When I first got Imogen she had no problem letting me trim her claws. Now, it's like pulling teeth. Or rather, she acts as though I'm going to pull the claws out!
I tried to clip them yesterday, and we had to have a a rather long "discussion" about her overreactions during the attempted procedure, lol. But, the good news is, I think she actually understood me!
Anyway, to begin with, I had her on my lap in a relaxed position, half on her side. I got one claw clipped, then it began. I had my left arm wrapped around her, holding her paw gently in my left hand, and had the clippers in my right. The moment I brought the clippers to within an inch of her paw, she bared her teeth and grabbed the fleshy part of my hand VERY gently. I could swear she was saying both "you hurt me, I'll hurt you," and "I don't like this, and I'm asking you to stop." This happened every time I tried to clip a claw.
So, after a few minutes of this I had to stop. I put the clippers down, cradled her, stroked her, looked in her eyes and explained to her for five minutes that I didn't mean to hurt her, and that I felt I had to do this slightly uncomfortable thing to her because her claws did in fact hurt me very much. I told her in plain English that I knew how much she liked to climb on my shoulders and back, and that I didn't like her doing it when her claws were so sharp because it would hurt me very much. I promised her that I would be as quick and gentle with the claw clipping as possible. She looked in my eyes and seemed to understand.
Well, when I picked the clippers up again and continued with the clipping attempts, she no longer tried to bite, even warningly. The most she did was flick her foot away from me when she got too scared. I clipped as quickly as possible and could tell she was getting agitated, so when I got down to the very last claw, I said out loud "just one more!" The moment I clipped that last one, she jumped off my lap and went about her merry way.
Ergo, I swear she understood that conversation, word for word.
Sometimes I really wonder about her intelligence, and sometimes she really amazes me.
I tried to clip them yesterday, and we had to have a a rather long "discussion" about her overreactions during the attempted procedure, lol. But, the good news is, I think she actually understood me!
Anyway, to begin with, I had her on my lap in a relaxed position, half on her side. I got one claw clipped, then it began. I had my left arm wrapped around her, holding her paw gently in my left hand, and had the clippers in my right. The moment I brought the clippers to within an inch of her paw, she bared her teeth and grabbed the fleshy part of my hand VERY gently. I could swear she was saying both "you hurt me, I'll hurt you," and "I don't like this, and I'm asking you to stop." This happened every time I tried to clip a claw.
So, after a few minutes of this I had to stop. I put the clippers down, cradled her, stroked her, looked in her eyes and explained to her for five minutes that I didn't mean to hurt her, and that I felt I had to do this slightly uncomfortable thing to her because her claws did in fact hurt me very much. I told her in plain English that I knew how much she liked to climb on my shoulders and back, and that I didn't like her doing it when her claws were so sharp because it would hurt me very much. I promised her that I would be as quick and gentle with the claw clipping as possible. She looked in my eyes and seemed to understand.
Well, when I picked the clippers up again and continued with the clipping attempts, she no longer tried to bite, even warningly. The most she did was flick her foot away from me when she got too scared. I clipped as quickly as possible and could tell she was getting agitated, so when I got down to the very last claw, I said out loud "just one more!" The moment I clipped that last one, she jumped off my lap and went about her merry way.
Ergo, I swear she understood that conversation, word for word.
Sometimes I really wonder about her intelligence, and sometimes she really amazes me.
