have a problem with is me touching her feet. I figure I need to start by getting her used to me touching her feet before I even think about getting the clippers near them. Right now if I touch her paws she puts her ears back and after about 2 seconds grumbles at me and moves her paw away. If I touch them again she will grumble more and then get up and leave . Any tips on getting her used to having me work with her feet? She is between 12 and 14 I believe, could she just be to old to learn to do this? It won’t kill me to not cut her nails, it’s just uncomfortable.....

 

[tabbytom]

You don’t have to trim all the nails at one go. Do it one nail today and the next nail the next day. Touch her paws without the nail clipper and let her get used to the touching and while touching her paws, just press gently on it to expose the nails. Once she’s quite use to the touch and gentle press, clip one nail first. Give her a treat and see if you can continue, if cannot continue, try later or the next day.

Here’s a quite recent thread on nail trimming :-

Trimming Nails

 

[Desertmouse]

You don’t have to trim all the nails at one go. Do it one nail today and the next nail the next day. Touch her paws without the nail clipper and let her get used to the touching and while touching her paws, just press gently on it to expose the nails. Once she’s quite use to the touch and gentle press, clip one nail first. Give her a treat and see if you can continue, if cannot continue, try later or the next day.

Here’s a quite recent thread on nail trimming :-

Trimming Nails

Thank you! I’m sorry I should have looked more, my only excuse is I’ve been fighting a bad cold. Thank you again

 

[tabbytom]

. Don’t rush through the session and don’t freak her out.

Take care and

 

[tabbytom]

I use a hooman nail clipper for me boy. It’s a medium size one so that the blades are wide enough to slip into the claws and not so big that it’s clumsy. The small size ones are a little small for the blade gap. That’s why I prefer to use the medium size one.
But if you want to use the hooman nail clipper on your kitty, make sure you get a good stainless steel surgical grade clipper that won’t rust and sharpness last a longer time.

 

[Etarre]

I'm right with you in dreading nail clipping! My first cat hated it, and the more she wiggled, the more scared I was of hurting her.

Thankfully, she didn't bit or scratch, but she was a master of the twist and wiggle to get away. I discovered that if I always clipper her nails in the bathroom with the door closed, at least if she did get away, she couldn't go far. It is also a good idea to make sure you're wearing long pants in case she scrabbles with her back legs and accidentally scratches you.

After trying, I concluded that there was no real way to make the clipping itself more enjoyable, and Gwen and I both had to just grit our teeth and suffer through it. I did always give her some catnip afterward, and I think she recognized that it was nice to have shorter nails, since I know they bothered her when they were too long.

My current kitty is also a wiggler, but more agreeable if I get her when she's a little drowsy. I can usually get through half of her nails before she figures out what I'm up to and then half the time she resigns herself to just getting it over with. The other half of the time, though, there's protesting and lots of wiggles.

 

[tangers40]

My cat doesn't mind having her nails trimmed so much, but she thinks the clippers are a chew toy. Makes it slightly difficult to see her toes when she has her head in the way trying to bite at the clippers as I trim, or swats at them with the foot I am trying to trim! Little monster....