I Can No Longer Scruff My Cat Without Her Hissing At Me

[arouetta]

Hm. I could see my own cat taking a mere two times of hearing that zipper to know what was ahead of her!
Poof, she'd be gone into a hiding place...

Lol, yeah, cats learn quick. Back when I only had two and I was bathing them, Montressor saw Shadow walk out of the bathroom with wet fur and in the few seconds it took me to toss the towels in the hamper he vanished and it took me half an hour to find him for his bath.

 

[aforumuser]

I have been using a calming spray + kitty burrito to trim nails. I spread out the towel, spray it with the calming spray and just let kitty lay on it for a minute while I pet her and she sniffs the spray. Once she seems content there, I wrap the towel over her and tuck her paws in...then just pull out 1 paw. I've only been doing a little at a time. One day I got just her dew claws since they are hardest to clip. The next day go back and do the other 4 nails on 1 front paw. Repeat until every paw is done. I still need to do her back paws but it's been working great for us.

i'm gonna try this. will buy some cat sedating spray and use it on her. then scruff her and attempt to clip the nails. problem is she keeps resisting touch. i go to hold a paw in order to clip it and she tries to pull away even while scruffed. i go to hold a foot to try and clip it and she makes a sudden jerk towards it even while scruffed. cat is very sensitive. i'm hoping the sedating spray will knock down all this resisting. if it does i should be able to trim in peace while she is scruffed instead of dealing with all this opposition

 

[scraggles]

I think the idea behind the burrito/towel method is that it eliminates the need to scruff your cat.

As you say, your

cat is very sensitive

, and if you can find a method from those suggested to you here that works for you without scruffing, I think both of you will be much happier!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

What she is initially resisting is you scruffing her... people are suggesting you wrap her in a towel (often we call this a "kitty taco" or "kitty burrito") to keep her calmer, don't scruff her neck, but try to gently pull out a paw to quickly (and accurately) clip it only the very tip of the nail, as you don't want to cut too far down and hurt her (by cutting the quick). If she is not cooperating, it's best to not clip her nails till she is calmer, etc. Or I'd recommend at this point: take her to a vet and have a vet tech clip her nails.

 

[MissMolly08]

i'm gonna try this. will buy some cat sedating spray and use it on her. then scruff her and attempt to clip the nails. problem is she keeps resisting touch. i go to hold a paw in order to clip it and she tries to pull away even while scruffed. i go to hold a foot to try and clip it and she makes a sudden jerk towards it even while scruffed. cat is very sensitive. i'm hoping the sedating spray will knock down all this resisting. if it does i should be able to trim in peace while she is scruffed instead of dealing with all this opposition

I'm not sure how well it would work with still scruffing. The spray really isn't meant to be sedating in any way, it just helps her to have a more pleasant association with the towel so she doesn't run when she sees me lay the towel down! Also, the spray I bought specifically says it is "NOT to be sprayed directly on the cat" so remember you want to spray a towel or cat bed or something that she will be laying on, not her! They do make calming treats and calming collars too though that may work for you.

 

[arouetta]

Yeah, you need to quit scruffing forever. Not try to find ways that you can make the cat accept something that shouldn't be done. Just stop scruffing, period.

 

[kissthisangel]

I would only use scruffing in a very emergency situation now. For example, yesterday, I opened a cupboard (my house is packed to the rafters with stuff) my youngest ran in and attempted to climb the mountain, but a folding table was about to fall on him. I HAD to get him out. I grabbed him by the scruff and dumped him on the floor away before the table slapped down onto me instead. In all it was probably about 2 seconds. I don't like doing it but sometimes it IS necesary. I wouldn't have been able to get his wriggly butt out of the way before the table fell if I'd have picked him up normally.

Prior to this, I had been holding the princess by the scruff to try and trim her nails (took some bad advice from a friend who's cat is apparently 'fine with it' my bad). This doesn't help, the cat's distressed because they aren't sure why they are being scruffed and it takes up your hand. Treats to teach your cat it's ok or just waiting until they are sleeping so deep they are dreaming means you can get a few claws at a time.

I find the back claws harder than the front. They really really hate having any unsolicited touching on the back feet.