Trimming Your Cat’s Nails

Just like human nails, cat’s claws grow constantly. The new ones are protected by an outer layer that the cat usually will remove herself my sharpening them. When you see her stretching out and clawing at her scratching post, now you know what she’s doing.

Typically, for younger cats, grooming their own claws by scratching isn’t a problem, but as they become older that can change. A cat’s nails can become brittle and dry with age and therefore be prone to cracking and splitting which may cause trouble such ass getting stuck in the carpet and pulling out which may cause them pain and more damage.

You can help keep your cat’s claw’s healthy when she’s older by trimming her nails for her. If she is older and you have never trimmed them, it’s a possibility that she may be scared of the nail clipper. If this is the case, ease her into the idea by just holding her and playing with her paws occasionally. Massage them like you would if you were going to be trimming each individual nail, but don’t do any trimming yet. Simply get her used to the idea of you controlling her paws.

Once she is completely comfortable with the paw control, you can attempt a trimming.

You will want to extend the claw out so that it is easy to cut without harming your cat . You can do this by using your thumb and index finger to very gently squeeze the the top of the paw (index finger on bottom of paw pad and thumb on top).

The very tip of the claw that you want to trim doesn’t have any nerves so your cat doesn’t even feel it. However, you want to make sure that you do not cut in too far near the center of the claw. This live center is known as the quick and contains both nerves and blood. This is why it is important to extend the claw and also have good light in the room.

Fortunately, the quick is darker than the rest of the claw and you should be able to see it clearly and avoid it.

If you can only get one paw or even one claw the first time before your cat starts to squirm, then just let her go and try again soon. Always ease her into something she is afraid of and be gentle and talk calmly to her so that she knows you are caring for her.