a neurotic question

Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?

"scullycat" wrote in message
news:EiPff.388$8o6.383@trndny03...
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed
and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?


I would talk to her soothingly and just get the job done. Praise her and
give her a treat afterward.

scullycat wrote:
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?

That's a very good question and very eloquently put!

I would not be able to do it right now...I am in experienced.

I would think that your hold on her will bolster her sense of trust
during the trim.

I think the real question here is...
What is the best hold on a cat for the trim.

Ever watched someone shoe a Clydesdale? He goes into a small steel
stall...
a heavy wood beam is put on his back, across his chest and behind his
legs...he is immobilized does this monster horse fight it? WHO WOULD
KNOW! They don't think he fights it because he just stands there
see...(as if he had a choice)

"scullycat" wrote in message
news:EiPff.388$8o6.383@trndny03...
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed
and fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down
when she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job
it done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But,
aren't I hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we
restrain her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?


Troll

scullycat wrote:
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?

I bought all sorts of nail clippers and stuff. But somehow I did not
think it important enough to restrain the cat just to clip her nails.
Is it for her or for me? As luck would have it, her nails are clipped
by hers truly. I am not quite sure how she does it. But she chews on
them and they are fine. Sharp enough to draw my blood or climb a tree
but trimmed enough that I don't hear her walking on her nails - even
though she is a bit heavy footed. Poor girl is just a wee bit too fat.

If you need to restrain her, don't bother. Are you harming her? I don't
know but it seems not necessary and can't be doing any feel goods to a
new cat. Why scare her like that? I did not restrain my cat when I
would clip her nails. I can also file them a bit, even now. But as I
said, it's not worth the aggravation for me, nor for the cat. And now
when I have to grab her, she goes along with the program since she
senses it's really necessary, like a big hawk or such is nearby.

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 00:19:48 +0000, scullycat wrote:

Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed
and fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down
when she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job
it done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But,
aren't I hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we
restrain her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?


If you got the job done, count yourself lucky! MLB

Oh man, I hate the clipping. The cats never like it, and I don't do it
as often as we should because of that.

On older cats, it gets more imperative. Their claws can grow around and
into the pad. Our older cats have sometimes not even shed that outside
sheath, so you start clipping and the outside thing cracks off and the
cat yells...

We had a cat like yours, we had to basically use wild animal techniques
to clip him. I put him completely under a blanket, head and all, and the
blanket kept trying to bite me! Looked like a muppet mouth attacking.

Anyway, I finally got fed up and decided that this was ridiculous. I
tried some cat psychology (which means -- food.) I talked softly to
Bobcat the whole time, and had a bag of treats right beside me. Every
time he hissed or squirmed, I rattled the bag. It got his attention and
stopped the squirming. I fed him a few treats before we started. I
decided this was going to be a positive experience, damn it.

I held one paw up, he pulled it back, I talked softly to him and gave
him a treat. I finally got one nail clipped, praised him heavily and
gave him another treat. After we were done (finally) I let him go and
threw him a couple more treats.

Every time after that, it got easier. I made sure there were no other
distractions in the house and that we were sitting in the same spot
every time. I wanted him to know what to expect.

After 4-5 times, it was a piece of cake! Now I've got to try that again
on the new guys.

Rhonda

scullycat wrote:

Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?

scullycat wrote:
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out? Or, am I just too sensitive?


Don't "get the job done". You can easily clip all claws, or inflict all
manner of indignities on a cat if you do so without making a big fuss
about it. My cat just jumped on my lap as I was writing this. He
settled in. I petted him. He purred. To test my theory, I gently
picked up his hind foot, extended a claw, and clipped it with scissors I
had handy. He hardly even noticed. Maybe in a little while I'll do
another, or maybe I'll comb him a little bit. If I really want to get
all his nails clipped, I can do it easily, painlessly and without stress
for either of us. It might take a few days or a week, but I can get it
done. I always keep scissors, a brush a comb and a flea comb handy and
let the cat provide me with the opportunity to use them rather than
forcing my will on the cat.

I got this technique from "Think Like A Cat" by Pam Johnson-Bennett,
back in the days when people still got information from books.

--
John Kimmel


I think it will be quiet around here now. So long.

"scullycat" wrote in message
news:EiPff.388$8o6.383@trndny03...
Ok, it's like this. I have this 2 and one half yr. old cat that I recently
adopted. I had my husband hold her with a towel wrapped around her and I
proceeded to clip her claws. Well, she didn't like it at all, and hissed
and
fought, and bit. Ok, here comes the neurotic part. Do i put her down when
she goes nuts, or do I just proceed and hold her tightly till the job it
done. I did the second choice and felt so good it was over. But, aren't I
hurting her little psyche or scarring her psycholigically, if we restrain
her and she is flipping out?

Yes- you'll make trimming an unpleasant experience and she'll fight you more
and more each time. Clip a few at a time and give her a treat after clipping
the first couple of claws and let her go when she starts to struggle. Make
her associate trimming with pleasant experiences. If you hold her down and
make trimming a traumatic experience for her, trimming will be a nightmare
if not impossible and actually dangerous.

The best time to trim is when she just wakes up and is still a little
groggy. Also, touch and hold her paws gently and frequently without
trimming so she gets used to having her paws touched. After you hold her
paw
for a few seconds, give her a treat. If you repeat this enough and hold her
paws a little longer each time, she'll start tapping your hand with her paw
and won't struggle when you trim them.

http://www.maxshouse.com/Claw%20Trimming.htm

Good luck,

Phil

"Rhonda" wrote

I held one paw up, he pulled it back, I talked softly to him and gave
him a treat.

This is darling! I have to try this. We have gotten Boo to fight with
slightly less sincerity by giving her treats after clipping--I will try
before and during.

I finally got one nail clipped, praised him heavily and
gave him another treat. After we were done (finally) I let him go and
threw him a couple more treats.


Gracie (my little sweetcheeks!) of course just tries to get very,
very small and hopes we will go away. She does not make a peep.
Boo did the muppet cat thing, but now I can just place a hand at
the side of her face so she cannot reach my husband's clipping hand.