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| Angelina Stripe Was Feral until October 2009 |
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| Tiger Lily Was Feral until November 2007 |
I have five cats which stay indoors perpetually. So, ideally, all of those should have their nails trimmed regularly. Stripe does not run away when I start it. I have to keep her distracted, but she lets me do it. For Tiger Lily, she resisted so much that I got one of those bags to put her in that vets use. Unfortunately, it was next to impossible to get her into the bag once she started to associate it with the nail trimming. So my husband and I stopped using the bag. He incapacitates her with a towel while I work feverishly at getting the front paws trimmed, careful not to cut too short so as not to damage what I think is called the quick. It's amazing that two cats who both started feral can respond so differently to the nail trimming.
I have not tried trimming Scrufty's nor Tabatha's nails because of some handling problems with them for other treatments. But Panther is a total gem, allowing me to trim her nails while she sits with me and purrs.
How is it for you folks regarding trimming your cat's nails? I would love to hear pieces of your stories in comments to this post. Or you could email me with any longer response which you think would benefit my readers so I can turn your response into a post. Of course, you might be like one of my friends and just not do the nails since it is simply too labor-intensive or aggravating.
Let me know your experiences!
And may you all be well!
Debby Taylor
DTConsult@cableone.net
5 comments:
Do try to clip the cats' claws before visiting their vet so as not to scratch their vets' magic healing hands.
We get our claws trimmed every two weeks, well, the tree of us that have claws do. My Mom holds us upside down in her arms and my Dad does the trimming. My sisters Gracie and Zoe wiggle a bit but I just purr the whole time, I don't mind it a bit!!!
Samson will let me do anything to him and I think he actually enjoys getting his nails trimmed. Delilah the tortie, on the other hand, absolutely refuses to let it happen! I need to have someone help me hold her and we're only able to do a maximum of two claws per session!
Generally we don't clip our 3s claws, we leave them to shed the sheath naturally. We've got plenty of horizontal and vertical scratch pads for them (of course the odd chair corner too)- Oliver gets one front claw that seems to have an over curly growth pattern so that gets the occasional snip - just the very tip so it never grows around to reach the pad. Gerry doesn't get trimmed because he has no teeth and needs his talons if he ever has to defend himself. Whicky's seems to shed ok with his regular claw maintenance on the scratch pads.
However, we do a once a month claw handling, pretend trim with each of them to keep them adapted to having their claws handled - just incase they ever need regular trims.
I wonder if you could retrain Lily with the bag by leaving it out, putting treats on it, then gradually building up to getting her in it with instant treats/rewards?
I should mention that the ape Dad holds each cat during the claw/paw handling sessions, though I can do all of their front claws on my own if needs be. It's quicker and easier if they are held though - easier access!
WW
I've been told that I have some kind of "magic touch" when it comes to trimming cat claws. We have 14 cats, who all tolerate it at varying levels, ranging from enjoying it thoroughly to having an absolute hissing, spitting, biting fit. At the rescues I help, they always save the 'tough' ones for me, because for some reason the cats always let me do it. I wish there was a way to teach others how I do it, but I don't know what I do differently than others!
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