overgrowen cat nails

Question
Hi Ellen,

I have a cat who is about 15 to 20 years of age. We have never clipped her nails until recently because she's never had problems with them. Her nails are thickening, so when i looked yesterday they had growen so fast that they are now digging into the pads on her digits! I am able to clip her claws, so i did to move them away from her pad. But how do i make them stop widening? The problem is they now grow very close to the pad and curve over immediately. Like a new moon changing to a half moon they are growing inside the curve. Should i have her delcawed?

Thanks for your time,

Sincerely,

Nicolle Spencer

Answer
Dear GOD NO don't have that poor baby declawed!  

What you need to do is this:

1. trim her nails weekly. Many older cats do not scratch the posts and trim their nails on their own, thats why they thicken and over grow. So you need to help out.

2. take her to the vet for an exam and bloodowork. MANY cats with hyperthyroidism(treatable!)will have very thick nails. Bloodwork can rule this out.

3. when you are at the vets, ask the techs to cut your cats nails super short and SHOW you how to do it ;)

This is all very common in the older kitties. Good Luck with her. :)