Trimming your cat's nails is not just a part of grooming, but is important for your cat's health as well. Untrimmed nails can cause a variety of problems including painful broken nails or nails that grow into the paw pads. A good indication that a cat's nails are too long is that her unclipped nails get caught in the carpet, furniture, or your clothing.
What Is the Quick?
You may have heard not to cut the quick, but what is it? The quick is the area within the nail where the nerves and blood vessels are located. If your cat has clear nails, the quick can be visualized as a pinkish area within the nail. If the quick is cut, it may cause pain or bleeding. The goal of trimming a cat's nails is to trim the excess without hitting the quick.
Work with Your Cat Ahead of Time
Make trimming time fun and not a struggle. Trimming your cat's nails does not have to be a chore or unpleasant. If your cat is not used to having her nails trimmed, start slowly by gently touching her paws, and gradually work up to holding her toes. Stop if at any point she becomes anxious. Also put pressure on your cat's pads to extend her nails. It can take daily handling for a week or more to get some cats used to this. When your cat tolerates having her feet held, clip just one nail, and if she is good, praise her and give her a tiny treat. Wait, and then at another time, do another nail. Continue until all nails have been trimmed. Slowly, you will be able to cut several nails in one sitting, and finally all the nails in one session.
Put together a nail trimming kit with all of the items you may need. Items to include are a high quality pair of trimmers and styptic powder to stop bleeding if you nick the quick. Some people will include a file to remove rough edges.Consider putting a bag of treats in your kit as well.
How to Trim Your Cat's Nails
You may want to sit on the floor with your cat, hold your cat in your lap, or have someone hold your cat on a table while you trim her nails. Hold your cat's paw firmly and push on her foot pad to extend the nail. Locate where the quick ends. Remember with clear or light nails, it is easy to see the pink color of the quick.
Using a nail trimmer for cats, cut the nail below the quick at a 45-degree angle, with the cutting end of the nail clipper toward the end of the nail. You will be trimming off the finer point of the nail. In cats, the quick is generally easy to see, so you can cut the excess away with one cut.
In some cases, if the nails are brittle, the cut may tend to splinter the nail. In these cases, file the nail in a sweeping motion starting from the back of the nail and following the curve to the tip. Several strokes will remove any burrs and leave the nail smooth.
If your cat will tolerate it, do all four feet this way. If she will not, take a break. Do not forget the dewclaws. If not trimmed, dewclaws can grow so long they curl up and grow into the soft tissue, like a painful ingrown toe nail.
If you accidentally cut the quick, wipe off the blood and apply styptic powder to stop the bleeding. It is not serious and will heal in a very short time.
It is better to trim a small amount on a regular basis. Invest in a good pair of nail trimmers in an appropriate size for your cat. They can last a lifetime.
Article by: Marty Smith, DVM and Angela Walter, DVM