I am so curious as to how this will go over on lemmy.

Awww, polite lady!

Honestly, mine isn’t terrible, she doesn’t bite or scratch during nail time, more just squirms and will try to bolt to the fridge for her post trim treat, ideally (in her lil mind) before any trimming.

Even if they’re just a little on the long side, they could still catch on things and break, which can be painful.

Cats didn’t evolve with upholstery. There’s not much equivalent in the wild.

So a cat’s instinct is probably to have longer claws than are safe in the modern context.

On the other end of the spectrum, my cat was fine using her scratchpads and posts for more than a decade but she’s now quite elderly and doesn’t play like that as much as she used to. Shamefully, I didn’t notice her nails had grown too long until she started limping because one had grown long enough to cut into her footpad.

We all want to let our cats be cats and let them do the things they love, like play, scratch, hunt, and climb. But there is a “too long” when it comes to cat claw length.

A cat’s claws are too long when they develop into a curved shape. In extreme cases of overgrowth, the claws can curve into your cat’s toe pads, which can be painful and cause open wounds.

Trimming them before they get too curvy will prevent that from happening. It will also prevent ingrown claws, which can be very painful and be further complicated and dangerous if an infection develops.

While cats’ claws are supposed to be sharp, there is such a thing as too sharp! If you notice that your feline friend is drawing blood or your furniture is torn up, give their claws a check and see if they need a trim.

But even if you don’t notice a curve or extra sharpness, keep a watchful eye on your cat’s claws. Even if they’re just a little on the long side, they could still catch on things and break, which can be painful.

Nicely done!

That is 35 more claws than we got done before she decided “enough with this” and leapt from medical couch and scurried to the fridge, awaiting her treats.

https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/how-to-trim-cat-nails

You can literally just do a web search about “why do we trim cat claws”

Other people have laid out, with scientific articles etc, why this is absolutely not comparable to declawing.

None of those are about trimming.

You could literally just search “why do people trim cat claws.” Or just read the other reaponses in this thread.

Unless you’re just time trolling, which is a weird way to spend time.

I’m kind of stunned by some of the responses. People seem to have no goddamn clue. (Internet, what did I expect?)

I think mine would’ve been fine if I did it when she was younger but then she was down with her scratch pads, scratch post and the front yard adventures.

Now, she’s an elderly kitty who almost tolerates the medical changes (seizure meds twice a day, asthma inhaler and trimming) but is grumpy about it.

She’s almost 20 years, arthiritic and on anti seizure meds. She has multiple scratch posts and pads but doesn’t or can’t use them enough anymore (even with catnip inducement.)

As a result, without trimming, she gets her claws stuck and has yanked one out quite painfully.

This is how I can best help her as she ages, as recommended by our vet. (And, while she doesn’t love it she sort of tolerates it, just occasionally tries to leap from medicine couch to the treats and skip the whole trimming part.)

Are you thinking of declawing?

Minus the hurt!