My Best Tips and Tricks for Clipping Cat Claws
It’s important to clip our cats’ claws for their own health. If they become overgrown, they can cause pain, mobility problems, and in extreme cases, they can become ingrown, where the nail grows into the paw pad itself. This causes severe pain and need for veterinary assistance, which is a lose-lose situation no one would like. Not to mention, if your cat’s nails grow too long, it will lead to them scratching furniture more often and an increased likelihood of their claws snagging on your clothes or skin. However, our feline friends very rarely enjoy the process of getting their nails cut. This can lead to it often being an uncomfortable experience for the cat as well as the owner. Although the idea of clipping your cat’s nails can be daunting, never fear! With these tips, you can turn clipping your cat’s nails into a standard routine that can be done quickly, effectively, and pain-free.
Making Your Cat Comfortable
Although the process of getting their nails cut is often uncomfortable for them, the most important factor when building a nail-clipping routine for your cats is increasing their comfortability and reducing their possible stress. Here are five tips to make your cat more comfortable when it’s time to trim their nails.
- Getting Your Cat Familiar with Getting Their Paws Touched
If you stop and think about it, how often do you touch your cat’s paws outside of them getting their nails clipped? Cats often don’t like having their paws touched, as they are sensitive and important for defense. Having their paws touched can make them feel vulnerable and trapped. However, as we’ve covered, it’s important to clip their nails every so often for their own health, which makes touching their paws unavoidable. Therefore, the best solution for this is to gradually increase their comfort around getting their paws touched. When they’re already relaxed and comfortable, start by occasionally stroking the tops of their paws. Start with gentle strokes only a few times a day. Over time, your cat will learn that you mean them no harm by touching their paws and will gradually allow more and more contact. Be careful not to overdo it! The goal is to make your cat more comfortable, but not so uncomfortable that they don’t feel safe with you. This is why it’s important to start small and slow. If your cat is more comfortable with getting their paws touched outside of stressful situations, naturally, it will make it less uncomfortable when it is time for their nails to be cut.
2. Speaking in a Normal, Calm Voice
When your cat freaks out about something, such as when you’re trying to cut their nails, it can be easy to let that affect our own reactions and for us to also get nervous. However, if your cat senses that you are also nervous, this will only freak them out even more. When clipping your cat’s nails, be sure to talk normally and remain as outwardly relaxed as you can. Keep your voice calm and steady, and don’t treat them any differently than you usually do. For example, sometimes people will suddenly start to talk to their cat in a baby voice when they’re about to do something they know the cat won’t like, such as putting them in a carrier to go to the vet or clipping their nails. This can actually backfire if the cat learns to correlate the baby voice with uncomfortable experiences, so it is best to just treat your cat as you would normally to reassure them that what is happening is perfectly normal and nothing to be afraid of.
3. Clipping Nails When Your Cat Is Already Relaxed
Another helpful tip is to wait for a good time to strike. If your cat is especially wary, wait until they are sleepy and completely relaxed. If you have to disturb their position to get to their paws, the best positioning I have found with my own cat is to sit down with her in my lap, keep her butt secure in my hold with one arm, and use one hand to gently push every claw out and the other to snip them shorter. Keeping their butt secure helps the cat feel more safe in whatever hold you have them in, making it a less scary experience if they need to be held.
4. Making A Nail Clipping Routine
This may seem strange, but this tip probably helps me more than my cat. I have a specific order of operations when clipping my cat’s nails so that both she and I know exactly what to expect. I go in the same order every time, clipping nail after nail, and over time, she has learned which nail means we’re done. As she’s gotten used to the routine, she has gotten more and more comfortable with holding in most of her wiggles to get away until after the last claw has been clipped.
5. Rewarding With Treats Afterwards
Even after all of this work, getting their nails clipped is always an uncomfortable experience for your cat. Even if the experience didn’t go well, make sure to reward them with treats afterwards so that they learn they get something nice at the end every time they have to deal with this process. Although clipping your cat’s nails may not be easy, even after all of these tips, it is important to stay patient and consistent. Building a solid routine with built-in rewards will help both you and your cat get more comfortable with claw clipping over time. The key is consistency and patience.
6. Using Medication
If your cat is especially difficult, even after all of these tips, you can book a vet appointment and get some medication to chill your cat out enough that you can clip their claws peacefully. While going to the vet for this purpose might seem a little impractical, as mentioned before, it’s important for a cat’s health for their claws to be clipped. It’s not just about your comfort, but what’s going to be best for them in the long run. Maintaining trimmed nails for your cat isn’t an issue of grooming, but one of health and behavior. It’s better to bite the bullet, so to speak, and make sure you’re able to cut your cat’s claws before they need serious medical attention.
7. Taking Your Cat to a Professional Groomer
If you’ve tried all of these tips already, or don’t want to deal with the hassle of medicating your cat if none of the other tips worked out for you, it might be wise to consider taking your cat to a professional. A professional groomer will have lots of experience with a variety of cats and behaviors and will be able to handle even extreme cases.
Following all of these tips will help make your cat more comfortable when it’s time to get their claws trimmed. Remember to be patient in your approach, it may take doing this routine several times before your cats get comfortable! Good luck!
