Do you clip your cats claws? Looks a bit dangerous to do myself. Has anybody ever taken their cat to a groomer for this?

[SoleSource]

Bet it is expensive

I do it myself. Wait till they are nice and cosy and sleepy and then get the nail clippers out. Only snip the fine ends off. Make sure you don't cut too much off or they will bleed. You can see the blood vessels on white claws but not black ones.

Are you supposed to? We never did. They self regulate especially if they go out.

Our cats pull off their nails when they use their scratch posts / trees etc. given how much blood there was when ddog had his nails clipped at the vets there is no way I'd attempt it with the cats. Plus I really can't see why you woudl need to as they are retractable.

Yes we have to as left to his own devices, our cat loves to scratch his on the carpets (and no scratching post will tempt him away from them!) luckily he is quite docile and as long as you are just gently trimming the ends off you won't hurt him/her. You can get specialist clippers to help you do it correctly/minimise the presence of sharp things if you/the cat slip.

I do my cat as she's old so the claws don't get worn because she doesn't go out. I got clippers from the pet shop. Luckily she's quite docile and doesn't fuss too much. Don't think you'd need to do it if your cat's younger and goes outside

Yes, it's not too bad. Scary at first because you're worried you're doing it too low down but you get the hang of it. If you're worried about them getting used to it, start touching their feet all the time and squeezing their toes out so they get used to it not in the context of the clipper.

My cat doesn't go out much now after he has been neutered. His claws my flesh, pads me when I stroke him.

They are supposed to do that, it doesn't mean you need to clip their claws I can understand it if they are elderly and not able to take care of themselves. Doesn't it affect their ability to climb etc?

I've heard of clipping dogs claws, but cats???? I've grown up with cats and have one now and never even crossed my mind or know of anyone doing it. They do that themselves when scratching trees and fences etc Far as I understand there isn't any need to clip them.....

No, I think that would be rather cruel and stop natural behaviours. How would they climb trees? Or kill things?

Their claws are retractable anyway and the grow pretty fast.

I had no idea you were supposed to.
Mine can go out and use the whole house as a scratching post anyway.

If they don't go out much then they often don't wear down their claws as they would naturally, so clipping off the very tips can be helpful.

My cat has one in particular that grows inwards if it's not clipped occasionally. She also struggles sliding around on slippy floors when they're very long, and often gets herself stuck hanging off the sofa or similar, which risks damaging her joints.

I'd ask the vet about it next time you go as they will be able to have a look to see if your particular cat actually needs it done, and will also be able to show you exactly how to do it and how much to cut off.

I think my vets charge £12 for clipping them all, which is worth it to me because my cat really needs it done and I'm not able to do it myself. But you may well find you can easily do it yourself, especially if your cat is fairly co-operative and there is more than one large human in the house so one can hold the cat while the other clips .

It's fine to clip the very tips off the nails. Not to be confused with the American practice of "de-clawing", which is disgraceful.

(And with Siamese at any rate, some Americans also used to remove their voice boxes surgically - to stop them yowling. Words almost fail me. (I don't know whether that practice has now been outlawed or not.))

I de-tip Seniorboy's claws. Not only is he old and a bit too arthritic to properly do his front claws (and hasn't got enough muscle power left to really get stuck in) but he only has one tooth left in the back of his mouth so can't any longer chew his back claws properly to keep them down. Apart from which, his claws have become heavy and tough with age - as human toenails do - so are much more difficult for him to deal with.

He's OK with it. I've got a decent pair of clippers to use and that makes a big difference.

I don't but one of the foster cats needed it doing on a regular basis so I bought the clippers from the vet and the vet showed me how to do it without causing pain

i do as batcat is an indoor cat, i have proper clippers and will take the sharp tips off myself when she's sleepy and curled up on me.. it can take a few attempts to get all of them, but i dont force her to stay while i get them all at once if she decides she's had enough and wants out.

I could also get them clipped by the vet as i'm part of their healthy pet club which cost me £100 for 12 months and covers worming, flea treatment and claw clipping monthly, it also covered getting her chipped and a 20% discount on having her spayed, and regular health checks.

We clip them with human nail clippers.

I get one of mine done at the vets as she doesn't keep them short enough by herself anymore (arthritis) they either do it for nothing if she's in anyway or it's an appointment with the vet nurse for £7.50.