What to do about feral cat's toenails

[poolcat]

Rusty is a neighborhood feral I brought inside this past May. He shares a couple of rooms with Sam (a stray who showed up at the same time) and Ellie (a long term foster).

Rusty is less afraid of me than he was 3 months ago. He will allow me get within a couple of feet of him if I have a food dish in my hand, but I've never touched him. If I walk into the room when he's not at the window, he goes and hides. He's almost completely deaf, moves pretty slowly, and all he ever does is sleep and look out the window... so I'm pretty sure he's old.

Lately I've noticed that his claws get caught on the towels he sleeps on. I've had a scratching post in the room he favors but he never uses it. He doesn't even scratch on the upholstered chairs in the room. It's a nice tall, sturdy scratcher, and the other two cats use it all the time. I don't think he's avoiding it because of that since the 3 cats get along fine. Lots of head bunting between him and Sam.

Rusty was already neutered and ear-tipped when he showed up, so I'm not in a big hurry to take him to the vet. I'd like to get him to trust me a little more first. But I've had other old cats whose nails curled around toward their toe pads and had to be clipped.

I rubbed catnip on the scratching post, but all that did was get the other two cats scratching at it.

Any suggestions?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, I would see about finding a less-looped/smoother material type of towel, in other words something that his claws won't catch on such as a microfiber, until you can get him to the vet.

but all that did was get the other two cats scratching at it.

When you have him at the vet, mention how he moves - maybe even take a video so that the vet can see it because if it is arthritis, there's a new medicine that may help him called Solensia. Not every cat can tolerate it, but hopefully he is one that can

 

[tabbytom]

Any suggestions?

Thank you for taking Rusty in and for giving him a warm and fur-ever loving home

Since you want to get him to trust you more, in the meantime, I agree with what Furballsmom mentioned. Get a right type of material for him. I suggest that if you could get some rug that have much thicker threads like almost the diameter of a sisal string. This way, it'll be quite impossible for Rusty's claw to get hooked accidentally. Any fabric that is finely stitched and soft will get him tangle up.

 

[Norachan]

My older cats prefer scratchers that lie flat on the floor, rather than upright ones. Have you tried those corrugated cardboard one? Or how about a cheap yoga mat?

If he is elderly he might be having joint pain. You can get glucosamine supplements for cats and dogs that are very similar to the ones people take. They're just a fish flavoured powder you mix with their wet food.

 

[Kwik]

Hi poolcat
So happy for Rusty,you are terrific in my book!And it's so nice that he get on well with Sam and Ellie!

There's not much you can do about those claws until he's at the Vet- like Norachan mine really like horizontal scratching and those corrugated cardboard scratching boxes have proven to be real winners at my house

I was a bit concerned with my latest addition to the family (Timmy,7yr old feral) -he got so much pleasure scratching the trunk of a big palm tree in front of my house and was completely uninterested in big sisal posts ,despite seeing my other 4use them- like you,the catnip had everyone else scratching more except Timmy

I put one of the corrugated boxes where he likes to lie about and he goes to town on it-give it a try

 

[poolcat]

Thank you all for your replies!

I'll try some different fabric. Funny thing about this guy is he'd rather sleep on a bare, hard surface than anything else. He kept pushing the nice, squishy cat bed I offered onto the floor. He gets Cosequin in his wet food, and has since I started feeding him a couple of years ago. Solensia injections would require regular drugging or trapping to get him to the vet so that's not going to happen now, but I'll keep it in mind.

Hadn't thought of a flat scratcher.... I'll look for one today.

Here's a photo of Rusty (on the left) and his buddy, Sam. Rusty's coat is still matted, but nowhere near as bad as when he moved inside. I find clumps that have fallen off almost every day. I have this fantasy of him sitting next to me someday while I groom him...

 

[Kwik]

Thank you all for your replies!

I'll try some different fabric. Funny thing about this guy is he'd rather sleep on a bare, hard surface than anything else. He kept pushing the nice, squishy cat bed I offered onto the floor. He gets Cosequin in his wet food, and has since I started feeding him a couple of years ago. Solensia injections would require regular drugging or trapping to get him to the vet so that's not going to happen now, but I'll keep it in mind.

Hadn't thought of a flat scratcher.... I'll look for one today.

Here's a photo of Rusty (on the left) and his buddy, Sam. Rusty's coat is still matted, but nowhere near as bad as when he moved inside. I find clumps that have fallen off almost every day. I have this fantasy of him sitting next to me someday while I groom him...

View attachment 459343

Oh I love orange boys-adorable!

Timmy took some time to realize it might be okay to step on a cat bed"and I thought he just might prefer hard surfaces" Hmm ,what the heck is this thing?" Once he got the courage to step in & sit on it all bets were off- no more hard surfaces for him,loves his beds.....It gives me such joy seeing him curled up in his bed-give him time( took Timmy almost 3months to dare to try)

 

[Kwik]

And btw,I really look forward to you posting photos of Rusty all groomed afteer sitting beside you brushing him---it's a realistic goal that you should look forward to

 

[poolcat]

Timmy took some time to realize it might be okay to step on a cat bed"and I thought he just might prefer hard surfaces" Hmm ,what the heck is this thing?" Once he got the courage to step in & sit on it all bets were off- no more hard surfaces for him,loves his beds.....It gives me such joy seeing him curled up in his bed-give him time( took Timmy almost 3months to dare to try)

I'm so happy that Timmy is doing well. Thanks for showing us how gorgeous he is!

 

[Kwik]

I'm so happy that Timmy is doing well. Thanks for showing us how gorgeous he is!

Thanks for caring and for giving Sam,Ellie and Rusty such a wonderful,safe & happy forever home-do you have photo of Ellie too?

 

[poolcat]

Here's Ellie (on the left) with Sam. She is his true love since he was spurned by Boo-Boo, his former best friend. Rusty loves Sam. Sam likes every cat he meets. Ellie doesn't really like anyone but herself, but she tolerates the boys if they behave themselves. It's an interesting dynamic.

I have ordered a flat scratcher and replaced the towels with something smoother. Will let you y'all know how it goes. Thanks again for the help!

 

[Kwik]

Here's Ellie (on the left) with Sam. She is his true love since he was spurned by Boo-Boo, his former best friend. Rusty loves Sam. Sam likes every cat he meets. Ellie doesn't really like anyone but herself, but she tolerates the boys if they behave themselves. It's an interesting dynamic.

I have ordered a flat scratcher and replaced the towels with something smoother. Will let you y'all know how it goes. Thanks again for the help!

View attachment 459355

Oh my-THREE orange babies-Heaven !!!!Simply adorable,my heart goes pitter pat

I can just imagine how many times a day you say"Ell er Saa er Rusty..." .

 

[poolcat]

Update.... just wanted to let y'all know that Rusty likes his new flat cardboard scratcher. I got a really big one so there's room for two cats to use it. Caught him and Sam at opposite ends of the thing the other day, facing each other as they scratched at it. Only downside is all the bits of cardboard. But that's not a big deal... adds some texture to the cat fur that's always floating around their rooms. Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

[Norachan]

I'm glad he likes it.

 

[Kwik]

Here's Ellie (on the left) with Sam. She is his true love since he was spurned by Boo-Boo, his former best friend. Rusty loves Sam. Sam likes every cat he meets. Ellie doesn't really like anyone but herself, but she tolerates the boys if they behave themselves. It's an interesting dynamic.

I have ordered a flat scratcher and replaced the towels with something smoother. Will let you y'all know how it goes. Thanks again for the help!

View attachment 459355

I love them!!!!,I literally started crying when I saw this photo-I cannot NOT think of my Cheech when I see orange babies.... and TWO side by side,did me in..... they are GORGEOUS

Thank you for sharing,I can't get enough of those darlings! Btw,so glad Rusty likes tye scratch box,Timmy loves the cardboard too-thank goodness!