Trimming Claws

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Well, my elderly Burmese is not speaking to me!

He HATES being held although is an extremely affectionate cat.

We limit the amount of times we have to trim his claws as he hates the whole experience so much but today I had to do it as they are getting so long. He does have a cat tree with lots of scratching areas which he uses a lot.

Anyway only managed to get 4 claws done on one paw :rolleyes:

, got scratched up a bit and then he flew out of my arms!

His usual place is sitting on his cushion right next to me but he has been sitting across the other side of the room by the patio doors WITH HIS BACK TO ME all morning. He is obviously not speaking to me lol.

I've tried calling him over but he won't come although the cheeky monkey rushes out into the kitchen every time I go out there to feed him!

How do your cats react when you cut their claws?

spitspot · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm **Posts:** 734

Well, he has certainly put you in your place! You have been well and truly ignored for your dastardly deed of nail trimming :lol:

Oscar sorts his own nails out on his scratch posts and trees in the garden. We are going to the vets next week for his first vaccinations. Am a little nervous as it's his first trip to the vets since the vet signed him out from cats protection last October. I am going to ask the vet to do a full check of teeth, nails, weight etc plus the injections! Oscar will probably hate me for at least a week :sad:

When I do his flea stuff on his neck he goes mad. I have to scruff him then he spends the rest of the day narrowing his eyes at me whenever Im near him! Oh the joy of cats!

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

I don't trim Raiden's nails -- never have. They are super sharp, but they have never scratched me. When he had his teeth cleaned in August, the vet trimmed them and I hated looking at the chopped ends. They have sharpened back up. Raiden uses his scratching posts a lot, so I'm sure he's shedding the old nails just fine. He would NEVER EVER in a million years sit and let me trim them and I don't even want to try.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

He's still in a huff with me :rolleyes:

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Oh dear Clare, you'll be well and truly in the dog house.

So sorry to hear that Hendrix has been beaten up again. Give him a (((hug))) from me.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Hope Hendrix is okay and doesn't have an abscess. Cat fights can be horrendous and a serious one can actually kill a cat. That's why Raiden is not allowed to roam the neighborhood. He always found a cat to harass until the got his butt kicked good! You get tired of dragging him off to the vet to get fixed up again.

Raiden is super good at not holding a grudge. When he gets home from the vet, he will go straight to his enclosure. He does the same after Frontline, but he's back inside the house crying to me after just a few minutes.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Well done Raiden for not holding a grudge!

Muskey is back on his cushion next to me again. Think I'll let dh try next time!

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Glad to hear Muskey has forgiven you!

Hendrix is fine now, he was feeling very sorry for himself Sunday, but I'm starting to wonder if it was all a ploy to get plenty of roast beef lol

The swelling under his chin has gone down a bit but he is very badly bruised, he's black and blue under there. But he was back to being a pest last night, knocking everything off the hall units to get to his bouncy balls and then went bonkers when he had them, he even let Jagger join in, it was lovely to see him back to his normal self again and both of them having a great time playing together!

Sheenasmom · **Joined:** Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:40 pm **Posts:** 87

Eggman....I feel your pain. I am a pet groomer, by trade. I have NEVER come across a dog (or cat) who's nails I cannot trim. Until I got a Bengal. It's getting ridiculous now. I tried to teach my husband how to "scruff" her by her neck, but he doesn't do it well enough. I try restraining her in my grip so I can do it, but she is SO STRONG. It's like wrestling an alligator. The other night I managed to do one front paw (I don't even bother with the back!) and she didn't talk to me all night afterwards. Oh, the evil glares I got! She has to go to the vet in January, so it will have to wait til then. I have plenty of scratching posts around, but she uses my carpeting. To me, all it does is refine the points :-)

cranberry · **Joined:** Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:42 pm **Posts:** 641

Babbage is pretty good, no fuss, and you can do a paw at a time. He gets plenty of praise and cuddles and doesn't really care.

Ada can hear me thinking about picking up the clippers from the other end of the apartment.:-) You have to get her when she's sleepy and do a claw or two at a time, she doesn't fight, but she is very good at sitting on her paws until you go away.

I don't clip as often as I should, if not for the pair of them, for me - Ada loves to pad my lap, but babbage pads my chest and I often get a claw straight through my t-shirt and hooked into a nipple. :shok:

Donna741 · **Joined:** Wed Feb 05, 2014 9:03 pm **Posts:** 1048

Debbie, can you try and get one or two while he's sleeping?

Most of our cats are pretty good about nail trims, but it's also done every couple of weeks in our house so they are used to it. Our semi-feral Siamese mix is a different story though. I used to wrap her in a towel and pull out 1 foot at a time to cut but she's gotten wise to that and as soon as she sees the towel she's gone. I tried to get my husband to scruff and hold her but he couldn't get a good grip on her. I'm going to scruff and hold her and get him to try cutting.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Doing one or two claws at a time? Ha ha ha ha! By the time you get through them all, you have to start all over again! LOL. I'm sure it's better to get them ALL done and over with and let the cat be for a few weeks until the next time.

Clare, glad to hear Hendrix is okay! Cat fights scare me to death! And it is so easy for deep bites to occur and FIV to be transmitted.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

I'm starting to wonder whether it's worth it to be honest.

The main reason I cut them is for his benefit in case they start to curl round and grow inside his paw but not sure if that would ever happen as he does use his scratch pads every day. He's an indoor cat by the way which does make a difference.

He's quite old so I don't like to put him through any unnecessary stress. I've tried trimming his claws when he is asleep but he's a light sleeper and just pounces off the sofa as soon as I start!

socalprincess · **Joined:** Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:17 pm **Posts:** 89

I've always trimmed my kitties' claws (the 1st generation of 3), and they were all very well behaved, disciplined, and relaxed about anything like that.

When Apollo was a kitten (2nd generation), with him being skittish, I had a hard time...and hubs not being a cat person and approaching more aggressively than he should have, we struggled. But fortunately Apollo has always been very affectionate, so I took advantage of nights or mornings when hubs (then boyfriend) wasn't over and when Apollo was in the bed with me and being snuggly...and calmly did a few while I was snuggling him. I guess he came to associate the trimming with snuggling, because now as long as I approach him that way, he is totally fine with it.

Orion on the other hand, is only 5 months and obviously being a bengal is all over the place. And on top of that, he's no where near as affectionate as Apollo. So I don't have those opportunities haha. His claws are VERY sharp, and we are trying to get him used to the trimming early as well, but it's a struggle. Hubs has to scruff and even then Orion growls the whole time. I know the key is to not make it an ordeal that he dreads, so we're still working it out. Time will only tell if Orion comes around to it!

Trimming Claws

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