Some Tips for Trimming Your Cat’s Nails
Anyone who has done a bit of reading about trimming a cat’s nails or claws knows a few things to expect. The first thing is that a cat is going to usually resist someone holding on tightly to their paw and manipulating their feet and toes in any way. This is often easily overcome by making a point of regularly touching and playing with their feet. Obviously this is not something that any cat is going to just allow to happen, and the first step is often reaching down and simply placing the hand around the leg or foot while the cat is resting on the lap or nearby. If the cat pulls the foot away, it is a sign that they are not comfortable with such a touch. This means that the owner is in for a challenge and is going to have to make a concentrated and serious effort at helping their cat to overcome the fear.
The touching of the leg or foot is going to have to continue on a very regular basis, usually a few times each day until the cat remains calm. The next step is to actually “fiddle around” with the foot. This requires serious caution too because some cats might actually bite someone tinkering with their toes or feet. After a relatively short period of time, however, most cats realize that their owner is not harming them and will begin to be just fine with the issue. The next step is to then try gently squeezing a toe to expose the claw. This is, again, something some cats are completely blithe about and others head directly into a panic over.
Once a cat is comfortable with manipulation of its feet, the owner will have to try a combination approach of restraining the cat’s body while touching the feet. This is going to be the position in which the trimming occurs and is usually done with the cat against the owner’s body.
Next, it is time for the trimming to occur, and it is advisable to test out a few clippers in the hand before making the right choice. It is also a good idea to consider the position of the cat’s foot and nail in relation to the clippers and purchase the sharpest and most efficient possible.
The actual trimming procedure is no more complex than trimming your own nails and asks the owner to clip the white part of the nail only and to avoid the pink area known as the “quick”. If this is clipped it will bleed and the cat will feel some pain, should that happen the best thing to do is apply some styptic powder and cease trimming the nails until the cat is calm.
