Claw clipping question

Cheryl Sellner wrote in
:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/catclaws.htm
It shows pictures with the quick clearly visible.


Thanks for this.

I have trimmed dog's claws from time to time, and I always found that
doing it in sunlight meant you could easily see the vein.

With the cats, I do it so seldom, that if I just clip off the hook at the
end, I'm still well away from the vein.

Chak

--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

Karen AKA KajiKit wrote in
:

You could try sneaking up on a cat and doing it one paw at a time
while the cat is asleep and in a suitable position. There's no law
that says you have to do all the claws at the same time, you can
rotate... and I never clip the back claws at all - they don't get
nearly as long or as sharp as the front ones.


Good points, all. Thanks.

Chak

--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

Ted Davis wrote in
:

A friend of mine swears by a sock pulled over her cats' heads. That
would be like the hood. However, when I go over the process in my
mind, I see more opportunity to get hurt than when just overpowering
the cat.


Did she say anything about how the cat feels about it? (Yeah, I know,
she can't ask them.) I'd just hate to traumatize the little guys, and
I'd hate even worse for them to learn not to trust me.

Chak

--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in
:

Oscar's my first cat, and I never clip her claws. A vet did it to her
once, and she would jump up on the couch and slide right off! It
seemed downright humiliating, so I never let them do it again.

LOL! How very undignified - she must have hated that. They do so hate
to be caught looking silly.

Doc likes to jump up onto my shoulders from the floor, and if he misses,
he just digs in and climbs the rest of the way. For him, though, having
his claws too long is bad, because when he climbs, his claws getting
snagged in the cloth makes things that much more difficult.

(By the way, I can't afford to turn the heat on, so I'm generally wearing
five layers in my numerator and four in my denominator, so him climbing
up my back is really no problem for me.)

I guess we're just lucky; she seems fine. She does have a plethora of
scratching posts that she uses enthusiastically, so maybe that's why
it doesn't seem to be a problem. Do your cats enjoy any form of
scratching device?

Generally, they do manage to maintain their claws themselves. I have a
limb of a cherry tree that I've screwed onto a base, and that's really
hard, a limb of another tree (not sure what kind, but slightly softer
wood) that's built into a cat tree, and sisal scratching posts and
carpet-covered scratching posts. That's basically four levels of
hardness for them, and they manage quite well. They just need the
occasional assist.

Chak



--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

wrote in
oups.com:

They actually calm the animal.

Oh, thank you for that. That eases my mind considerably, in the event I
decide to use one.

From an old post:

My experience is that the more you do it, the more they get used to
it.

Good technique and tools are esssential. I like to use the
small, blunt-nosed, notched, scissor-like clippers (Groomax Cat Nail
Clippers:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...%3C%3Eprd_id=8
45524441777735&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302025 565&ASSORTMENT%3C%3Ea
st_id=2534374302023690&CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=1013419 8673267835&bmUID=1090
435597134

as they are less obtrusive and easier to handle. I've trimmed claws on
hundreds of cats (used to be a groomer), and those work for me. You
will
eventually find a set of tools and a routine that works for you, if
you stick with it long enough. Also, the vet can give you lessons in
technique if you need them.

The method I use is this:

While standing, place the cat on a folded towel, on an *unfamiliar*++
table, with his head to your left. Put his body close to yours so
that you can lean to the outside (furthest from your body) and clip
first the fronts, and then the backs (or vice-verse - I do both).
When clipping the fronts, I pull the paw up and out, and kinda behind
their head, so that if they do try to bite, they have to go past their
own arm to do so, which gives me enough time to get away. When
clipping the backs, I just pull the foot out, or in some cases, I
gently flip it back. As I do the backs, I block the head with my arm
and elbow, so that the cat can't reach around and bite.

Flip kitty 180 degrees (this is why you have him on a towel), and
repeat the procedure on the other side. Let go, and watch him fly!
;o)

Obviously, if you have any cats that are real biters (rather than
nippers), you have to have someone scruff them while you trim their
nails. If the cat remains difficult to trim, I suggest having your
vet do it for you (should be free or less than $10). Also, the vet
may be able to help you improve your technique so that it becomes
much easier for you.

