Claws out? Claws in?

[smg680]

What would be considered a safe way to trim my cats' claws? My family had Ambre declawed in the front when he was a kitten, but I've since learned that declawing a cat can cause more problems for them. All of our kitties (Sassy, Pretty Kitty, Shadow, Little Mama, and Bob) all have their claws. Bob and Little Mama are indoor/outdoor cats, so them having claws to protect themselves when they go outside is probably a good idea. However, Sassy, Shadow, and Pretty Kitty are indoor cats. Sassy and Pretty, and once in a while Mama, love jumping up on me and my family, and the claws hurt! We do tell them no and tell them to stop when they start to dig in, and we use a spray bottle for negative reinforcement, but how can we stop this behavior?

I should also mention that I tried ordering some things that would trim the cats' nails. At first I had a small nail clipper, but I never opened it and ended up getting rid of it, since I was told that was a bad idea and might hurt the kitties. I then tried an electronic nail clipper, but I never got around to opening that, probably for the same reason. I also have one of those PediPerfect things that help with rough skin, and I thought that might work. Shadow and Pretty saw me using it once, and I let it run, just to show them what I was doing, but they looked uninterested. What can I do about this?

 

[catloverfromwayback]

I just use little nail scissors made for cats. The main thing is to trim them at the correct angle and not cut the quick.

I'd skip the spray bottle. That sort of thing doesn't work with cats. They don't associate being sprayed with whatever they were doing, they just associate it with the human doing it. How to make your cat scared of you, in other words.

Just get yourself a thick mat to put on your lap for when they want to jump up. You get used to claws, and do you really want to stop your cats showing affection? A momentary "Ow! Must you?" and a bit of ointment on the leg if necessary.

Declawing is insanely cruel. It removes the entire first joint of the foot and leaves the cat in lifelong pain as well as unable to defend themselves with their feet, and more likely to resort to biting instead.

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I also agree I would try to put the spray bottle down. Like mentioned above they only associate the spray from you and the bottle.. they do not understand the why.. so they only become scared of spray bottles and the human holding spray bottles..
As for trying different things I also agree the little nail scissors are great
Also have you tried kitty caps I have seen that mentioned in other threads on here
Also do they have scratching posts and things alike? If so do they use the scratchers

 

[maggie101]

Take your cats to a vet to get their nails trimmed. I always have a blanket made out of faux fur and baby blankets incase my cat jumps on me. Do they have a cat tower to spend time on? A square or slanted scratch post?

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Take your cats to a vet to get their nails trimmed

I had no idea vets would trim their nails... that is absolutely great for owners who have issues trimming them on their own.

 

[maggie101]

Coco is a Major lap cat,kneeds her paws on me, rubs her face all over mine,snores in my ear,meows and moves her paws while sleeping. She is being a cat. Clicker train instead of squirt bottle. They do not understand why they are being squirted but can learn to do tricks or follow commands.

I had no idea vets would trim their nails... that is absolutely great for owners who have issues trimming them on their own.

Usually internest or assistant does it and will cost up to $15 but worth it

 

[maggie101]

And warning! When winter comes do not buy sweater! She digs her claws in. She gets scared easily and uses her claws for protection

 

[heatherwillard0614]

View attachment 455302View attachment 455303Coco is a Major lap cat,kneeds her paws on me, rubs her face all over mine,snores in my ear,meows and moves her paws while sleeping. She is being a cat. Clicker train instead of squirt bottle. They do not understand why they are being squirted but can learn to do tricks or follow commands.

Usually internest or assistant does it and will cost up to $15 but worth it

That is awesome for real.. I think the veterinary offices should advertise that for people who need help trimming their cats claws and don't know that they will do it..

 

[heatherwillard0614]

Also they have these things called kitty caps or soft paws.. I haven't used them personally but I have seen a lot of people who used them and it made a big difference.
I forgot to add when I clip Gabby's nails I squeeze her paw slightly to get her to extend her nails. Then I line up the scissors making sure not to cut into the quick..
After you clip them you could apply the soft paws/kitty caps if you would want to.

 

[iPappy]

Tips on getting my cat more tolerant to nail trimming?

This thread might give you some tips. Trimming nails will not hurt the cats. With dogs, the goal is to get the nails as short as possible, so it's easier to get them too short unless you're experienced. With cats, the goal is not to get the nails as short as possible as they retract, but to simply remove the tiny little sharp hook at the end. Cat nails are nice, because the quick is easily visible and on a tolerant cat a nail trim can be done in less than a minute.

As far as the spray bottle goes...positive punishment works. But it's not always the best choice. For one thing, your timing has to be absolutely, 100% PERFECT each and every time. Mess up the timing once, and you've set yourself back very far and your cat is now confused as heck and only knows that you occasionally spray them with water. No matter what method you choose to use, the goal of training is being fair, non emotional, and 100% clear to the cat what it is you expect.

