Can I Use Dog Nail Clippers On A Cat
How to trim a cat'due south nails step by step and the products you demand to exercise it
Updated
2021-01-11T22:46:36Z
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- With the correct technique, tools, and a gentle arroyo, trimming your cat's claws at home is not as hard as information technology seems.
- We spoke to Dr. Irit Grader, DVM, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Schoolhouse of Veterinary Medicine, to intermission downwards the steps and products needed to trim a cat'due south nails.
- This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Karie Johnson, veterinarian and co-founder of VIP Vet Visit, a mobile vet service in the due south suburbs of Chicago.
All cats need their nails trimmed regularly. A cat's claws grow continuously, but similar people'due south and dogs' nails. If allowed to grow as well long, they could snag on carpet or furniture and tear, causing painful injuries.
"If the nails aren't trimmed regularly, what we come across, particularly in cats, is that the nail grows all the way effectually and really penetrates the paw pad," said Dr. Irit Grader, DVM, assistant professor of clinical primary care medicine at the Academy of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. "This causes injury, infection, and inflammation to the manus pad."
Additionally, as all cat owners know, longer nails lead to more accidental scratches on your skin and let cats to inflict more damage if they decide to scratch your furniture.
If you've never trimmed your true cat's nails, the prospect of doing so might feel intimidating. Don't hesitate to enquire your veterinarian or groomer to show yous how to do information technology. Nearly veterinary staff and groomers are happy to provide a quick lesson. Grader said this is something that tin can even exist done virtually, with a telemedicine appointment. If you take all the equipment y'all demand at home, your veterinarian can watch via video conference, offering tips and guidance.
Trim your cat'due south nails about every two weeks. The nails on the forepart paws are oft longer than the nails on the rear paws. This is likely because some cats article of clothing down their rear nails naturally as they run and climb. Y'all might need to just prune the very tips of the rear nails. Sometimes, a cat's rear nails don't demand to be trimmed at all.
Here's how to trim a cat'south claws step past step and what y'all need to exercise information technology:
How to introduce nail trimming to your cat
The key to trimming true cat nails is to use gentle but minimal restraint. Cats dislike beingness pinned down. If yous endeavor to concord your true cat besides tightly, they volition likely struggle to escape.
Grader recommends that you starting time desensitize your cat to having their paws touched before diving correct into smash trimming. "Some cats accept very sensitive feet and some of them don't like having their feet touched," she said. "One of the reasons accidents happen is considering the cat is non calm. They pull the manus abroad when you lot clip and then you lot cannot exist accurate."
Calmly sit with your true cat and gently affect their paws, toes, and claws. Pet your true cat and offer some of their favorite treats. This might exist the time to break out the canned tuna or pieces of cooked chicken breast.
"If you do it a couple of times a day over a week, eventually the cat sees that null bad happens," Grader said. "This way, they become used to having their paws handled and their nails exposed. Once the cat is comfortable and you're comfortable treatment the nails, go alee and kickoff clipping the nails."
Where to trim your cat'southward nails
If your true cat likes sitting in your lap, endeavor this position beginning. Get comfortable on the couch or a chair. Pet your cat and offer a treat or two to ensure they're calm and comfortable earlier gently picking up their hand to begin clipping the nails. "If you lot can have two people with you lot that is peachy. One person can exist holding the true cat and the other person can managing the anxiety," said Grader.
If your cat doesn't like sitting in your lap, you can try putting them up on a table or counter. Place some treats on the countertop to distract them, then gently grasp their paw to trim the nails. If you try this approach, information technology tin can help to have another person there to pet the cat and feed them treats while you piece of work.
Understand the beefcake of your cat'due south nails
Most cats have four claws on each forepart paw, plus a dewclaw, which is college upward on the within of the mitt — sort of the equivalent of a thumb. The back paws each have four claws and no dewclaws. Some cats have extra toes. Called polydactyl, cats with extra toes also take extra nails, so brand sure you discover and trim them all.
