Trimming Claws by Yourself

[acats88]

I wear my winter jacket/sweater when I trim their nails to protect me. I also wrap their back claws in a towel (or their front depending on which side I'm doing). I also give them treats when I'm done. None of that seems to make it any more pleasant for any of us. 

 

[windycat]

My vet wrapped Buddy up like a burrito when it was time for her to go into the treatment room for shots. It calmed her down a bit. I'd like to clip Buddy's nails but I know for 'fact' that she's not letting it go down (lol). PetSmart does it for $11, but i think I'll just leave hers alone. Buddy isnt a lap cat anyway. The only touchy touchy thing she does is rub up against me before and after I give her meals, and she lays close to me in bed for seconds at a time then moves to the foot of the bed lol. She likes to be talked to but not a touch me feel me kinda cat.

 

[SeventhHeaven]

I sit on the floor legs infront of me flip a kitty on their back onto my lap pull up my knees so they are facing me, sometimes I will put a necklace on they can occupy themselves with while I clip away it takes less than a minute to do both front paws then onto the next, it's relaxing for them they're balanced on your legs so they can't go anywhere, never had problems. I just trim ends need to do more frequently.  Need to sweep up the trimmings though...

 

[captain dave]

Here's my usual scenario when trimming my cats' claws:

Zoey: pull out large, fluffy towel, lie it down inconspicuously (never works - she knows immediately), gently pick her up and set down quickly on towel, then wrap over her and make her into a kitty burrito.

Try to ignore the sounds of the rabid wolverine that's screaming in the boat now, and proceed to trim the first paw.

Grab the first paw again and try again.

Re-wrap cat, and nurse first of bleeding scratches.

Finally finish first paw and begin losing the wrestling match with the demon-possessed satanic creature that used to be my cat.

Re-wrap...again...nurse second bloody wound...

Plug ears when the screaming starts (and I'm not even touching her), then work on the back paws...

Realize I'm now bleeding on the towel...

Release cat, let her move away at warp speed to her hiding place, and tend to wounds before moving on to Abby.

Abby: "What are you doing? I don't like it! Zoey was really upset! It feels weird and I'm going to...oh, you're finished."

Wait until my bleeding stops and then open bag of treats.

Marvel at the demonic she-devil's sudden change and praise her for being such a "good" kitty...

Give treats to Abby who is still confused but will gladly accept treats, and praise her as well.

Thank whatever Gods there are that I won't have to do this again for another month.

Sadly, I have to trim Zoey's claws or they will start to curl inward and cause her pain. If they didn't do this, or splinter (as they did once before), I would be more than content to just let them grow naturally and let her deal with them. So yes...the "kitty burrito" is sometimes a necessity. I've tried just about any other way that exists out there, but Zoey will have none of it. She hates me messing with her paws at all, even just petting them (which she will tolerate only for a few seconds) - to her, I'm taking away her weapons. She just has that feral instinct in her from her poppa cat - some feral tom with a very large form, judging by how her body's developed. 

Abby, on the other hand, is just squirmy. 

 

[mommacat1968]

I clip my cats nails with no problems..   I am new here, can some one message me and tell me how to make my own new post?

 

[GoldyCat]

I clip my cats nails with no problems..   I am new here, can some one message me and tell me how to make my own new post?

Welcome to TCS. You can find a lot of information in the sticky threads at the top of the New Cats on the Block forum. There are also tutorials on How to Use the Forums, including how to start your own thread.

 

[crankydave]

Mine were too squirmy to handle solo, but I've had luck using a compression jacket called a Thundershirt from Petsmart (basically the "cat burrito" method, but much more expensive. Ugh.). Even my constantly hyper 11-month-old instantly mellows out when it's on him. I lay him belly-up on my lap and trim all his paws in one go as he purrs away like a stoner. A few treats afterwards, and away he goes.

On a side note, don't cut them too short, and not for the usual reason. I had the vet trim his claws once during a checkup, and they cut them so short that he wasn't able to climb any of his cat trees for a month. The little action junkie was not happy.

 

[stewball]

IF whisky happens to be on my lap, AND happens to be facing me, I take the opportunity to clip his claws. He's very good and lets me. I don't do his back claws. He has to have something to defend himself from blighty who's claws are never clipped.

 

[crankydave]

Hah, yeah, mine have a clear preference for longer rear claws, but more for traction as they run like maniacs across the carpet.

 

[Cataria]

I have different strategies for each of my cats.

Shade hates having her nails trimmed and she is a very strong cat, so I put her on a bed and sort of lay on top of her, wrap my arms around her so that she can't push out with her feet, and start snipping. I think it is kinda like the blanket approach, except with my body? She doesn't like tight cuddles, but she, like the rest of my cats, have a tolerance for it, at least. More contortionism is required for back claws -- for example, if I want to get her back right claws, I need to wrap around her from the left side to prevent her from pushing me away with her front paw claws and to keep her left leg out of kicking range. Fortunately she doesn't need those done nearly as often!

Nenya is pretty much like Shade in her hatred of claw clipping, but she is not nearly as strong. I put her in my lap, roll her into a ball to keep the extra legs out of the way, and sort of wrap my body around her. So for front right claws, I have her left side tight against me and I curl around her, hold her in place with my chin, reach around her front with my left hand (I'm left-handed) and start snipping!

With Meko, I can employ the Nenya strategy, but it is much easier. You know how sometimes when you are cutting a cat's back claws they started trying to kick you with their other leg? Well... Meko only has one back leg. It makes me feel bad about how much easier it makes things!

Kismet is incredibly easy. If you hold her like a baby, she will let you do anything to her, including claw trimming.

I haven't gotten a feel for how to do Camo's yet; I have done her front paws once doing a cautious version of the Shade approach -- being a newly adopted stray, she's not ready for the manhandling that most of my claw clipping approaches involve, but crawling over her while she was already lying down and slowing doing some snipping didn't seem to bother her too much. I haven't done the backs yet but they are looking pretty long... I might try to get them while she is nursing her kittens and completely distracted.