Hey did you know cats benefit from regular nail trims?? Well they do! Cats don't necessarily wear their nails down enough through their daily activities and if their claws get too long, they can suffer discomfort

But for some people the thought of trimming a cat's nails can seem sort of daunting. For their size, cats are incredibly hard to contain/control. They are so bendy there's no way to avoid teeth and/or claws. And even the calmest, gentlest cat can become irate occasionally

So how do you get a cat to agree to letting you trim their claws?

Well like most things, it's best to start slow. Get your cat used to allowing you to touch their feet.

For example, if your cat is sitting on your lap, just every now and again pick up one of their feet, touch their paw-pad, just quick, gentle grabs.

If your cat is food motivated, you can introduce an incentive! Teach your cat that allowing their feet to be manipulated = snack

[Clicker training works really well and cats are just as capable of learning via clicker as dogs]

After a while of this, you can introduce the clipper. Now! There are different types of clippers! These three are the most common:

[source: https://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/outreach/Pet-Health-Topics/categories/procedures/cats/clipping-your-cat's-claws#:~:text=There%20are%20several%20styles%20of,is%20curling%20in%20a%20circle.]

For my cats I find a human nail clipper works best. I get ones that are meant for babies, which are the perfect size. But all cats are different! So if one type doesn't seem to be working, try another

Anyway, when introducing a New Object it's best to just let the cat sniff it first. Don't use it, just keep it near the cat, so it becomes familiar. Again, if you like, you can give your cat a treat whenever you take it out. That way they associate it with rewards

The point is to make the entire experience as free from stress as possible. Because if your cat gets freaked out then you will freak out and you're both stuck in a feedback loop of freaking out and this can sometimes end in BLEEDING

Taking it slow helps lower stress

Oh also!! Make sure to like, click the nail clipper so the cat becomes desensitized to the sound

Now the next step will obviously depend on your cat. For example--Charmander haaaaated having his feet touched when he first took him in. But we got him used to it & so, instead of doing all his nails at once, we'd kind of like--surreptitiously clip a few when he was lying down

Eventually we got them all haha.

Other cats, however, will have to be held. The best way for us (might not be best for others!) is to hold the cat on our lap facing forward. Like holding a baby on your lap, if that makes sense

DEMONSTRATION

Goku isn't like, happy her nails are being trimmed but she's also not drawing blood. Having someone to help is also great, because they can hold the cat's scruff, controlling the cat's head.

Unfortunately, Goku isn't very food motivated; she doesn't really care if we have a treat for her or not. But some of my other cats are VERY food motivated so giving them treats while trimming their nails is helpful

And while on the subject of treats, I've recently discovered these and omg they're amazing. It's like....cat go-gurt basically. And thus they're really great at providing a distraction that lasts for a while if you squeeze it out slowly https://www.amazon.com/INABA-Recipe-Lickable-Creamy-Variety/dp/B07D356XY8/ref=bmx_3?pd_rd_w=KoK4x&pf_rd_p=b56a886c-2bb4-4e74-b4cf-23d7a76693c8&pf_rd_r=PQ75Q3V4K5PVH7ZKFHQR&pd_rd_r=7e4e0199-271a-4c40-bf63-fbd49b84beb1&pd_rd_wg=7dZSM&pd_rd_i=B07D356XY8&psc=1

There are all different brands of cat go-gurt at different price points. Worth a look!

The cat blanket burrito is also an option but I recently discovered this product exists and holy crap it's really, honestly, been amazing https://www.amazon.com/PurrFect-Pouch-Original-Carrier-Grooming/dp/B07FKVNDQ3/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=cat+bag+holder&qid=1618260227&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-2

[btw I am not being like, sponsored by these brands or otherwise connected to the products. I'm recommending them because I've used them!]

What's awesome about the cat bag thing is you don't have to go through the trouble of wrapping the cat in a blanket and then holding the blanket together while trying to extricate a cat-foot from the burrito. This thing has GROOMING ACCESS PORTS for cat feet

Anyway the point of all this is to hopefully set you and your cat up for success in trimming nails. By slowly building up the cat's tolerance to you manipulating their feet, you're helping reduce stress in the long run

And I think the important thing to remember is the cat accepting nail trimming is the end goal, not the starting point. Desensitizing the cat to an experience--any experience--has to be a slow, cat-led process or else it won't work