Learning
to trim your cat's claws will help prevent your
furniture from being damaged & save you money by
avoiding having to take your cat to a vet or pet groomer
when it needs it's claws trimmed.
It
is recommended you get a cat used to having it's feet
handled from an early age. This can be done by gently
massaging your cat's feet. Some of my cats are less
than thrilled at having their claws trimmed, in such
a case I recommend you only trim a couple of claws per
session, or do as I sometimes do & gently trim then
when the cat is napping. If you have a particularly
reluctant cat, there is a product called Felifriend
you could try. This is a synthetic pheromone you spray
on your hands, it may assist in calming your cat
down.
Hold
the cat's paw in your hand with your fingers on the
underside & your thumb on the top.
Gently
apply a forward pressure to one toe. This causes the
claw to come out of the sheath, which makes it more
visible.
Notice
how in the middle of the claw is pink, this is
the quick & it contains blood & nerves. This
must NOT be cut as it will cause pain & bleeding.
If you do accidentally cut this, apply a styptic pencil
Silver Nitrate sticks or Potassium of Permaganate to
the claw to stop the bleeding. If you don't have these
products, ordinary household flour will do. The
claw should stop bleeding in about 5 minutes.
There
are several kinds of nail clippers you can use. I use
regular nail clippers for humans, but you can also purchase
clippers specifically for cat's claws, these should
be available from your vet or pet supply shop. Nail
clippers should be very sharp as blunt ones will crush
the nail, not cut it.
Aim
to trim between the tip of the claw & the quick.
Some
people trim their cat's back claws, I don't, this is
because my cat's tend to wear their back claws down
naturally. I trim their front claws approximately
every 3-4 weeks.
