if your cat's claws clatter on the floor...

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

...does that mean they need clipping?

Last winter I clipped, then over the summer they were out a lot & ground them down. Now it's too cold & wet for them they don't go out nearly as much. Only one of them is making a noise though. Her claws do look rather long...

They have a tall cat tree & scratch on that a lot

??? (she's not the most co-operative creature. Can I just wait until it gets warmer? )

Yes. One of mine is constantly getting her claws stuck in the carpet at the moment. I KNOW they need clipping but can't bear it! She hates having them done and even with two of us pinning her down and a tea towel over her head, there's still kicking, scratching and yowling. We're all traumatised afterwards. I feel for you.

Probably a good idea. I nip Seniorboy's claw clips regularly as he's a housecat - in fact I should really do them this evening. I wait until he's sleepy and then wheech him over on his back on my lap and do the deed. It's not his favourite thing but he permits it.

I feared as much. sympathy, tigerstripes!

thanks, guys

she often has a snooze on my bed, I'll see if I can get some of them then

(I remember the last time I did it she kept falling off things afterwards - it was amusing for me, but not for her so much...)

do you really have to clip their claws?!

It might be a good idea to get her generally used to you playing with/parting her toes in future. Not 'in anger' but just as part of her cuddling routine.

You're just nipping off the claw tips, paneer. You have to be careful to avoid the bit with pink which is their equivalent of a quick. Otherwise they can get themselves caught in carpet or material if they're not using an outside tree or something.

On the odd occasion she sits on my lap I do do that, cozie.

But since we had DD2's boy cats here, when everything was manic, she doesn't do it much.

Will work on it!

bloody hell, I don't think I can do this (she rarely shows her claws). she is still going out climbing so I hope they are ok, although will try and check them later (sorry for hijack).

she might not need doing if she goes out a lot, paneer

this one's back claws are ok, it's just the front ones

they are quite easy to do with proper clippers (I have some \link{http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/cat_health/cat_clippers/13361\a bit like nail scissors} which are easy to use & do a good job, but there are bigger more techie ones)

I never had to clip my cats' claws until they got very old & infirm and stopped going out to scratch trees etc. First time it happened I didn't realise for ages and their claws were starting to curl under & rub on the pads, I felt awful for not noticing.

If they start to "click" on the floor or get repeatedly caught in my clothes, I nip the sharp curved tips off with a pair of normal nail clippers - it takes 2 of us, 1 to hold and 1 to clip (old boy is nearly blind & doesn't struggle too much but my old girl cat was very unhappy with any clipping)

One thing I would recommend - and it may sound daft but it seems to work - is not only choosing a time when they're sleepy but dealing with the whole thing in a very businesslike manner, preferably in a place which they don't associate with fun. No love words or stroking, just a 'Right, let's get this done'.

They seem to react surprisingly well to that - and it doesn't contaminate the normal cuddling/lap routine.

If I tried to clip our elderly cat's claws I'd be lucky to escape with my fingers.

But it would be a lot easier than clipping a ferret's claws. It used to take three of us to clip the claws of our two until we discovered cod liver oil. A smudge of cod liver oil on a ferret's belly & you can do anything with it. They love the taste & get totally distracted licking it off.

If only cod liver oil would work on cats...