Topic: Clipping claws (Read 8842 times)

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #36 on:** April 14, 2015, 19:24:15 PM »

I too would ask the vet to do especially if growing into pawpads which will be very painful.

I have one semi feral who vet can do easily but my young birman cant be cliiped even by vet with help of vet nurse! He is fiesty so think they will be able to do a timid cat easlily

hollycat · « **Reply #35 on:** April 14, 2015, 19:07:56 PM »

I think at that age I would take her to the vet for claw clipping, especially if you haven't clipped them before.
When I do my boys claws I use normal nail clippers as I find those clippers in the pics rather cumbersome. I clipped them both the other day in less than 2 minutes, no fuss or struggles, in fact Astrophe just sat there purring

Matjay42 · « **Reply #34 on:** April 14, 2015, 15:53:57 PM »

I think 2 of my cat's claws are starting to grow into her pads. She lives outdoors and is very timid, she's about 18 years old. Can you offer any advice or help?

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #33 on:** March 24, 2008, 17:19:32 PM »

I bought the ones like the second type, and couldnt use them - and I had already tried other kinds, so it wasn't the cats!!

fluffybunny · « **Reply #32 on:** March 24, 2008, 17:19:09 PM »

See funny innit, because I have a pair of the second type and I love them, I find them really sharp and smooth and they are great for both the cats and rabbits. I guess it comes down to personal preference and the individuals in need of snipping!

Millys Mum · « **Reply #31 on:** March 24, 2008, 17:15:09 PM »

I use small animal clippers like these. I dont like the 2nd type so much. I had similar and they didnt cut smoothly

[attachment deleted by admin]

Bazsmum · « **Reply #30 on:** March 22, 2008, 23:37:21 PM »

....Also if you clip their nails at the angle you would clip your own (not sideways) they should'nt split!

dolcetta46 · « **Reply #29 on:** March 22, 2008, 17:49:57 PM »

I use a regular hooman clipper and works brilliant. I waited until my Oliver was over 9 months old to give it a try, luckily he is pretty tolerant, or much more so than I had expected at least, but probably it would be a good idea to start as early as possible to get them used to it. Just clip off the tip and be extremely careful not to go into the area where the nerve is.

Den · « **Reply #28 on:** March 22, 2008, 17:47:52 PM »

Quote from: sunama on March 22, 2008, 17:33:55 PM

Thread revival time.

I will be getting some 3-5 month old kittens soon. Would it better to use a cat claw clipper or a human nail clipper to clip their claws?

Human ones

sunama · « **Reply #27 on:** March 22, 2008, 17:33:55 PM »

Thread revival time.

I will be getting some 3-5 month old kittens soon. Would it better to use a cat claw clipper or a human nail clipper to clip their claws?

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #26 on:** January 26, 2007, 08:19:20 AM »

My vet doesn't charge if you're there for something else, but I think they would charge if you went just to have the claws trimmed.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #25 on:** January 26, 2007, 07:58:37 AM »

Gill - I didn't think my vets charged either, as it was the first time, and they had done them when they had been up for other things - but my vet does try and keep my costs down knowing how much I spend there, and it was the vet nurse who did it that time, so I suspect that is why I was charged. The rescues vet charges £8 though.

Linda (Bengalbabe) · « **Reply #24 on:** January 25, 2007, 23:04:38 PM »

Yep, our vet charges eight quid to do each of the bengals so i quickly learnt how to do them myself given thats 4 cats every 3 weeks. Don't need to do the back ones much but with them being indoors the front one seem to grow very quickly.

We have been doing it since they were small so the boys sit quite well (depending on the mood they are in LOL). Nova has had her nails clipped for the first time recently - she was not too happy but will get used to it

I find with Stitch being outdoors she does not need them clipped at all which is just as well as I definitely would be wary about tackling her

Littlebobo · « **Reply #23 on:** January 25, 2007, 21:37:09 PM »

Last time i took Yumi for claw clipping they charged me about 7.50 i think so now i just bought proper clippers and do them all myself !