Similar man nails, a cat's blast is made of keratin, a hard protein. A vein, called the quick, runs downwardly the centre of each blast. Because your cat'south quick is filled with nerve endings, you do non want to cut into it. Cutting the quick hurts and causes the nail to bleed, sometimes a lot.
Almost cats have clear nails, so it'southward easy to come across the quick within (the pink part in the center of the nail) and avoid cutting information technology. Just trim the hard, white part of the nail in front end of the pink area. Don't try to clip right up to the quick — leave a little buffer space in case your cat moves or you misjudge.
"You want to clip only the tip of the smash," Grader said. "If you take whatsoever doubts, simply clip less. The quick can exist seen quite hands, at that place'south no reason to get too close to it. If you lot experience that you can clip a little bit more and the true cat is cooperating, then you can go ahead and clip a fiddling fleck more."
If you're nervous about using smash clippers to trim your true cat's nails, yous can employ a pet nail grinder to grind them downwards. Because nail grinders make noise and vibrate, some cats might exist more bothered by a grinder than regular smash clippers. As with anything, information technology can take them some time to get used to having their nails ground.
How to trim your cat'southward nails with clippers
Follow these steps to clip your true cat'southward nails:
- Hold the clippers in one hand.
- Hold your cat's paw in the other hand and gently clasp it to extend the nails from their resting retracted position.
- One at a time, isolate each smash, belongings that toe between your thumb and index finger. If your cat has long hair, move information technology out of the fashion and hold it down confronting the toe with your pollex and index finger.
- Position the clippers so they encircle the nail beneath the quick (the pinkish role).
- Smoothly and swiftly close the clipper handles, snipping off the sharp end of the nail.
- Repeat for each smash. Don't forget the dewclaws on the front paws.
- When y'all're done, pet and praise your true cat, and offering some treats.
How to trim your true cat's nails with a grinder
Follow these steps to grind your true cat's nails:
- Hold the blast grinder in ane hand.
- Hold your cat's paw in the other manus, gently squeezing it to extend the nails from their resting retracted position.
- One at a time, isolate each nail, holding that toe between your pollex and index finger. If your true cat has long hair, motion it out of the way and agree it downwards against the toe with your thumb and alphabetize finger.
- Turn on the grinder and touch it gently to the stop of your cat'southward nail.
- Roll the grinder back and forth on the nail, moving slowly and smoothly.
- Echo for each nail. Don't forget to grind the dewclaws on the front paws.
- Pet and praise your cat, and offer some treats.
What to exercise if you nick the nail
If you accidentally cut into the quick, your cat might yowl in hurting and the blast will first haemorrhage. "Quicked" nails injure the cat and they can drain a lot, but information technology is a small injury.
"If by accident you clip the quick, put a small amount of [styptic] powder on a Q-tip and only dab the end of the nail, applying a little bit of pressure to the blast," Grader said. "That commonly helps cease the bleeding quite easily. It's not dangerous, information technology's but painful."
Jackie Brown
Freelance Writer
Pet expert Jackie Chocolate-brown has spent 20 years following her passion for animals as a writer and editor in the pet industry. Her expertise includes dog and true cat health, care, diet, feeding, grooming, behavior, and training. Jackie writes regularly for pet and veterinary industry media, including Dogster and Catster magazines, The Spruce Pets, Great Pet Care and All Well-nigh Cats. She is a contributing writer for "National Geographic's Complete Guide to Pet Health, Beliefs, and Happiness" and author of the volume "It'southward Raining Cats and Dogs: Making Sense of Beast Phrases." She is contributing editor of Dogster and Catster magazines, and the former editor of numerous pet magazines, including Dog World, Natural Domestic dog, Puppies 101, Kittens 101, and the Popular Cats Series. Jackie earned her bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of California, Irvine. Prior to starting her career in publishing, she spent eight years working in veterinary hospitals where she assisted veterinarians as they treated dogs, cats, rabbits, pocket pets, reptiles, birds, and one memorable king of beasts cub. She lives in Southern California with her husband, two sons, and miniature poodle Jäger, who she grooms at home. Jackie tin can be reached at jackiebrownwriter.wordpress.com. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider hither.
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