Anyone do in-home cat nail cutting?

[Sue]

We’ve got at 15 pound Maine Coon cat who doesn’t particularly like his nails cut. He can make it very difficult, and he doesn’t “play well with others” (animals). I don’t dare do it because I’ve never done it, am afraid to hurt him, and upset cat and fearful owner is not a good combination to not end up with a blood transfusion. :)

We were taking him to our vet for nail cutting, but last time they said that they were unable to finish (left him with 2 nails uncut) and that they refused to do it again unless we sedated him because it was “too dangerous.” Since they whisk him away to a back room I have no idea what happened, and was a little surprised that a group of professionals couldn’t handle our guy, even after my husband offered to come back and hold him down (they refused). (When we lived in Lynnwood we just took him to PetSmart grooming, and we’d hold him while they did it – he growled and flailed, but wasn’t what I’d consider “dangerous” to anybody. Unhappy, yes, and you risked a scratch, but not dangerous.)

So I’m wondering if anybody knows of anyone who will come to my house and cut this guy’s nails? He’s getting caught on the rug and I need to do something, and I’m not sure where to go. I need to call the vet and talk to their office manager about this situation, as I refuse to risk anesthesia on him to cut his nails every 2 months.

Any suggestions?

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[cjboffoli]

Sue: This is very easy to do. I used to do it all the time when I had a Maine Coon. I think the trick is getting to them when they are in full-on nap mode and generally too tired to fight. I used a regular pair of small human nail clippers that were used just for the cat.

You simply place the paw in the palm of your hand, pad side down, and use your thumb to gently draw the skin back and expose the claws. The trick is just to remove the very point of the claw. You don’t want to cut into the “quick” at the center. The claws are clear so it is generally very easy to see that inner portion of claw that you don’t want to cut. If you do cut it the claw could bleed and potentially get infected. But that’s worst case scenario. I found that holding the clipper vertically in relation to the paw produced a clean cut and prevented the claws from splintering.

Good luck.

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[cjboffoli]

Just found this great site:

http://www.catscratching.com/htmls/article.htm

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[herongrrrl]

We had a big boy who really didn’t like getting his nails done either, so we’d wrap him in a towel (a la James Herriot, if you ever read the “All Creatures” books) and just extract one paw at a time to do the job. He didn’t much like that either, but at least when he was well wrapped he couldn’t express his displeasure with the other three feet!

If he’s an indoor cat, you might consider claw caps instead of nail trimming, they might be easier to apply?

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[Gina]

I never do the back claws on my cat, just the front. My cat does the tasmanian devil dance and the death wail when the cat claw scissors come out. I get about 3 snips in, reassure and pet the cat, and do 3 more. The inside claw is the hardest, have to do them one at a time. Sometimes I have to let her run about for a bit, and then go in for the final snip.

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[JenV]

We swaddle Lola in a towel, and use special cat trimming clippers on her. It’s a two-person operation- we usually only get the front before she bites and claws her way out of the towel. It’s scary, and not pleasant for any of us. We’ve been putting it off for awhile now.

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[swimcat]

Sue, I bring my cat to the vet at Jefferson Square- for the life of me I can never remember the name of the vet office… Anyways, my cat is the WORST when it comes to nail trims. At my old vet in Bellevue it took four people to hold her and they still couldn’t finish. Her screams and howls are LOUD, and she becomes as powerful as the incredible hulk trying to get away (I asked out of curiosity if she was the worst patient they’d ever seen and they said she’s pretty close). But the vet at Jefferson Square is able to clip her nails just fine- she doesn’t like it one bit, but they get the job done so I keep going back there. It’s $9.50 or $10 I think. Good luck!

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[HunterG]

WOW. Good luck to your nail clipping venture.

I have only owned one cat and I guess I must be blessed. My girl will just sit there on my lap and let me clip. She likes baths too.

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[Sue]

I appreciate all the suggestions on how to do it ourselves, but it’s pretty much been there, done that, with me shedding lots of blood. :) Gina I LOL at the “tasmanian devil dance and the death wail” because that’s exactly what we’re dealing with.

m, that’s good to hear about the place at Jefferson Square – that’s what we planned on trying if things didn’t work out at our current vet. I didn’t want to post this as a rant at our current vet until we called to discuss it with the office manager, which we just did. Even the office manager seemed surprised at what happened after looking at our file – what normally took <5 minutes took >20 that last time, and wasn’t even finished. We explained how our cat needs to be away from other cats (last time they apparently had him in a back room with other cats, which makes him crazy – you should see him when a stray comes into the backyard and he sees him from the window), and they gave us some hints on what to try next time. They asked us to come in again and they’ll put the cat in an exam room alone, rather than with other animals. So I appreciate that they’re trying to work with us. They explained that they can’t let my husband hold the cat for them because it’s a liability issue for them (which I respect). So we’re trying again after 3pm today – let’s see what happens. It’s worth $9 or $10 to have someone else do it!

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[ejones]

i’ve been very successful cutting my cats claws when he’s sleeping. if i’m slow and gentle he doesn’t even notice.

but i do wake up in the middle of the night with him sharpening his claws on my blanket…

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[Sue]

Fortunately we took him back to the vet yesterday after my husband talked to them over the phone about our last visit, and they did things vastly differently this time – most notably isolating him from other kitties he wants to kill. :) So it took all of 2 minutes, he’s got nicely cut nails, very little trauma, all for $10. Looks like we’ll be able to continue going there after all.

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[swimcat]

I’m glad it worked out Sue. It sounds like our cats have the same unique personalities :) My kitty is quite a love to me, but not to many other people and never to other animals. And she is 11, so she isn’t going to change her ways any time soon!

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