Do you clip your cat's claws??

[bastetservant]

I don't trim, or cut my cats claws. I never have, nor seen any reason to do so in the 50+ years I've had cats. My cats are indoors, always. But in the past I have had cats get outside, accidentally. I want them to have all their defenses, should that happen again.

They never scratch me. I handle many cats, (brushing, petting, playing), each week at the shelter where I volunteer. I sometimes get minor scratches, but that is always from taking them out, or putting them back in cages not carefully enough. Anyway, these are my fault, not deliberate from the cats, and no big deal to boot.

I have lots of types of desirable scratching posts for my cats. The 6 I have now have been trained to not scratch furniture by using Sticky Paws tape (Petco and on line - other brands don't stick well) for a few months, placed on the places they tend to scratch.

I have never had the need to use flea meds, nor deworming meds on my indoor cats. However, these were applied to my current cats repeatedly at the shelter where they came from. If I had dogs, I'd have to deal with this, for the cats as well. My cats are checked for both when they go to the vet for their yearly physicals. When I have geriatric cats, they go in for a checkup at least every 6 months. I have had most of my cats live to 18 or more years.

Robin

 

[stephanietx]

We trim our cats' nails about every 3 weeks or so.  They are indoor only and we have carpet, so the nails don't get worn down. 

 

[jalindal]

Everyone else has talked about clipped claws, so I bet your question there is answered.

As to vet visits and general care of the cats - from my own experience.. that's sometimes a cruel twist of fate. 

My ex-housemate had an fourteen year old cat that was never brushed, never had her claws trimmed, never wormed or flead, and had *never* been vaccinated or taken to the vet. My ex-housemate was proud of the fact that her outside cat was so "hardy".

I had a two and a half year old kitten called Mackerel that I loved desperately - she was wormed and looked after and taken to the vet frequently... I brushed her and wormed her and looked after her, and tried to keep her inside as much as I could. (Hard with a housemate who refused to help me by not letting her outside.) She caught FIP and died. 

My housemate decided to go on a holiday, and surrendered her cat (she'd had for fourteen years.) to the RSPCA where she was put to sleep.

Fate's cruel. Some people don't deserve pets.

Take care of your cat and at least you'll always know that you did the best for them that you could.

 

[libby74]

Take care of your cat and at least you'll always know that you did the best for them that you could.

Very well said, sweetie. ( BTW, I remember your dear Mackerel; she was a very special girl

 )

 

[mystik spiral]

I trim Holland's claws when I notice her, as I say, "sticking" in the carpet. Probably about every 2-3 weeks. My brother and SIL have a beagle who got her claw stuck in the carpet, ended up tearing it out, bleeding, and an emergency trip to the vet, so I am very aware of that now. Also, I used to only have to trim her front claws, and I remember reading somewhere that they will use their teeth to keep the back claws in check, and sure enough, since Holland has had all her teeth pulled, I have to trim her back claws too. I do them much less often than her front ones though, probably every few months.

As far as vet visits, I view my cats as my children, so they go to the doctor once a year for a well-visit. When they are seniors, I will probably take them in twice a year. I know people who don't take their animals to the vet unless something is wrong, but that's not my philosophy. If your friend is taking her cat in once a year, I don't see anything wrong with that - the cat is getting regular vet care. But I don't know much about caring for outdoor cats, as mine are strictly indoor.

 

[jalindal]

 
Very well said, sweetie. ( BTW, I remember your dear Mackerel; she was a very special girl

 )

Thank you Libby. <3 You were such a support to me while we were going through it all..! I really appreciated it then and still! -hugs- Sorry for the late reply - I only came back to TCS briefly in '12, but possibly back more regularly now. -secret smile-

 

[maiaelizabeth]

I trim Foley's nails whenever he lets me and I gotta do it slow because he freaks out maybe 2 or 3 nails at once and I have to wait for him to relax again. His claws are so so so sharp that he barely touches me and he opens my skin I have to say, sadly, that im covered with scars because of him. He likes to play hi5. With Maia is easier whenever she's sleeping I cut all of her claws except one paw so she can definitely herself whenever shes playing with Foley.

 

[libby74]

 
Thank you Libby. <3 You were such a support to me while we were going through it all..! I really appreciated it then and still! -hugs- Sorry for the late reply - I only came back to TCS briefly in '12, but possibly back more regularly now. -secret smile-

I don't get here nearly as often any more either, hon, but I'll be looking for you

 

[carebearbaby1]

I trim my older cats' claws because they don't scratch a lot and they get long. My younger ones use the scratch posts more so their nails are good. Yes they're sharp, but they get the dead layers off so they don't become overgrown. An active cat with a good scratching surface shouldn't need its nails trimmed unless you're worried about getting scratched.

 

[malt]

It never even occured to me to trim my cats' claws...  The 3 cats in my life knead with their claws, one of them VERY enthusiastically (her claws can reach through my duvet), but it is just something I put up with. For me, things like minor scratches from kneading, over-zealous playing, and the odd miscommunication are just part of co-habiting with cats. I tend to adapt to accommodate my pets rather than trying to change their behaviour for my sake (mostly because I am too lazy!). All the cats are indoor/outdoor cats anyway, so I would like them to have their claws so they can climb and defend themselves if they get into fights. Not to mention letting them claw me lightly when they are in a good mood would be much better for my health than trying to clip their claws - one of them hates being handled/restrained and has no problem letting you know about it, and another one is a sweetheart but reacts suddenly and viciously if you touch her paws! If I tried to clip either of them, I would probably get disembowelled D: 

 

[kgar2131]

I used to never trim my cat's claws but that's because they took care of them themselves! I just recently got a kitten though and he had earmites so he was always scratching at his ears. I had to keep his nails trimmed so that he wouldn't mutilate his ears from the sharp nails and scratching all the time.

