trimming cats nails?

anna42hmr

Hello, has any one here had to get their cats nails trimmed, if so did you do it yourself, take them to the vet clinic or a pet groomer?

Elsa is the first cat i have owned (had dogs prior) and noticed the last couple of weeks her nails have started to catch more on furniture, carpet and sometimes she has to really tug to release it. Elsa is a house cat and whilst she uses her cat scratching posts etc, have noticed also when she kneads me her nails are sharper than before too.

I have looked online and am concerned about doing it myself incase i accidentally hurt her by trimming too much, so wondering what other cat owners do on here and if best to see if the nurse at the vets will do it (and possibly show me for future) or wether best to get her to a pet groomer (i think the closest one to me is one within a pets at home store).

savemoney

My cat was just done today with special nail clippers my daughter did it as she does her house cats. My cat hasnt been out for a while and catches his nails now

You can do it yourself but dont take too much off

suzeesu2000

I tried to do my girls as she has become a house cat in her old age....nearly had no skin left!! Little tinker, she puts her feet in my hand at night as she objects to cold toes but when I want to cut her nails, oh nooo.

Have had to get our lovely vet to do it...at a cost of £45!!

Ilona

Hi. My two young lady cats don't need trimming, they use the scratching posts, but my older boy does because he is not very mobile. My friend comes round and I hold him while she does it. She uses ordinary nail clippers. They will struggle so best with two people. Careful not to take too much off. Maybe ask at the vet first.
Ilona

Sagz_2

I've trimmed my 3 cats nails since they were kittens so it's no trouble at all. I usually do it when they are relaxed on my lap, quick snip with human nail clippers, just to take the ends off, followed by a treat.

Mupette

Get a scratching post, scratching is what cats do, to keep their claws sharp for when they go hunting.

anna42hmr

Thanks all for the replies. The vets clinic have trimmed them for me today and were happy to show me how to do it myself so will try doing them myself next time. They have said they are more than happy to do them if she's too wriggly for me to do them and only charged £9.50.
She's got scrarching posts in each room and does use them but vets today said that some cats still need to have trimmed even if use then as can depend on how fast they grow etc.

DD265

We clipped the claws of our 6 month old kittens recently and literally took the bare minimum off; just enough to blunt the ends. Next time we'd be fine to take a little more off, but as it was the first time for all of us we wanted to avoid any mishaps.

We waited until the boys were sleepy, and went with the approach of doing one paw at a time if necessary. We were both there so there were plenty of hands if required, but they were very good.

StaffieTerrier

I used to have to wait until my cat was very sleepy before I could trim her claws. If she was wide awake I used to risk losing skin off my hands. She used to use a scratching post but her claws grew quite quickly.

Smodlet

Cats don't have "nails", they have claws and they are supposed to be sharp. Healthy, active cats who have access to the outside never need to have their claws trimmed. If there is a medical reason for this requirement, I would not let anyone but a vet or veterinary nurse touch my cat's claws. If you take off even a tiny bit too much, you could cause permanent injury.

FreeBear

An emery board is enough to take the sharp tips off if you can get close enough.

It helps if you massage the feet from an early age so that the cat is used to having their paws fondled. With nail clippers, it is all too easy to cut too much off and cause pain & suffering. Clipping can also cause the claw to delaminate which is another source of longer term suffering for the cat.