Cat biting claws

[ACatCalledPuss]

We have just noticed in the past few weeks that our cat has started biting her claws. She is 8 years old and this seems to be a new thing. Is there any reason to be concerned or is it just a new habit??

Do you mean the nibbling to sharpen them?

I think so. I just noticed because it is quite noisy. I read online that it's quite normal but it can also be a sign of stress??

It can be a sign of pain too

Girlcat gives herself a regular pedicure. Big part of why they do that isn't sharpening/trimming, as they do that by scratching, it's to remove the claw "sheath".

Cat's claws aren't like our nails. The claw itself is fully attached to the end toe bone, which is why de-clawing is banned as it involves removing the end of the toe. However they do grow a sheath over the claw made of Keratin (same stuff as hair & nails) and this gets shed regularly. A good nibbling session at the base of the toes helps shed the old one to make room for the new one coming underneath, works sort of like a snake's skin being shed!

So don't worry if you find something that looks like a sort of hollow claw lying about the house, it will be a discarded sheath.

My only thought if it’s new behaviour that she would have arthritis and now her nails aren’t wearing down evenly.

One of my cats spends hours noisily on his nails, obsessed with having them razor sharp like Puss in Boots.

Thanks all. I'll keep an eye on her. She doesn't seem to be in any pain, is eating well, still killing plenty of mice etc and behavior wise apart from the biting of the claws seems completely normal.

Penelope does this. It sets my nerves on end!

They do bite them to clean out the claws and take the claw sheaths off, as pp said — the claws have grooves in underneath which get shed skin, keratin and bits stuck in them, so they often like to clean the grooves out and sharpen the claws overall!

Old girlcat (who is no longer with us) used to do this when her claws got too long. She came to me aged 10 so I don’t know whether she’d always done it or something she started as she got older. The vet trimmed her claws and then she left them alone until next time.

I've found they tend to do it more as they get older and do less climbing etc. Mine also does it more when it's muddy outside

Harry used to do this, I called it 'pick and spit'!

Aww yes ours do that !
Usually the Female sits on the table and "Does That Cute Thing With Her Feet"
If I say anything like that to our Male he glares at me like I've just walked in on him on the loo
"Honestly mother, do I get no privacy in this house" ?

Usually find a discarded claw cover in my bed . Ouch