I clipped his nails!

[fhicat]

I DID IT!

Hell, that took me almost an hour, but I'm so proud of myself now.

I stopped trying to do it the way everyone does, because it just doesn't work with Jed. So I figured... if it ain't working, don't do it, right? 

He was in his spot on the couch as usual. I figure I'd try to clip them while he's there. I sit on the carpet in front of him, so we are both at eye level. I start playing with his paws and inspecting his claws. He doesn't mind me doing that - never did. I turn them inside out, squeeze them, pet them. 

I take the clipper and put it near him. He gets that excited look in his face. He thinks it's a toy. Always did. He starts biting and batting at it. This time, I leave it there instead of pulling away as I always do. He plays with the clipper for a few minutes. Then he gets bored because the clipper wasn't responding. It is a boring toy. I try to clip one nail now. He stares at the clipper near his paw, and he pulls his paw away.

I wait. I talk to him, although I feel silly doing so. A short while later he extends his paw back . I play with his paw again, this time with the clipper. He doesn't seem to mind. I lift his paw gently and squeeze it to get the claw to protrude. He is curious. He stares at his paw, wondering what am I up to. I gently slide the clipper under the claw. It is hard to do, because his claw is facing downwards on the couch. I reposition his paw, but he doesn't like that, so he pulls his paw away again.

Again, I wait. I give him a treat, which he eats. I try again, but he is now very distracted by the treat bag. He gets up, and keeps sniffing the bag. Hm, bad idea. I give him another bite and put the bag away.

Five minutes later, he is settled down again. I try again. He stares at the clipper. I try to lift it a tiny bit, just enough to slide the clipper under. No resistance. His claw is now in the clipper. I snap it. *Click*

One claw done!! Well, not really. It is an uneven cut. I have to try again. 

He seems surprised. This is new. What just happened? He sniffs the clipper and bat at it again. I wait. Almost immediately, he settled down.

49 minutes later, I toss the old claw debris into the trash can. 

 

[AbbysMom]

YAY!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!

He will start to get used to it and it should eventually go a bit quicker.

 

[mservant]

    

   You have succeeded in kitty friendly claw care, congratulations!!!   I hope you were able to celebrate with a lovely kitty cuddle and those paws are still stretched out for you to play with. 

If I don't have Mouse's fish snack at the ready as soon as we're done with kitty-paw he's right there by the tin and meowing at me telling me what's meant to happen next . 

   Now you have succeeded once I am sure you will be able to keep this up so both you and Jed see it as a regular routine that isn't stressful.   

Lovely description of how you guys got through it,  for others to try and copy. 

 

[jcat]

Congratulations! It should get easier with time. Mogli wanted to play with the clippers at first, too, but they soon lost their novelty.

You'll be down to a minute or two before you know it.

 

[Winchester]

Yay You! and Jed, too! 

We clip here usually the first weekend of the month. Mollipop and Tabby still have their front claws. Tabby is a sweetie; she's so used to us messing around with her (because of the ear mites and infections from when she was a kitten) that we can handle her easily. She pretty much lays in my arms while Rick cleans her ears and then clips her claws.

Mollipop? 

 Somewhere along the line between the time I pick her up til I walk into the bathroom with her, she turns into Monster Molli. She turns, she twists, she yells, she shrieks, she screams, she pulls away, she bites me. And Rick hasn't even touched her yet! He's just standing there with the clippers in his hands!  This is strictly a battle of wills and it's rare for us to get all ten of her front claws. We might be able to get 5-6 at a time, certainly no more than that. The last time back in February, we did manage to clip all ten of those claws and we praised her to Kingdom Come and back. "What a good girl you were! How special you were!" 

"Oh, be quiet! Put me down! NOW! And leave me alone!" Nobody can mutter like The Molli can mutter. And off she goes to lick whatever wounds she thinks she has.

Honestly, it's like a huge battle with that girl. And we have never cut too close or hurt her in any way. But when it comes to her claws, that girl has a definite catitude.

 

[santan]

Congratulations!

I am a complete F A I L at clipping.

I have one kitty who wouldn't DREAM of scratching on anything but his scratch posts (of which there are many throughout the house) or something outdoors. He attends to his own nail issues quite nicely. No need for clipping.

