posted 10-15-2003 08:11 PM           

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Im a first time cat owner. Do I really have to cut my cats nails? I don't think she will let me. Shes a really touchy cat. She hates to be touched. She cringes everytime someone pets her. I adopted her from a family cause they were moving away and couldn't have pets. Shes only one year old. I still have to get her fixed too... Will vets do it?

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Posts: 1591
From:NY, USA
Registered: Oct 2002

posted 10-15-2003 09:24 PM         

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I like to trim mine at least every few months....otherwise some of them seem to start getting caught on things.
Yes, your vet will trim her nails if you request it.

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Posts: 81
From:Fairfield, CT
Registered: Sep 2003

posted 10-16-2003 06:12 AM         

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I have one cat that absolutly won't let me cut her nails. I didn't start trimming her nails when she was a kitten, unlike the kitten I have now, so she never got used to it. I'm lucky though because she has never scratched furniture or anything else. I used the water squirting trick on her when she was a kitten and bought a good sisal rope scratching post that ended up lasting for three years. Ohhh...you should've seen what this thing looked like after three years...lol. I definatly got my monies worth!

If your cat is not scratching at furniture or getting her nails caught up on anything, it's my opinion that you don't have to trim them. Just make sure you have a scratching post for her to maintain them herself.

There are some other recent posts also that you might want to read with tips on how to trim them if you need to.

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Posts: 97
From:usa
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-16-2003 06:54 AM         

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I trim my cats nails about 1 a month. They dont seem to mind. If you are planning on letting your kitten out dont trim her nails because she might need them. If you do decide to trim her nails ask your vet how to do it. He/She shouldnt mind showing you.... and you can buy nail trimmers at most pet stores and they are not very high in cost.

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Posts: 123
From:Vancouver, WA USA
Registered: Jul 2003

posted 10-16-2003 01:12 PM         

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I trim my cat's nails when he is asleep. Usually he doesn't even wake up. Its a lot easier than I expected.

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posted 10-16-2003 01:44 PM           

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I don't understand how I would go about cutting my cats nails. When she isn't in heat, she does not want anyone to touch her. Its sorta funny, the whole reason of getting a cat was to be able to pick her up, and pet her, and stuff like that. Of course I get stuck with the cat that hates to be touched by people. But at least shes getting better than she was.

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Posts: 152
From:Ottawa, Ontario
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-16-2003 03:39 PM         

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My cat loves to be touched and picked up and stuff, but trimming her nails is difficult.
We finally got one of em done last week! She was loungin on my bf's stomach, so I passed him the nail clippers and he did one by one ... took about 10 mins Just take your time w/ him/her.

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Registered: Sep 2003

posted 10-16-2003 03:45 PM         

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Another thing I have heard recommended is wrapping the cat up in a kitty burrito AKA a towel with only the part you are going to trim sticking out. This is a two person job. One to hold the cat and the other to trim the nails. And you can do a few at a time and come back later if the cat spazzes. Afterwards, reward the cat with a treat and give it lots of praise. Heck with going to the vet. They always charge you and it is like 10 bucks. Luckily, Newton is good about his nails. He hardly notices when I do them and I am quick. In my opinion they should do it free at the vet.

NTC

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Posts: 996
From:sheridan, wy
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-16-2003 04:00 PM         

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Sometimes I can get my cats when they are sleeping. Depending on the cat they don't even wake up. You just push on the pad to extend the nail and clip the end. Just make sure you have good clippers. The kind that look like a little pair of scissors are the best. They have them at pet stores.

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Posts: 996
From:sheridan, wy
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-17-2003 09:41 PM         

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Cats don't really like having their nails clipped, most don't anyway. In my house its a two person job, one to hold the cat and one to clip, unless I can get them without them waking up. Here's a link to a picture of the clippers that work the best. They really are the easiest to use.
http://www.petsmart.com/products/product_19480.shtml

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Posts: 17
From:Fort Worth, TX USA
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-18-2003 08:11 PM         

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I don't clip mine at all. They have things to scratch on and they really hated it and left me with lots of scratches, so I gave up. I feel bad when they wrestle and claw at each other, but neither of them seem to ever get hurt.

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Posts: 996
From:sheridan, wy
Registered: Aug 2003

posted 10-19-2003 02:04 PM         

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I clip my cats nails occasionally so they wont hurt me! They like to knead on my leg which really hurts if their claws are long. And one of them jumps on and sits on my shoulders, again really painful with long claws. I think they can damage their nailbeds and paws if the claws don't get trimmed.

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Posts: 5
From:Elmira, NY USA
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-19-2003 03:42 PM         

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My mother's cat was older and she didn't realize that you needed to clip their nails. One day she saw what she thought was a "button" stuck in between the cat's toes. She took him to the vet and found out that it was his toenail, not a button. The nail had grown SO long that it was curled around in a circle looking similar to a button! The vet clipped it, of course, and informed my mother that she needed to do this regularly to avoid this again. It can be painful to the cat when the nail is too long.

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Posts: 2
From:Blacksburg, VA 24060
Registered: Oct 2003

posted 10-21-2003 08:39 AM         

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My cat doesnt like for me to trim her nails either but I've found that if I keep something in the house that she is allowed to scratch on then it is not a problem for us not to trim them. I just use one of the cardboard scratchpads. Also I got my cat fixed through the aspca. I live next to Virginia Tech and the school does a program with the ASPCA once a year and it was free. So you might want to check into that. Good Luck!!

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