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #22 on:** January 25, 2007, 18:35:27 PM »

Daft as a brush

Yes use human clippers here too but only on Ducha cos Misa is a scaredy wimp and Sasa wells she s just sasa and Franta, cant remember if I did some of his claws now but my vet did em all except Sasa!! at no charge. In fact I never paid for Kockas claws being done in London either. This concept of paying for something so basic is beyond me, especially if they are there for another reason.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #21 on:** January 25, 2007, 07:51:51 AM »

I dont bother with pet claw clippers, we have human toe nail clippers and human cuticle clippers here (the cuticle ones are the closest to the ones the vet uses, just without a spring, and they cost a fraction of the price!!). For those of you who think you will just get the vet to do them, you might want to find out how much they charge first - I was lazy once and got Pebbles' done while I was at the vets with her, and got charged £8.50 for it (what made it more annoying is that I can do them myself) - claws are one of the first things I check on every cat that comes here, I learnt my lesson the hard way, and poor Snowy had 2 claws that went so long they dug into her pads. I live on my own, and there are very few cats that win me!! In fact, can only think of one out of all hte ones who have been here.

saffron · « **Reply #20 on:** January 24, 2007, 23:26:35 PM »

I just sit the cat on my lap, hold the paws firmley & trim the claws. By doing them it little & often my cats dont mind me trimming their claws

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #19 on:** January 24, 2007, 22:53:26 PM »

Funny indeedy!

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #18 on:** January 24, 2007, 22:50:05 PM »

ah well i'll let you in on a secret

the other day i was giving fraser and seb some drontal pills and for some stupid reason i opened sebs mouth the way i would my dogs with the result of me skinning my thumb knuckle !!

god knows what i thought i was doing but with the dogs i hold their top jaw with one had then go with the back of my other hand/fingers and push down their lower jaw and at the same time shove any tabs necessary over their throats ( only a recommended way on very trustworthy dogs) but with cats their teeth are much sharper obviously (dogs have pretty blunt teeth in comparasin) and i basically impaled my thumb onto sebs lower canine !! how daft am i...

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #17 on:** January 24, 2007, 22:15:55 PM »

Says the experienced VN!!!!

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #16 on:** January 24, 2007, 22:12:24 PM »

You lot are such a bunch of softies !! It will stress the puss's out more if you " gently" make a token effort for restraining the cats who dont like nail clipping and then having to repeat the episodes several times than it will if you just "GO GET THEM" hold/restrain them very firmly..cats are very very robust and not generally fragile.

Des is right, the back ones dont need clipping so often which is just aswell as many cats are really funny about you touching their back feet. I normally clip my lots front nails around 2 perhaps 3 times to every 1 x back claw clipping. To do this i sit my cat on my lap with the cat basically sitting in a human type postiion - with its back to my tummy.(i am usually on my knees myself or sitting down) and then just take a firm hold of the foot and clip the nail points swiftly and firmly, now cody does actually try to take a bite of my hand but hasnt really sunk his teeth in yet.

If you have great problems and a towel stresses them then i'd get your partner to firmly hold the cats scruff, but take a good proper hold so you are not "nipping" their skin. For others ive heard that they do a couple at a time when the cat is sleeping so that could be an option for you to try ?

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #15 on:** January 24, 2007, 18:03:02 PM »

Quote from: Kezza on January 24, 2007, 15:48:25 PM

Goodness I must be very lucky... I hold Barney on my shoulder whilst OH clips... he sits there and lets us do it no problems... sometimes he even spreads his claws out for us LOL!!

You are! My sister's Spencer is the same, except for a small miaow initially he will just lay on his back, splay his claws out and 2 mins later all done! Lexy needs to learn a few things from her cousin!

Kezza · « **Reply #14 on:** January 24, 2007, 15:48:25 PM »

Goodness I must be very lucky... I hold Barney on my shoulder whilst OH clips... he sits there and lets us do it no problems... sometimes he even spreads his claws out for us LOL!!

My main trouble is getting a worming tablet down him, he just won't have it!

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #13 on:** January 23, 2007, 14:46:07 PM »

I bought them at my local vets but I've seen them at Pets At Home.

Sarah (seldom_use) · « **Reply #12 on:** January 23, 2007, 14:15:19 PM »

Where can you buy the proper clippers from and are they easier to use?