++The reason you put the cat in an unfamiliar place to do the
trimming is that it distracts the cat, and allows it to focus on
something other than biting you. If you trim in the cat's own
"territory" it knows exactly where to move, where to jump to, and
where to hide. I do the trimming on my kitchen island, since that is
a place the cats are not familiar with. A folding table in an
attached garage would serve the same purpose.

And thanks for that - excellent advice from a pro. I love usenet. :-)

Chak

--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

Dee wrote in
om:

I started by going up to her when she was sleeping. I'd clip one
claw, then immediately say "Good girl!!!" and give her a Pounce treat.
I did one claw a day, mostly just the front paws. If there wasn't a
claw that actually needed clipping, I would still go through the
motion of clipping, along with the "good girl!" and the treat. I
don't remember how long I did this for, maybe a month or so - I just
wanted to be consistent in order to establish a positive association.


What a good cat mommy you are! Thanks.

Chak

--
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it
would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples
might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal
time in physics classrooms.
--Stephen Jay Gould

Chakolate wrote:
It always reminds me of a Calvin & Hobbes comic. Hobbes is lying on his
back, sleeping, paws up, mouth slightly open. Calvin tickles his tummy,
and a large dust-up ensues. Last frame shows Calvin walking away,
saying, 'I keep forgetting that when he's like that, five of his six ends
are pointy.' :-)

LOL! I love that one!


--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
marina (dot) kurten (at) iki (dot) fi
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Chakolate wrote:

(By the way, I can't afford to turn the heat on, so I'm generally wearing
five layers in my numerator and four in my denominator

Cute.

Joyce

On 17 Feb 2006 22:03:51 GMT, Chakolate
wrote:

It's just me and the two cats, and they have shown a marked reluctance to
hold each other down while I trim claws. So how does one person manage a
claw clip on a reluctant cat?

I have in the past tried to wrap one in a towel (prewarmed for his
comfort) but I can only manage maybe two claws that way, before the
intrepid feline manages his escape.

My vet, when I told her he was a biter, produced a cloth hood-like thingy
which she said made the cat quiet, but I think that would be even more
stressful. And I'd have to make my own, as I am cash-poor for the
foreseeable future.

If you're one of the lucky ones who has a cat that doesn't object to claw
clipping, well, pbthbththbbtth to you.

Do you have a method I can try? Have you ever used a hood? Help!

TIA,

Chak

Well, I have two that refuse to be clipped, a couple that will get up
on the couch and let me do it without fanfare, and the rest have
various stages of reluctance.

My method for those I *can* clip who are more difficult is to get on
the floor, get them between my knees (so they can't back up or go
sideways), and then trim their claws from the front of my knees.
Usually works very well, except on Cosmo and Arthur, who act like I'm
killing them and manage to wriggle enough to escape. Brando and
Internet just let me do it, and the above method works for the others.

My neighbor has me come over and hold his cats up, under their front
arms, and trims them that way, and it seems to work fairly well.

Make sure you have a good, sharp claw trimmer, too. The faster you
go, the better. And they say doing it just as they are waking up is
an excellent time to try.

I also almost always give my guys catnip after the Big Ordeal ;-)

Ginger-lyn

Home Pages:
http://www.moonsummer.com
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/glsummer (homepage & cats)
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....mmer/index.htm (genealogy)
http://www.movieanimals.bravehost.com/ (The Violence Against
Animals in Movies Website)

"badwilson" wrote:
I don't agree with this article where it says you can use regular nail
clippers. I used to use those and even very sharp, brand new ones
crushed the claw and it became very ragged and splintery. I bought some
cat claw trimmers which look like scissors except that there's a little
hole like indentation in it where the claw goes. Those work much better
because they cut the claw from all directions.

I much prefer the scissor type also. I can trim claws with regular
toenail clippers, but they tend to make the claws ragged and
splintery, like you mention. The crushing and spreading action splits
and damages the claw a couple of millimeters beyond the cutting point,
and you're left with almost powdery crushed claw pieces in your nail
clipper.

Exactly like you described, I found the scissor type clipper's action
gathers the claw together like a bundle of rope and clips it all off
in one piece. It's much better.

When I first got Betty, I wasn't able to clip her claws at all, and
she disliked having her paws handled. But now, paw massages and claw
clips are as natural to her as getting scritches and brushings.