How often should a cat's claws need clipping?

[CanadianJohn]

My rescue cat is about 12 or 13, and a wiggle-worm. I find it impossible to clip his claws. I arranged an in-home visit from a young woman who works in a pet store, and she managed to get all his claws except 2. She had a hard time with the wiggle-worm, and said it would be easier at the store, where they have a kind of harness they can put the cat into.

The thing is, perhaps due to the wiggling, she didn't clip his claws short enough, and after only a week if he kneads me, he draws blood.

If I take him to the store, or a groomer, and he gets a decent clipping, how often would it need to be done? He doesn't like his travel cage either.

I can confirm nail clipping has been a service provided by vets and vet nurses for at least 3 decades in the UK. Some animals need them clipped, some don't. Quite simple. I used to spend all day clipping claws as a mobile nurse and practice nurse. It is very common regardless of a handful of posters saying otherwise.

I mean, people can only go by their own experiences.

We've had six cats over the years, both indoor and outdoor, and none of them have ever had their nails clipped, nor has a vet or nurse ever offered it.

I'm still not sure it's as commonplace as it is in the US.

I clip my cats claws probably twice between November and March when she stays in the house much more due to the cold. She is a fair weather cat. We only do it as otherwise her claws stick to the carpet like velcro and she has been stuck on stuff before. I just take the ends off though.

Squirt some catnip on the tower.

We’ve had lots of cats over the years, all outdoor, and they’ve not needed their claws clipping, other then a couple who lived til they were very old and didn’t go outside much. My friend is a vet and says it’s much more common for indoor cats to have it done as they’re not living the life of a ‘normal’ cat who would wear them down naturally.

I know a woman who only has pedigree cats, indoor with access to a contained garden, and her cats have their nails cut a lot because they don’t do anything other then walk, sit and sleep. She likes their pushed in faces and big eyes, despite these causing problems. 🙄 Poor things,

My cat naps on me in the evening when I’m in front of the TV; when she’s somewhat unconscious I check how long they are and clip them if need be😂

I read that it’s best to do it when they are fully relaxed.

A quick reminder for those who aren't sure of the differences...

Cats scratching won't reduce the sharpness, quite the opposite. But it does tend to keep the claws from growing too long

Claw clipping works the same as cutting our nails, and only the excess tip is removed. Care needs to be taken to trim just the tips so bleeding doesn't occur.

Claw removal per se isn't actually possible, to remove claws completely you need to actually remove the top joint of the toes. This is a very cruel practice which is banned in the UK, I understand from the thread above is banned in Canada, and I gather the USA is considering it at least in some states - it actually cripples the cat the same as cutting the top joint off your toes would do.

I have to clip the claws of one of ours every 4-6 weeks. She doesn't go outside much, doesn't scratch much (furniture, carpets or cat tree) and has a couple of claws that grow quickly.

It's a struggle every time! I've now got proper claw trimmers which I'm going to use for the first time this week but suspect that she will still be too wriggly to trim easily.

Depends on the individual cat and sometimes the breed — we never clipped the claws of our outdoor cats, but at the moment we have an indoor Burmese with super-long and fast-growing claws, and she absolutely does need them clipped. She’s very amenable, so she normally is happy to sit while we do it quickly with a pair of cat claw-clippers. It’s just like trimming our nails - you clip off the long tips and she then uses her scratcher to sharpen them up again, but they’re a bit less deadly when recently clipped! Honestly, it’s like she’s growing a bunch of scimitars in her feet if we don’t clip them. She’s a delicate tiny little thing but her claws are at least twice as big as any of our mogs!

My cat is really active and goes outdoors a lot, has scratching posts and a mat and still needs his clipping . Fortunately he loves having it done and purrs when I'm doing them.

Actually some vets do.

I fostered cats for over 10 years, so quite a few cats, and one did need clipping, the vet taught me how to do it.

OP

Drawing blood is about the sharpness of the nails not their length.

Before I moved house, cat happily roamed outside and never needed claws clipping. Fast forward to divorce, kept her in due to disturbance of house move for just over two weeks. She ventured out a couple of times but too many cats (toms) predominantly. And that was that. Got several scratching posts and those cardboard things but were not a success. The sofa and chairs are though🙄.She has to go to vet nurse to get nails clipped as she can put holes in clothes and moreover it’s very painful when she kneads.
Costs £12 and it gets done when I can afford it.

Yes our vet does it as part of the health plan too.

Posters need to read up on de clawing and nail clipping as there's a huge difference.

Oh I've never done any of my cats 😬

Never?

My cat gets his cut every 2 to 3 months. Previous cat was every 3 to 4 months. Current cat scratches on his scratch mats every day and he goes outside for short periods of time. He still needs his nails cut regularly.

I took my cat to get her claws clipped a few times towards the end of her life. She kept getting them caught in things. Vet seemed to see it as perfectly normal.

Our elderly cats do need their claws clipped regularly by the vet's nurse - usually every 3 months. They're 17 years old and have been having nail clips for the last few years. They just clip the tips off, so that when they do go outside (not often in winter!) they could climb and jump if they needed to. The vets offer it routinely.

Their thumb claws get particularly thick and long if left unclipped - they don't seem able to chew the outer layers off any more. And they have both had one claw get so long it was at risk of digging into their paw pad. I can tell when they need to get clipped as they start sticking to the carpet or getting caught on the sofa.

I clip my cats - I'm not removing them!
He gets stuck on the carpet otherwise, I can hear him walking and catching on it
I just take off the very tip on his back claws. not because they're sharp but I don't want him getting stuck

When my cat was younger, I did them every six months ish... whenever she seemed to start getting stuck in the carpet etc. now she's 17 and needs them done every 2 to 3 months which the vet does.

I've had cats for more than 40 years-never clipped a claw yet.

I haven’t gone that far but I put a thick blanket on my knees before the cat gets on

I have had cats for around 50 years and never ever clipped ones claws

My elderly cat has his claws clipped every 9 months. In some cats their claws grow too fast as they age and they can't wear them down properly. My cat is an outdoor cat who does plenty of scratching but the vet clips his claws when needed. His claws are still sharp so that he can grip when he jumps.