Cat Nail Trims| A simple tutorial

For a lot of you trimming your cat’s nails may consist of dialing your vet, or a groomer, and scheduling an appointment. And that’s ok! We’ve got the training and equipment necessary to trim the nails of those feisty kitties. But this post is for anyone who wants to try doing this themselves at home.

If you have a young or cooperative cat I do believe this is something you can learn to do by yourself. I recommend starting slow and taking it just a couple of nails at a time. For many cats, they’ll allow you to trim some of their nails before they lose their patience. For your safety it’s best to let them go when they start getting agitated, rather than trying to push through the nail trim.

First there are a few items you will need to have before you start.

1. A good pair of nail trimmers.

Obviously. I prefer the “cigar-cutting” type versus the “guillotine” type as I believe they make a cleaner cut. In my experience the guillotine type causes crushing of the nails, which is more painful. This is true for dog nail trims as well.

I prefer this heavier duty type of nail trimmers at work. If you are only planning on using them on a cat they may be a little overkill. But they are amazing for large dog nails, and do work great for cat nails if you have both dogs and cats at home. This smaller type is similar and may be easier to position around your cat’s nails.

2. A large blanket or towel.

This is to wrap your cat up in a kitty burrito. It may not be necessary, but being wrapped up can be calming for many cats. It also allows you to contain the paws you are not trimming so that your pet doesn’t “nail you” with a good scratch.

3. Something to calm your cat.

If your pet is extremely difficult to restrain or trim nails it could be something prescribed by your vet. Some patients even need a sedative to be administered before we at the clinic can attempt to trim their nails, so don’t be shy about asking if your vet has any recommendations.  It can also be an over the counter product like Feliway. Simply spray it on the towel you are going to use to wrap your cat up in.

This is a picture of me extending my 14 year old cat’s nail. She is definitely due for a nail trim in this picture. I have drawn a black line approximately where you want to cut with the trimmers. I actually find cat nails a little easier to trim (not accounting for their sometimes crotchety personalities) because they are clear.

At the proximal half of the nail where it is thicker you can actually see the quick which is slightly pink. This is the portion of the nail that contains nerves and blood vessels. If you cut through this portion not only will it bleed everywhere, but it hurts. And this can result in more resistance from the cat or dog for future nail trims. So try not to get too close.

Above are the nails of one of my recent patients. He was 16 years old so only a little older then my own pet. But he unfortunately has more health issues he has been dealing with. Can you see how much thicker his nails are compared to my cat? This is because as some cats age they stop shedding the outer sheath of their nail. This can be from decreased mobility and scratching on scratching posts. Or from decreased grooming. But the result is that they continue to grow thicker and longer.

It can be a medical issue because these thickened nails can start to overgrow. I am extending one nail to show how thick it is, but I have drawn an arrow to a different nail that I am not extending. The arrow points to how close this nail is to growing in to the paw pad. I have had to trim nails that have actually overgrown and penetrated the paw pad. These cats heal up fine but you can imagine how uncomfortable that must be to walk on.

I mention this because even if you have never had to trim your cats nails when they are younger, this is something you may need to start doing at home as they get older. Or at least make an appointment to have someone else do it.

If you cat has a favorite treat reward him or her after trimming some of the nails to encourage your pet to allow you to do it again in the future. Try to keep it as a positive experience!

Trimming cat nails can be intimidating but please don’t be afraid to try! Ask to watch your veterinarian or their technicians trim your cats nails for ideas on how to position the paws and where to cut. If you find it’s something you just are not comfortable with, or your pet requires extra help to hold them please give your vet a call to set up an appointment.

But if you’re able to do this at home it will save your cat from some extra stress coming to the vet clinic as well as saving you some money every month.

Do you trim your cat’s nails at home? Let me know if you have any other tips or tricks for the readers of this blog!