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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Any tips for first time trimming claws?!

25 replies

Batlady78 · 07/12/2023 13:03

Two kittens who are getting a bit scratchy, so I've bought the trimmers but don't really know how to start! They turn into balls of liquid fur for injections etc 😅

OP posts:

AnnaMagnani · 07/12/2023 13:11

Don't bother. Kittens are scratchy, it's what they do. Clipping claws doesn't make them any less scratchy and pisses off both you and the cats.

Neonttasselll · 07/12/2023 13:19

Absolutely don't do this. What makes you this is a good idea or even acceptable??

winewinewine23 · 07/12/2023 13:50

Please don't do this. Why do you think this needs to be done?

I've had cats for years, some of which were house cats and none needed their claws clipping except one who had arthritis and used to get one ingrowing claw.

It isn't ethical despite what you see on YouTube/ Insta etc.

Your kittens will still scratch. If you're not willing to accept that then you shouldn't have got them.

You're at real risk of hurting them if you clip too high up or the wrong angle as they have a blood supply and it's easy to hit this.

Please reconsider.

Nonamesleft1 · 07/12/2023 13:53

As above. Don’t do it. If you cut too short you can catch a blood vessel and it will be a crime scene.

i’ve had cats over 40 years and none have ever needed nail trimming. Plenty of scratch posts around the house is all that’s needed.

cats have claws. Nothing you can do about it.

and for any Americans here, yes, declawing cats is absolutely barbaric.

Original poster

Batlady78 · 07/12/2023 13:55

Message received!! It was the vet who mentioned it to me when they had their first vaccinations! I'll step away from the trimmers

OP posts:

FunnysInLaJardin · 07/12/2023 13:55

Cats claws shed naturally and never get too long, so I agree with the others, don't do it!

I never even know this was a thing!

Toddlerteaplease · 07/12/2023 14:59

I do both my cats claws. I have to as they both like making biscuits on my bare skin, and it really hurts if they are sharp. They are both very docile Persians though.

Toddlerteaplease · 07/12/2023 15:00

Tuck them firmly under your arm and massage the paw to get them to spread their toes. Just take the tips off. Job done. Simples 🤣🤣🤣

QuestionableMouse · 07/12/2023 15:03

I do occasionally clip my kitten's nails but he's almost a year old, is massive, loves to jump on my leg and has caught me badly a few times now. He's a big soft idiot so I just sit him on my knee and nip the very tips off with clippers.

Santaiswashinghissleigh · 07/12/2023 15:05

Just buy a scratching post... Job done and sight preserved....
*yours not theirs...

Beamur · 07/12/2023 15:06

I have one cat with rapier like claws. I ask the vet to do it when she has a check up or vaccination. They only stay tolerable for a couple of weeks. It's only for my benefit, not hers - sharp claws are much more useful for kitties! Get them lots of scratchers 😁

baileybrosbuildingandloan · 07/12/2023 15:09

Don't! It's cruel. Get them scratch posts and let them scratch away.

Toddlerteaplease · 07/12/2023 15:32

It's not cruel to just take the sharp ends off. It stops them catching on things.

Scampuss · 07/12/2023 15:45

My latest rescue is the first cat I've had who needed her claws trimmed. She didn't want to go outdoors for 6 months and didn't scratch anything at all so her claws became too long for comfort so had the vet do it. It is literally just the very tips and never do it unless you have a secure and confident hold.

Scampuss · 07/12/2023 15:47

baileybrosbuildingandloan · 07/12/2023 15:09

Don't! It's cruel. Get them scratch posts and let them scratch away.

It's not cruel. Not all cats will use scratchers. Mine came to me at a year old and didn't seem to know how to scratch, how to knead, or even how to scent mark. She has since developed all the cat habits.

De-clawing is cruel, but nipping the ends off is not.

NChance · 07/12/2023 15:51

Neonttasselll · 07/12/2023 13:19

Absolutely don't do this. What makes you this is a good idea or even acceptable??

Of course it's acceptable! My elderly cat couldn't do it himself (back claws) as he had no teeth
I take the sharp bit off which is a mm or so, I'm not declawing him

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 07/12/2023 15:56

I have to do this during winter months for our cat as she doesn't give out as much to wear them done and she starts getting stuck to the carpet 🤣 it's like velcro when they are too long for her. I just take the tiniest bit of the end, but it takes about a week as can only get 2 or 3 done at a time before she realises and wants to savage us, even doing them when she's asleep doesn't help.

I wouldn't do them if she wasn't getting stuck on things and I don't want her to get stuck when we are out.

NotObligedToArgueWithStrangers · 07/12/2023 15:56

Will the cats go outside? I've never clipped mine as I always assumed they'd need them to climb to get out of trouble in a hurry if necessary? Or to defend if they end up in an altercation with a fox or something.

longtompot · 07/12/2023 16:07

Not sure why people are saying clipping off the ends of sharp claws is cruel. My dd used to do our old boys as he was forever getting stuck on furniture, carpets and us. We had our girls done recently at the vets as she kept getting stuck in the carpet and exasperated a joint issue. She scratches on the various sleepers we have in our garden but they are still too sharp.

OutOfOrder67 · 07/12/2023 16:11

When did trimming claws become cruel, no one is de-clawing them???

my cat has plenty of scratch posts but still needs his done about every 8 weeks or so. He doesn’t care much. I get DH to hold him facing me and it only takes a minute to take the ends off with cat safe nail scissors Just ensure you know where it’s safe to cut!

Laurama91 · 07/12/2023 16:45

As said above just clip the tips. In most cats you can see the wick anyway. It would be better to get them used to it from a young age. The more handling with stuff like this will make your life easier if anything happens and they need vets to prod and poke them.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 07/12/2023 17:09

The only time I've ever had to do this was with an old cat (19) who no longer managed his own claws so kept getting them caught in the carpet.
I used to do a paw at a time while he was asleep.
Never seen any need to do kittens.

QuestionableMouse · 07/12/2023 21:47

Santaiswashinghissleigh · 07/12/2023 15:05

Just buy a scratching post... Job done and sight preserved....
*yours not theirs...

I have multiple scratching posts but still clip occasionally! It's not cruel - he sits and purrs like mad and is happier because he's not getting caught on stuff.

My older cat doesn't need hers doing because she's a lot more sensible!

NigellaAwesome · 07/12/2023 22:40

Our vet used to trim the claws, but when Covid hit we started doing it ourselves.

Make sure your cat gets used to having their paws handled. I get DH to hold the cat in a baby pose, I start with the back paws so she knows what is happening, then move to the front ones. She is very compliant and knows she gets chicken immediately afterwards.

It's not in the least bit cruel. It is just trimming the tips, nowhere near the blood supply.

Allthatwegotisthispalebluedot · 08/12/2023 22:27

Just trimming the ends off isn’t cruel! My cat is an indoor cat due to reasons (the main reason being she is the laziest cat in the world) and we have to trim her nails because on several occasions she’s actually got her claw STUCK in her own leg/ tail when she’s had the zoomies and been unable to free herself. It was genuinely distressing to watch, and I had to pull it out - it must have hurt her so much! I can’t bear the thought of it happening when she is alone and being unable to get it free without hurting herself, potentially quite badly!

she also gets stuck on the carpet and bedding etc so we trim the tips every month or so. We bribe/distract her with lik-e-liks and gently massage her paw to get her to spread the claws out. She is quite tolerant of it which is very surprising because usually vet visits or any messing about with her results in chaos.

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