Sarah x

tab · « **Reply #11 on:** January 23, 2007, 13:55:09 PM »

I only do Mogs's claws occasionally as she isnt a cuddle kitten. Amber on the other hand gets her front claws done practically weekly as the minute Ive clipped them so they dont hurt she starts polishing them into needles again.
Amber is little thick so my method might not work for most cats but it goes along the plan of.
Get clippers out of draw and wait for Amber to come and rub against them purring
Grab Amber and slot her into a gap between me and a cushion
Grab front leg and ignore wails as the clippers are no where near her toes then gently remove the tips of front claws
Let go and Amber gets on the arm of the settee then gets back on my knee to rub against the clipper purring
Grab Amber again and insert into slot in cushion then go through the same routine with the back legs.
If Im lucky I can get all 4 legs done before she struggles free but even if Im not she comes straight back purring no matter what I do to her

Like i said shes a bit daft

love
Tab

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #10 on:** January 23, 2007, 12:59:42 PM »

I was a total wimp intially, would have rather paid someone to do it for me, but once you get the hang of it its easy enough, and probably more stressful on you than the cat....I'm still not quick with it though so that is the only thing I need to get to grips with. Lexy knows the look of the clippers now so the OH usually coaxes her to him before he nabs her

Leanne · « **Reply #9 on:** January 23, 2007, 12:37:05 PM »

We don't know what to do about our little boy, he has been using his scratch posts but his front claws seem to be quite long we can hear them on the wooden flooring when he walks about.

I must admit I'm a bit of a wuss at the thought of clipping them my self so might take him off to the vets at the weekend.

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2007, 22:16:50 PM »

I trim Mosi's 1 or 2 at a time when he's sleepy on my knee but with Jaffa I have to be a bit more devious. His back ones are very long and while I can manage to do his front ones ok the back are somewhat harder. I've managed to get the odd one or 2 done but if I've not got them all trimmed by his next vet visit I'll get them to do them. The back ones don't need doing as often as the front but they still need doing, on Jaffa at least.

Littlebobo · « **Reply #7 on:** January 22, 2007, 21:47:33 PM »

Tried the towel method before and was not a good idea ..my OH is about as much use as a chocolate teapot with this as he worries he is going to hurt them ...mine all stay inside so if you can let me know what your vet recommends Des ..will try out the suggested methods as well ...

here kitty kitty lol...

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #6 on:** January 22, 2007, 21:34:58 PM »

I clip all mine even wehn they do go out, they do get rather sharp, and with mine being oldies, they dont seem to wear them down all that much.

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #5 on:** January 22, 2007, 21:30:21 PM »

Des I struggle with towel too because of her legs. My vet clips the back claws as my cat is an indoor cat, but she did say that if they have access to the outdoors clipped is not necessary at all or just the very pin needle points are ok as they use their claws to climb trees and the like? No idea since I never used to clip the claws of our cats back home and they practically lived outdoors in the summer time.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #4 on:** January 22, 2007, 21:27:23 PM »

Teh back claws dont need clipping that much - one person did say on CC that you should'nt clip them, but I forget why, and have never had any probs - might remember to ask teh vet on Thurs. I pin them between my legs to do the front claws, and hold them like a baby to do the back. I struggle with the towel method.

Purrlishious · « **Reply #3 on:** January 22, 2007, 21:24:37 PM »

Hi Littlebobo
I use one of their blankets & wrap it tight round them, like you would a baby (Aww), so there's less struggle. Then I get out one paw at a time. Much easier than the wrestling match. Usually use this as a chance to do eyes & ears also.
Hope that helps!

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #2 on:** January 22, 2007, 20:42:07 PM »

Odd that onlya few months ago I asked this and got loads of advice which worked! I clip Lexy now and she's a slippery little

!!

Anyway, i have the proper clippers too and I find that I can do it one of two ways:

Take a shot of vodka to calm the nerves, and for those who don't drink, some cider will do, just put a bit of tobasco in it!

Then: get the OH to hold them down gently and just do it! The sulking will last about an hour :D

Or, failing that, lay the cat in your lap and place your forearms over their body (paws facing outwards), one forearm closer to the head (make sure that the clippers are in this had so if you're left or right handed adjust accordingly). The other forearm over the hind quarters.

i have to be careful with Lexy as she had knee surgery to both back knees so this is the best method (or the OH is happy to be the bad guy!)

The back claws use your hand which is on the side of their hind quarters and you can cut them that way, the clippers are great as you don't have to face them in any specifc direction.

Littlebobo · « **Reply #1 on:** January 22, 2007, 20:36:46 PM »

Hi,

Just wondering i clip my cats claws and recently invested in some proper clippers ( which are a god send) but wanted to know if anyone could give me some advice or tips as to how you do they back ones ..I seem to struggle as i always think i am going to break their legs !

Author Topic: Clipping claws (Read 8842 times)

saffron