Do I need to have cats claws clipped by a vet?

Question

Do I need to have my cats claws professionally clipped or can I do it myself? Now she is getting older (13) she isn't as active and they seem to be getting very long.

Answer 1

You can definitely trim your cats nails yourself. I would take the cat to the vet to learn how, and what to do if you accidentally cut to the quick. You can train a cat to let you trim its nails, depending on the cat's personality. If you spend about 5 minutes a day just massaging her paws and pushing on each individual toe to extract the nail, she will get used to it. Do that before attempting to trim her nails yourself so that she doesn't develop a negative association with it. I trim the nails on both of my cats, mostly you just want to blunt the points so that they're not so sharp. They get along really well that way and don't have trouble jumping/climbing.
I just use human toenail trimmers with my cats. They work just fine.

Answer 2

You can do it yourself. Personally i would use normal human clippers as cats claws are not that thick. If you loOK at a cats claw then you can see nail, and then a little further down you will see some pink. As long as you don't cut the pink but then you will be ok. This pink bit is called the "quick". If you cut this then the cat will bleed. It won't do much damage if you do catch this, so don't be put off. The best thing to do is wrap the cat in a towel and get each paw out separately so you can control the cat a bit more. Or maybe get someone to give you a hand to restrain the cat.

Answer 3

If the vet can't touch her, your only option is sedation. Ask the vet for acepromazine. Crush the pill into wet cat food and get her to eat it. She'll get drowsy and disoriented, and it should be enough for you to get ahold of her and clip her nails. The easiest way is to get 2 people and a towel. Wrap the towel just under her neck, and adust the bottom of it to cover everything but 1 leg at a time for cutting, and pull the towel snugly around her body. Have one person hold the edges of the towel tight, and hold the scruff of her neck with the other hand. The other person can grab the nails and quickly snip the tips off (watch the pink part). Just be careful, cat bites and scratches can easily become infected.

Answer 4

Trim them with specially-designed claw clippers (human nail clippers can make claws split which leads to pain, bleeding, and possibly infection). As others have said, be sure to only trim the tip because if you go too deep you'll cut the quick which will cause pain & bleeding, as well as making Kitty distrust the whole darned process.

We have ... umm ... let's just say "far too many" cats and leave it at that (lol!). I've trimmed all their claws since they were kittens and it's not a problem at all. In fact, a couple of days ago we took in a trio of feral kittens and one of the first things I did was to trim their claws, even though two of them put up quite a fuss.

Trimming also gives you the chance to spot potential problems such as burrs or splinters, split claws, infections, etc, before they can blossom into big problems. If you're uncertain as to how to trim Kitty's claws your vet will be happy to show you how.

The asker is talking about trimming the claws, not removing them via the dread "declaw" process. You are correct in your viewpoint (I'd rather trim 10,000 claws than declaw one cat), but it's just not an issue in this case :)

True, claw trimming is for indoor-only cats, and not recommended outdoor cats for the reasons you stated. But domestic cats should be kept indoors and not allowed to roam free due to the many dangers out there; cars, other animals & associated diseases, idiots with guns, etc. The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is about two or three years, while indoor cats can easily live to the high teens if well cared for.

Answer 5

I do m y own cats claws, I also do the dogs claws and the birds. I learned from a vet. If you are unsure, take it to the vet and have the person show you how, and if you can do it, then you can do it and save the fee that the vet chages for doing it. My cat when I do hers she growels for then I say were almost done and she calms down, then when I let her go, she runs, but a few min later she is back at my side .

Answer 6

My Matilda was a wild feral for years when she decided to move in permanently. Before she used to come in my cat-flap to pinch my cats' food. Couldn't get near her.
On being domesticated, she would knead me painfully, and bite/scratch in play, although I think she is quite old (has no teeth left). A veterinary nurse, who is a friend, suggested I clip her claws, so bought some clippers from the vet. Despite her history, Matilda lets me do it happily. I only do the front claws. She rarely ventures beyond the backyard from choice. I have an old tree trunk there for the cats to sharpen their claws, and where is the first place she always goes when I have trimmed hers?

Answer 7

You can do it with the help of someone else. one person sits down and holds her wrapped in a towel with one paw exposed at a time. the other person cuts the nails with a claw clipper you can buy at most pet stores. be sure to cut below the vein in the claw only the clear part or you'll hit the vein and it will hurt her. It shouldn't be too hard with such an old cat.

Answer 8

I do my two cats once a month or more often as needed. You can buy a clipper set at the pet store. I find it easiest to catch my cats when they are sleeping, and to just let them go if they start to fidget and finish at a later time.

I would rather clip too little than too much, so don't always go for the shortest trim.

Some cats have a problem with their back feet being touch. My male hated it, so while we were sitting, I would touch and rub his back feet to get him used to it. Now he is no problem to clip.

Answer 9

No, it is a very simple thing to do - either clip them yourself if you know how to properly or ask a groomer or vet to do it for you.

I am a groomer and trainer and all i charge £3 - £5 to clip a cats nails - it never costs much if anything at all!

Answer 10

You can take your cat to a groomer's and have them do it for you. They are less likely to cut the quick than a vet if the nails are really long, and it usually only costs around 8.00 dollars. But you certainly can do it yourself. it's best to buy nail clippers made specifically for cutting a cat's nails, and just cut one or two when she is relaxing or not quite awake. If the nails are clear you can see where the quick is - like a red line(blood vessel). if you do cut it, have some styptic powder ready to press against it and she'll be fine.