kitty conundrum

[Artista]

My daughter has her boyfriend wrap their kitty in a towel. Then, while her boyfriend holds the wrapped kitty, my daughter exposes one paw at a time and trims the nails. It's a two person job but no one gets hurt, including the cat.

[pumpkinpony]

Not a quick fix, but if you are in it for the long term with him, every day I would try to touch and handle his paws. Not for long, just a few seconds and maybe just one foot or two at a time. Desensitize him... Give him a treat or something he likes as you touch his paws or immediately after. It will over time work. When you trim his nails, don't worry about getting them all. Do one or two, and do another one or two the next day.

I have one cat that was a feral, and she has progressed from not being able to be handled at all, safely, to I can trim nails on two paws before she freaks. Two paws today, two paws tomorrow. She'll also do high fives for treats now!

[alimey]

I second the towel idea. We used to breed cats & a swaddled cat is a good cat! Seriously - make sure the towel is a full-size one. You just put it over the cat at shoulder level & pick the cat up, wrapping the towel tightly around it's chest. It won't be terribly amused. One person holds cat & towell & the other person clips claws. The big towel is essential as the weight & size of it drapes over the legs you aren't working on & prevents them opening up your arteries.

Also the waterpistol of god can be useful in training. Hide behind a newspaper & wait until the cat starts - then squirt it quickly & go back to reading behind the paper. Hopefully the cat will think that an all-seeing god has done it & not you. You need to be fast & accurate . . .

[carolp]

Can you find a friend to help you? When we first got Hank (who recently died) the person holding the cat wore welding gloves and got a good grip on him, letting only one paw be exposed. The clipper grabbed that paw and clipped, and the process repeated until all four were done. It was not easy, but we too have leather furniture and didn't want it ruined. Over time, it did get easier, though for the six years we had him (we got him full grown; he was a stray who had been living on the streets) it was never easy and he never liked it. You have to watch out for their teeth too, but with two people it CAN be done. See if you can bribe a friend.