Regarding clipping nails

[cats5]

My Raven who  has super sharp nails, is a real pistol trying to clip them. He's not exactly a very lovable, pick me up kind of cat & is very skittish & apprehensive & doesn't like to be held like the others. If he sees me coming, he runs & than I have to track him down & corner him to be able to pick him up. So, wondering if anyone had any good suggestions on how to clip his nails without being clawed to death. I wrapped him in a towel this morning & manage to get them clipped but he was not a happy camper nor was I. Tomorrow I plan on attempting to give him a bath as I did everyone else but him yet & I'm dreading it.

 

[nessie]

Is he very food motivated? My Sootball hates having her nails clipped, but she is a complete pig and will do anything for food. So I feed her a bit of tuna in a bowl, and she happily sticks her head in and eats while I grab a paw and clip her nails. She is too busy eating to turn her head and bite me. The only downside is that she eats quickly, so I only have time to do two paws before she's done. It usually takes 2-3 sittings to do her claws.

It helps if you use a food that your cat rarely gets and really likes. I never feed Sooty tuna except when I'm clipping her claws.

 

[cats5]

Yes, Raven is a real chow hound & eats very quickly. Plus, if I even had a chance to try to attempt that method, he would leave his food immediately. He loves all food but he's on a prescription diet for his UA issues so I just can't give him anything. I had to wrap him in a towel & stick one leg out & clip & than do another which worked ok but was hoping there were better options.

 

[Willowy]

I sit on the floor, on my knees. I then stick the kitty between my knees, so it sort of looks like I'm sitting on the kitty :lol3:. They can't back up or run away, so I just bend over and pick one paw up at a time and clip the nails. This method doesn't work with back claws though. And if your cat bites, it won't help. But I can clip almost any cat's front claws this way.

 

[cyndr03]

With my older kitties I just try to get at them when they are napping and restrain as needed by holding them between my legs.  With our new kitten I don't know how it will go but he's due about now.......

 

[sophie1]

No good will come of chasing & cornering a skittish cat.  But, it sounds like Raven can be bribed.  Try a daily session where you feed him a treat and show him the clippers.  Clicker training can help a lot here.  Let him bunt the clippers and sniff them.  Then, also start touching his paws.  Gradually work your way up to pressing on his paw and extending a nail.  Finally work your way up to actually clipping a claw.  He should get a treat after each claw.

That's how I trained Chai (silver Siberian).  It worked really well, but being a rather smart kitty, he knows to charge me one treat per nail and won't let me get away with any less.  He also will lie down when shown the clippers and expects a treat for that as well.  Small price to pay I guess.  He's so good about it even after I accidentally nicked the quick once.  I felt really bad about that!  The chances of this are  higher with a struggling kitty, so very much worth the effort to train them. 

 

[cats5]

Thanks for all the advice but Raven is a wild child & as I mentioned before, he runs if I even get too close to him. The only time I can actually touch him is when he's getting ready to eat his dinner & than I try to pick him up first & love up on him before I let him eat his food. I normally just use toenail clippers to snip the tips off which is easy to handle. He use to live in our building outback for 8 yrs with our sweet Little Bit but when she passed away (God Bless Her Soul), I just couldn't leave him out there by himself so I brought him into the household & he's been inside with us for 2 yrs now & seems to like it. However, I never clipped his nails in the past so this is something new & different for him. Even though he had a nice place to live, heated in the winter & a/c in the summer w/ a screened in porch, he was rather isolated except for his companion. So, he never got that bond like the indoor cats did with us so it's my fault that he's the way he is, distant & apprehensive. He will sit close to me but not in touching distance & he's enjoying being in the household w/ the rest of the cats. I try to love up on him when I can & I keep hoping eventually, he will relax & let me pick him up w/out chasing him down. I think covering him w/ a towel is probably my best option & I plan on doing it only once a month. I did manage to give him a bath (which I was sooo dreading) but he didn't do as bad as I thought, even though he was not a happy camper. He struggled more getting him into the carrier & trying to towel dry him than the actual bath. Glad that's over with. Now all 5 cats are clean & fluffy & smell good, too.