Girl kitty, on the other hand, never met a sofa or lounger she didn't love for digging in and ripping away. No amount of scolding and squirt guns have deterred her. She is my most constant companion, to the point of being underfoot, but has never allowed much handling, except on her own terms, i.e., she comes to sit on my lap when SHE is ready. Otherwise, not to be picked up. It's only in the last few years, she has allowed me to bend down and pet her spontaneously (without a lap appointment). Every attempt to clip has ended up with me bleeding from a dozen wounds and her squawling and huffing and running off to hide, later to redouble her scratching of my furniture.

 

[mservant]

 
Yay You! and Jed, too! 

.......................

"Oh, be quiet! Put me down! NOW! And leave me alone!" Nobody can mutter like The Molli can mutter. And off she goes to lick whatever wounds she thinks she has.

Honestly, it's like a huge battle with that girl. And we have never cut too close or hurt her in any way. But when it comes to her claws, that girl has a definite catitude.

    I think you may find Mollipop has some competition:    I swear my old girls used to swear.   Oh yes, no doubt the words coming out of their cat mouths were  

 !  One was good as gold for claw clipping but crating up was another matter....  Pal would **** the minute she felt out of control so pin her down for anything and that girl would start up.  

 

[mservant]

 
Congratulations!

I am a complete F A I L at clipping.

I have one kitty who wouldn't DREAM of scratching on anything but his scratch posts (of which there are many throughout the house) or something outdoors. He attends to his own nail issues quite nicely. No need for clipping.

Girl kitty, on the other hand, never met a sofa or lounger she didn't love for digging in and ripping away. No amount of scolding and squirt guns have deterred her. She is my most constant companion, to the point of being underfoot, but has never allowed much handling, except on her own terms, i.e., she comes to sit on my lap when SHE is ready. Otherwise, not to be picked up. It's only in the last few years, she has allowed me to bend down and pet her spontaneously (without a lap appointment). Every attempt to clip has ended up with me bleeding from a dozen wounds and her squawling and huffing and running off to hide, later to redouble her scratching of my furniture.

@SanTan, your girl sounds a bit like my Pal with control.  Maybe FHi09's super slow gently does it technique could be the one for her.  Pal would let me clip her claw the way FHi09 describes but it took a long time to build up her trust so I could do it - one claw at a time.

 

[santan]

LOL!  If only!

I have tried every approach, every device. I even bought a battery operated type file thing. What a disaster THAT was. I have a drawer full of "sure-fire, painless, kitty-will-love-it" nail cures. Haha!

Since Ivy is a foundling, I am not sure what her background is, but I think it involved maulings by small children or something like that. It took almost 6 months to get her to sit with me, then on my lap, which she now adores and, in that state, at her time and choosing, she allows petting and brushing. The brushing is fairly new and inspired, I think, by seeing my other cat getting lots of attention around the activity, which annoys her to bits.

As I type this, she is spread out on one of their fluffy towels in front of my computer screen (much as you can see in my avatar). She loves to be with me at all times and highly interested in all my activities, but.. she is still not a cat you can just approach and pick up and cosset. After six years, still if I approach her lounger even to say good night,  she immediately tenses and gets that, "WHAT!?!?! What do you want!?!?" kind of a look on her face. Contact is still strictly on her terms and gingerly.

As of now, I would just dearly love to get her switched from my furniture to the many, MANY scratching posts, indoors and out. I have liberally sprinkled with catnip, showed her, taken her to them and demonstrated (she promptly runs away).  As of now, my bed springs and the sofa and living room chairs are all reupholstered with anti-kitty double sided tape - a lovely décor addition truly - and it only stopped her momentarily. Now she just shrugs and claws right through even that. LOL!

*sigh*

She's lucky I love her.

 

[mservant]

 
LOL!  If only!

........

She's lucky I love her.

    She sure is.  Give her time and maybe she will hold out her little paw and let you stroke it. 

 

[santan]

LOL! It has only been six years, but one can hope.

 

[mservant]

 
LOL! It has only been six years, but one can hope.

If you're lucky you could have another 15 or so to get her there, and kitties often mellow eith age, my girls certainly did.  By the time she got to 15 Pal was a little doll when I clipped her claws, big change from having to use the sit on and pin down technique for everything. 

 

[santan]

Haha! I just mentioned that to her brother, Jams. His look says, "Mellow? I'll be sure to mark THAT on my calendar..."

 

[orangetux]

I have always waited till Tiki is on my lap sleeping and it usually works but sometimes it's just the wrong day. I try to pet his paws even when I don't clip them. Sometimes you can only do a couple at a time and wait another day. It's always on his terms cause he's a biter.