I'm going to keep his nails trimmed also just to be sure that he doesn't tear things up.

 

[cicoccabim]

I clip her claws once a week- she has black claws, and I´ve learned the hard way that is is very difficult to see how much to remove. So I do it once a week, and take away only the tip. She is very patient with me, and lets me do all nails at once. And of course, gets a treat afterwards. I started when she was 4 months old, and even then she accepted it. 

 

[slykat12]

Yes of course. They get pretty long and she gets caught on things and may accidentally scratch me if I don't. It is a pretty dramatic ordeal. I use the special scissor/clipper they have that encircles the claw and avoid the quick. I do it in bright light and wear my glasses I don't want to hurt her. She yowls, and wiggles, and fights like I am trying to kill her. So I have incorporated treats-those unhealthy "Temptation" things to get her to corporate. Every completed paw gets two treats. I also learned that if I clip them with her sitting on her tummy she tolerates it better. It takes practice to do this. When I have her on her back to clip them I get kicked a lot. 

I started when she was two months old but she still protests like a banshee.   

 

[blackkitten]

I don't clip my outdoor cats claws because they scratch a lot of things for example a tree (One of them are declawed because he was an inside cat but he is fine at the time we didn't know that it wasn't good), but I do trim my indoor kitten's nails because it makes it easier to play with out him accidently scratching.  I do recommend trimming your cat's nails.  If you do remember only cut up to the part of the nail that is the start of where the claw curls.  But it is up to you!

 

[diann wilson]

Thank you for sharing.  I have had my kitten about six months.  When I first got her the vet cut her claws and for the first few months we did all the visits for shots and test.  The last visit in October was for a spay and nail trim.  I find it hard to get off work to have her claws cut so I purchased claw clipers.  She didn't like me doing it so I only did one paw.  I will take her back to the vet to have them cut but your reply let me know it won't cause problems if we only do it every six months.

 

[marlin]

I am having a real problem with clipping my male kitten's claws...the female is very cooperative and allows me to

clip whenever.

The male scratched me so badly this am and he is only 7 months old...I am frustrated with him ...I have holes in my clothes, he has climbed up on the chairs, and left marks...

Is there an easy way to do this? I just sit his sister in my lap and she is as calm as can be...

They have a scratching post/s two are wooden, and two have rope around them...

This CONDO is 14 years old, the wooden posts have never been touched by my other cat who is now in kitty heaven.

The wooden poles are all splinters and totally ruined...

Any and all  suggestions will be most welcome...

Thanks! 

 

[peer jones]

Personally I don't believe in clipping claws on any outdoor cat and indoor cats should be given plenty of surfaces to sharpen on, then they don't tend to destroy furniture . We are very lucky though, living at end of dead end street our cats can be out whenever they want to (most of the time when it isn't too cold  or thunderstorming)

 

[Margret]

Darned right I clip Jasmine's claws.  When I don't she puts holes in things, including the sofa, my legs, and the veterinarian (who informs me that Jasmine is the best behaved patient she has!).

No, cats have a natural way of keeping their claws sharp.  That's what they use their scratching posts for.  Those trim away the outer surface of the claw (which grows from the inside), making their claws all sharp and new.  This is great when they need to defend themselves or hunt for their supper, but much less great when they're indoors only cats in a forever home.

Since it's both dangerous and painful to cut into the quick (a cat can bleed to death from this, as well as acquiring a claw cutting phobia), it's important to keep either styptic powder or a styptic pencil at hand when you do it, and then to make sure that you don't have to use it.  And since Jasmine is a long hair, I spend a couple of days clipping the fur on her paws (one front paw per day; I don't usually worry about her back paws, which she can't hone on her scratching post) so I can see exactly what I'm doing when I'm clipping.

You don't need to buy an expensive tool to do this; a standard human nail clipper works just fine.  Hold it sideways to the nail, so it's touching the flat surfaces of the claws.  Push on the pad, and the claw will extend so you can get at it.  Then look carefully for the quick, so you can avoid it, and close the clipper hard, so it doesn't take two tries.  And don't forget the dew claw.

Some purebred cats may already have a claw clipping phobia, since I've been told that some breeders deliberately cut the claws as close to the paw as possible, ignoring the damage to the cat in favor of having to do it less frequently.  These breeders should be prosecuted under the laws against animal cruelty, but first you'd have to prove it, which is difficult.

Margret

 

[Margret]

Towel wrapping is the only solution I know of.  Do one paw at a time, with the other paws under the towel.  And don't try to do them all in one sitting; just one paw at a time.

I've heard of people who clip one claw every time the cat takes a nap.  I'm not impressed with this method.

If a cat is afraid to have its claws clipped, never call it to you to clip them.  You'll just make it afraid to come when called.

Margret

 

[misty8723]

I don't clip. I have plenty of places for them to scratch and I've never seen the nails grow in to the paw.  What do feral cats do?  I doubt there is anyone out t heir clipping their claws.  Once I found out it was mainly for my benefit they suggested clipping, I said nope, not worth the stress and aggravation - to both of us.