my vet?!?!?

Question

i ask my vet to trim my cats nails for me i am affraid to do it being taht im a new cat owner and dont want to cut them to short. my vet told me he wont cut them cause everytime u cut there nails they get sharper. he siad he would be happy to remove his nails though. um i though declawing a cat specialy at the age of 4 is not a good thing and they might become defiant.

Answer 1

1) I'd get a new vet!!
2) Your partly right declawing is cruel thats all there is to it...indoor or outdoor cats need there claws. Imagine the doctor saying to you "I won't look after your toenails, but I'll remove them for you" not a pretty picture hey?
3) Cats claws grow and wear and tear and grow and get clipped and grow and wear and tear, just like your toenails. And in my opinion should be and need to be trim every so often.
4) Presently I have 7 cats and all I ever do is when I think of it and one of my babies are sitting on me watching TV I'll just grab my fingernail clippers, and snip off just the ends,definitely nothing pink!!! if you only get two long ones on one foot big deal, do more tomorrow. You'll be fine I'm sure (try a huge dog toenail that I practically have to take a saw to!!!LOL) kitties are actually easy once you get the hang of it. Or you can get a friend or family member to help by holding kitty while you clip or viceversa. Holding a scared kitty wrapped in a blanket is MUCH safer for everyone. And if all else fails I bet you could find a groomer that would do it for a few bucks.

Good Luck!! (and get a new vet---he sounds like a bone head to me)

Answer 2

Yes it's true that trimming a cat's claws tend to make them sharper and added on to that, the cat will feel funny and immediately want to sharpen its claws. If you look at the claw, you can easily see the quick - the part you don't want to cut. You're safe if you just cut the very tip. I do this to my cat periodically and it's a much better alternative to declawing.

I'm a strong advocate against declawing. You're a new cat owner so you may not realize that declawing is actually amputation of the first joint of their little tootsies. It would be like you having the tips of your fingers cut off at the first knuckle. Would you want that? It's very inhumane but your vet won't tell you that because he wants to make money off the procedure. There are alternatives to declawing. Nail caps are really good but some cats HATE them and freak out.

Please don't declaw your cat. It's inhumane, very painful, interferes with balance in some cats, and actually damages them emotionally. If you weren't prepared for your cat's need to claw things, you shouldn't have got a cat. If you don't want to do the nail caps or just deal with it, please PLEASE find another home for your kitty or at least get him a catnip scratching post!!!

Answer 3

my vet has no trouble clipping my cat's nails!!!

their nails are like ours, they keep growing and they do have a quick to them that hurts and bleeds if you get too short.

that said, have a look at your kitty's nails...you should be able to see that they have a hook to them and they may or may not be needle sharp on the tips depending on how long it's been since they were trimmed.

also you should be able to see where they have something inside of them toward the paw...my cats have pink feet, so the quick is pink on them, but black might be black. This is what you DO NOT want to cut into.

If you decide to try to trim the nails yourself, you will need a set of cat claw trimmers that you can get wherever you get its food at. The cat may let you hold it and mess with it's feet, or you may need help holding the cat and trimming the claws.

2 things to remember:

1) you don't have to make the trim in one cut. Just take a bit off at a time until you get the sharp point off. The only benefit to getting the nail close as close to the quick as possible is that you won't have to cut the point off again as soon. So just take the point off to start with.

2) you don't have to cut all 18 nails at once. If your cat is having a meltdown, let it go. There is no need to force it to let you do them all at once. Just do a few at a time if that's all it will allow.

Now, I do have to have help with my cats. They are big and it just takes more than 2 hands to do it sometimes.

If you need help, ask a cat-loving friend. Or else find a different vet who is not as interested in making the de-claw sale.

Answer 4

I have a 6 year old cat and I trim his nails on a regular basis. Just trim the tips of with a regular nail trimmer. And yes 4 years old is defiantly too old to have a cat declawed. Sound like he is trying to make a little extra money of you by trying to get you to have him declawed. I would get a new vet.

Answer 5

GO TO ANOTHER VET!!!! You are being manipulated to spend a lot of money for a cruel and unnecesary surgery. Declawing is illegal in many many cuntries becuase it is cruel and give absolutely no benefit to the animal involved. Go find another vet who will show TRUE compassion and care for your pet. This dude is only after the money. Whether you trim a cat's nails ot not, they will get sharp becuase the cat scratches and makes them sharper - that's mother nature. It has nothing to do with trimming nails. My vet trims my cats' claws every visit for free. He won't perform any declawing in his clinic for ethical and humane reasons. Go find a vet like this becuase a time may come that you will really need a vet's empathy for your beloved pet... beleive me, it makes a HUGE difference in how your pet is treated and how he recovers from whatever.

Answer 6

Please do not declaw your cat!! Invest in a good scratching post and train your cat to go there. De-clawing your cat is barbaric and such an extreme consequence for your cat scratching.
You can buy stick on claw caps from any good pet store they come in a variety of colours and they stick on with glue. It is not harmful to your cat and will help to solve your problem.
Imagine your nails cut if down to your first knuckle. That is what declawing is all about it really is cruel

Answer 7

Change vets, and if applicable to where you are living - report to SPCA. It is illegal in many places to de claw cats.
Clipping a cat's claws is just taking the tip off so they are being shortened, which is what they do when using scratching posts, etc. And it is only the front claws that are done.
Suggestions for taking your cat to a groomer is a good one, but a change of vet would be better - that way you will have more confidence all round of he/she will clip his claws.

Good luck

Answer 8

Switch vets, he just wants your money, most vets dont like to declaw a cat. Groomers cut cats nails, and there are even little plastic caps they can glue on so he wont just sharpen them back up.

Answer 9

Don't declaw your cat, please. It is my opinion that it is cruel to do so, but it's only my opinion. I wouldn't recommend cutting the claws down either. Your vet is right, they will grow back sharper and cause MUCH damage during that time. Cats sharpen their claws regularly, you know. So when you trim a cat's claws, they will do it much more often to get them sharp again. Your furniture, walls, and curtains will suffer greatly.

The best thing to do is to buy a couple of scratching posts (basically a peice of wood standing up on a plywood stand and wrapped in rough rope) and spray them with cat-nip spray. This will keep your cat(s) from clawing the furniture and (normally) only on the scratching post.

If your cat is indoor only, this will work wonders and cause no harm to you or the cat. If your cat is indoor/outdoor, removing or trimming his claws is very dangerous to him/her as he/she can no longer effectively defend himself/herself.

Answer 10

Take your cat to a groomer and ask them to show you how to do it. If you can't do that for any reason, call the RSPCA or Humane society and ask if they can help you and i'm sure they would only be too happy to do so.