Trimming (crazy) Kittens Claws

Question

tigerlily   I need to trim my kitten's nails, but she is a wild little girl. I wrap her tightly in a blanket, and she purrs until the moment the clippers touch her. Then she screams and squirms so hard that I can't hold onto her. I've tried organic/natural cat "calmers" with no luck. I am entirely against declawing but our brand new furniture is suffering. Help!

Answer
Nikki,

Let me first start off by saying that Tigerlily is ADORABLE! I can offer you a few solutions that I think will work for everyone before you consider such a drastic measure as declawing your kitty.

Sometimes kittens are kind of like very young babies, the best time to trim their nails without having them squirm everywhere is when they're sleepy. One of my kitties can only be done when she's sleepy since she was a dumped kitten that we rescued. The very best way to get a kitten comfortable with the idea of you messing about with her claws is to do it often, multiple times a day, every single day... Without actually trimming her nails start with simply getting her comfortable with you extending her claws, tickling between her toes, etc. You can do this when she's awake, when she's asleep, or both because she will know you're doing it even if she seems like she is completely passed out.

Another possible option to help minimize the trauma surrounding nail trims would be to take her to your veterinarian and have the tech trim her claws and apply Soft Paws. These are little silicone nail caps that simply fit over the nail and typically last about a month in young kittens. Once your kitty is older in my experience Soft Paws will last two months in or so in adult cats.

You can also look into a wonderful product called Sticky Paws if your kitten has areas that she prefers to scratch. Sticky Paws is a medical grade double sided tape that you apply to surfaces that you don't want your kitty to scratch - trust me, she will not be interested after her paws touch that sticky tape once or twice.

Now, with all that being said I also need to offer this little disclaimer - if you do not get your kitty surfaces that she's allowed to scratch and place them throughout your home she will continue to find pieces of furniture to exercise her claws on. "Sharpening" her claws is a necessary activity for her so she needs places that it's ok to do it. I would suggest offering several different types to see what she likes best - there are vertical scratchers in the form of cat trees, there are horizontal ones in varying shapes, sizes and material combinations... Whatever you try with her be sure that it's stable enough to tolerate her literally trying to pull it over onto herself because as she gets bigger she may try to do just that and if she succeeds she will most likely not bother with the scratch post that falls on her, or she may even swear off of scratch posts all together... There are so many types and designs of scratchers out there, they don't have to be ugly and many can fit right into your decor beautifully, almost like pieces of art :)

I also have to say that teaching your kitten to use a scratch post need not be difficult... If you use a toy like a kitty tease to guide her to the post/tree/etc then encourage her to play on and around it, offer treats on the top of a cat tree, etc and above all PRAISE HER FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING you'll find that she learns in no time flat! Cats are smarter than people give them credit for and with the right time and attention given to training like this you would be surprised at what they can accomplish!

If you have any further questions or concerns please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali