nail clipping or softpaws

Footsie will not let me trim his nails. He won't even come near my if he can see a brush or the clippers within my reach.

I've been spraying my sofa with feliway every day lately and he's still destroying it. (I know it sounds shallow but I love my sofa. Its only 6 months old and its my first non-hand-me-down furniture.

I'm thinking of getting his nails trimmed professionaly. Has anyone had this done? Am I looking at a chunk of money for this? Soft paws: I know I couldn't ever get those onto him myself in a million years. Do you get these put on by the vet or at the groomer.

I guess I can just call around and find out, but I thought I'd ask here too.

 

I haven't tried a groomer, so I don't know how much that would cost, but have you tried plying him with treats when you are trying to clip his nails? You might want to get him used to you touching his paws gradually and reward/distract him when you do. It takes two of us to trim Bonnie's claws, one pets and fusses over her while the other clips.

 

my vet trims my cat's claws for $5. I usually take one with me when I take a pet to the vet (with an old dog and 3 cats I go a lot :cry: )

The woman that used to groom my dog (I don't get her groomed anymore she gets too stressed) would trim my cat's claws free after she groomed my dog - she is anti-declaw so she would offer to trim for free so people wouldn't get their cats declawed :y_the_best: one reason why I choose her as my dog's groomer.

If your cat won't let you clip chances are good she isn't going to let you put soft paws on either. See what your vet charges...usually it's the vet tech they have do it anyway. Or call around to groomers in your area. It shouldn't have to be done too often if they clip them as close as possible.

 

I'm sure your vet or a groomer can apply the soft paws for you. My vet cut 2 of my cats nails for free at one of their visits and she cut them so well that I did'nt have to trim them again for about 3 months. I take my dog to the groomer and it costs me $5 to have her nails trimmed.

 

My cats used to scratch the corners of my sofa until I placed the small scratching posts next to them. Is it neccessary to clip nails besides making them less sharp? I used to clip Pumpkin's nails. She hated it too. Then I would wait until she is in very deep sleep to clip them. Then I stopped all together because I would notice that she gets poop and litter bits embeded in her nails. That can't be too healthy? On the other hand, both my girls seem to walking on high heels without the trimming. Would this make them arthritic? Soft paws sounds like a great idea for your situation. And $5 for nailcutting is a great price!

 

I usually only clip my cats nails when they really need it....usually when they start getting caught on things such as the screen, curtains, the couch or the rugs I know its time to trim. Most of them are really good about it but it takes 2 people to trim Tiddy's because he has long hair between his toes and its difficult to hold him and dig through the long fur to find his nails. Chieve has to be wrapped in a towel or he tries to fight me.

 

Thanks for the input. I called petsmart and they charge $12, but I might go there anyways. In the past I've clipped his nails, but he seems to be less and less of a lap cat every day. He won't let me do it now. If I had a roommate or something to help me hold him down then maybe, but he's more than I can handle by myself.

Footsie has several scratching posts and he does use them. Although his nails are so long right now that he seems to be getting almost stuck on his sisle post. So maybe clipping his nails will make him want to use it more. This sofa thing I think might just be a behavioral thing. He seems to do it when I'm in my loft. And he'll keep at it even with my scolding until I get there. I think its some kind of an attention thing. He does the same thing by getting on top of the TV which turns it on and then standing there howling until I come downstairs. I rarely come home to the TV on so I know he only does it to get my attention. Another reason that I think that this is behavioral is becuase the feliway isn't working at all. For a while it did, and now he'll scratch right after I've sprayed it.