 

[CyberTiger]

If you can keep the claws trimmed, you'll have far fewer ouchy moments. It's harder for a cat to not hurt you when the claws get too long. They're pointy and stick out farther.

You need to regularly tackle claws. I know I could probably do it every 7-10 days with my cat and she starts to accidentally hurt me after 2 weeks.

I know my cat doesn't mean to hurt me when she has long claws. She is just playing or otherwise behaving as she normally would with short claws and doesn't understand. If her claws are too long, that's my fault. Keeping my distance or removing her from my lap would be one thing. I wouldn't punish her. Not unless you really never want a cat playing or kneading or doing paw things with you in general, whether the claws are long or short.

 

[iPappy]

If you can keep the claws trimmed, you'll have far fewer ouchy moments. It's harder for a cat to not hurt you when the claws get too long. They're pointy and stick out farther.

You need to regularly tackle claws. I know I could probably do it every 7-10 days with my cat and she starts to accidentally hurt me after 2 weeks.

I know my cat doesn't mean to hurt me when she has long claws. She is just playing or otherwise behaving as she normally would with short claws and doesn't understand. If her claws are too long, that's my fault. Keeping my distance or removing her from my lap would be one thing. I wouldn't punish her. Not unless you really never want a cat playing or kneading or doing paw things with you in general, whether the claws are long or short.

All my cats over the years have learned when I go "OUCH" it's because they sank their claws a little too deep into me! Lila and Goof especially are deliberately very careful when they knead to not extend those claws, and if they forget and I "OUCH", they wince and slowly begin kneading, without claws. They definitely can learn!

 

[CyberTiger]

All my cats over the years have learned when I go "OUCH" it's because they sank their claws a little too deep into me! Lila and Goof especially are deliberately very careful when they knead to not extend those claws, and if they forget and I "OUCH", they wince and slowly begin kneading, without claws. They definitely can learn!

I think training "ouch" is fair. My stance is to not look at it as an intentional bad behavior, it's an accident.

My cat's claws don't hurt me if they've been trimmed. I can tell she tries to be careful. But if her claws grow out (particularly if it's been much longer than I should've allowed), the points seem to be harder for her to handle. What would usually be a friendly tap becomes a scratch and she seems rather confused.

To me, it sounds like the cats in question may be long overdue for a nail trim. And that's probably making everything worse than it normally would be. And I think that and how it's not intentional should be kept in mind.

So I think getting the claws clipped should be a priority. Ouch training is definitely better than something more akin to punishment. It's a good idea if it keeps happening.

 

[iPappy]

I think training "ouch" is fair. My stance is to not look at it as an intentional bad behavior, it's an accident.

My cat's claws don't hurt me if they've been trimmed. I can tell she tries to be careful. But if her claws grow out (particularly if it's been much longer than I should've allowed), the points seem to be harder for her to handle. What would usually be a friendly tap becomes a scratch and she seems rather confused.

To me, it sounds like the cats in question may be long overdue for a nail trim. And that's probably making everything worse than it normally would be. And I think that and how it's not intentional should be kept in mind.

Get the claws clipped and take it from there.

I had no intentions of training the ouch. They jump on me, claws are out, I instinctively go "OUCH". I think it was one of those things that was trained with no real plan, it just happened.
I usually trim claws every other week, but as my cats get older they seem to need it more often. I'm very lucky that my cats are very good for it. The cats we have that live at work are a different story!

 

[heatherwillard0614]

I personally don't trim Gabby's front claws, only her back about once a week or so. Her front claws are hers to take care of on a scratcher. They are short and sharp. That being said, when playing with her (even if I'm using my hand) she doesn't use claws. She tries to be so careful when it comes to her nails and my skin. Very rarely she will accidently scratch or poke me and she will immediately stop and touch me (wherever she got me) with her paw and look up at me as to say she is sorry or something. When this happens i give her a little kiss on her head and then it is play time again lol. It is the cutest thing.
If she did scratch me during kneading or even accidentally more often then I would clip the points off her front claws.
I usually have a blanket that I can put in my lap for when she wants to knead.

 

[IndyJones]

Short claws also mean less shredded furnature. I trim as close to the quick as possable without cutting it. If you keep cutting short the quick will recede. The only other thing ive heard of is claw caps but I dont like the idea of krazy glue on my cats. Claw caps also need to be reaplied monthly or whenever they fall off. They kind of go on like acrylic fake fingernails.

 

[arr]

I don’t trim claws at all, I always wear cat safe clothes around the house, meaning at least thick sweatpants, sometimes sweatshirt too, and we always have blankets wherever we sit. I never have scratches on me. It helps that I’m cold natured and we live in the north. Probably wouldn’t work for someone in a more tropical climate.

 

[Alldara]