How to Safely and Easily Trim Your Cat's Nails

[Music] hi i'm haley i'm an adoption counselor at the oakville milton humane society i'm going to be showing you how to trim your cat's nails at home today i'm joined with my cat gwen and with her assistants i'm going to show you a couple of different methods that you can do either by yourself or if you need to ask a second person to give you a hand how to do so as well before you get started there are a couple of supplies that you're going to want to have nearby most importantly you're going to want to have a pair of nail scissors i like the scissor style that's my personal preference there are a couple of different styles that you might find more comfortable there is a guillotine style as well the one tip i would suggest is to avoid using the nail clippers that you and i may use at home the reason why you'd want to use nail clippers that are specific for caps is because they have a rounded blade and that gives you a little bit more control and prevents your cat's nails from potentially shattering from being clipped at a different angle you'll also want to have some food or treats available to give your cat either while you're doing the nail trim or as a reward after each time you trim a nail each paw however far you can get before you feel that you need to offer them a treat to keep it positive you'll also want to have a towel or blanket on hand for a couple of different uses you can either use it to keep your surface soft and to prevent your cat from slipping while you're trimming their nails you might also want to use it on your lap if you choose to have your cat with you that way or lastly you might want to use it for the burrito method which i'll show you just a little bit later the two other items you might want to have on hand are feel away this particular type is a spray feel away is a synthetic pheromone that helps your cat to recognize something as safe so it mimics the pheromone that they have on their cheeks that they rub on things like your legs your furniture to allow them to feel like something is comfortable and familiar the last thing you're going to want to have on hand is styptic powder styptic powder is something that you can purchase from any pet store or veterinary clinic and the idea of this powder is that if you cut your cat's nails just a little bit too short if you get that quick which is the pink spot on your cat's nail that supplies the blood um it will allow you or you'll be able to apply it to your cat's nail to prevent any bleeding before you begin trimming your cat's nails get them comfortable with having their paws touched and having the clippers nearby some cats are very startled by something that is unfamiliar or something that makes a strange sound so sometimes cats are fearful of the sound of the clippers touching their nails or just having it near their body at all i like to introduce my cat to the nail trimmers first let them investigate and sniff a bit before i begin luckily with gwen i've been able to touch her paws throughout the time i've had her so she is very comfortable with having her paws massaged and having me gently push them to check on her nails a couple of times per week your cat might not be there yet so before you do a nail trim even if it's a few days before you feel you need to start doing that regularly and rewarding every time you do so once your cat is calm you can begin trimming their nails it's important to pick a right or pick the right time to do the nail trim you're going to want to pick a time when your cat is calm maybe when they're sleepy or if they're particularly affectionate with you this might be a good time as well now that gwen is calm and she's sitting down for me i'm going to begin with her on a table surface like so you might be able to do this on your bed your couch on a table your cat's allowed to be on at home the soft surface helps your cat from slipping around too much i'm just going to reach over gwen to gently touch her paw and roll her nails out like so i'm taking a look to see which ones i need to trim sometimes not all of them need a trim if you're keeping up with it regularly i'm looking for that quick so the pink blood supply there to see how far i can trim gwen has clear nails so it's very easy to see the quick but your cat might have darker nails or even black nails which can make it a lot more difficult if this is the case i would recommend always having a second person with you to increase your visibility of the quick or making sure you're in a well-lit area potentially using a flashlight to shine underneath to illuminate it a bit more make sure that you're not trimming too far we're ready to begin i'm just going to start by going underneath the nail with my nail scissors and trimming off just the smallest amount that i can getting as close to the quick as i'm comfortable with you don't want to go any closer than about two millimeters that's your guideline you may need to turn your cat around to get the other side so again we're just trimming from the bottom i mentioned trimming from the bottom because that is how you're going to get the nicest edge if you trim sideways or from the top you risk again shattering the nail or having an uneven edge that can result in your cat being a little bit uncomfortable to move on to the back pause you're going to do kind of the same thing but i just put my arm a little bit over her head so she can tuck into my elbow if needed and it gives me a bit of support to cover her body so she can't squirm around too much or try and slip out from under me [Music] now that she's been so great for her nail trims i'm going to offer her some treats if your cat isn't staying still with you on a surface like so you might even find it easier to sit with your cat in your lap i'm not going to interrupt her from eating her reward right now but you can pick your cat up secure them on your lap and reach around their paws in a similar fashion to make sure that you're able to get all of them some cats aren't going to want to stay on your lap with you i know gwen wouldn't so another method that you can try is the burrito method now it's called the burrito method for pretty obvious reason it's because you're going to wrap your cat up like a burrito so using your towel your blanket whatever you have available position your cat so that their head is going to be sticking out of the blanket or towel we don't want to be covering her head so we're just going to wrap her just one side at a time this keeps her nice and cozy and if your cat is getting a little bit squirmy it also gives you a little bit more control as well now with your cat wrapped up to the best of your ability you're going to just reach in and take out one pot at a time and do the same thing take a look check for your quick and just trim what needs to be trimmed when you're done with that pot you can tuck it back in offer them a treat if they'll take it turn them around do the other paw if needed and then to get the back paws you're just going to reach underneath keeping them covered and do the same thing when you're all done offer your cat lots of different treats rewards pets praise or if they need it just give them a break now gwen is a pretty good demonstrator for all ways to do your cat snails on your own but a lot of cats are going to be quite a bit busier than gwen is and if that's the case you might want to ask a second person to hold your cat so you can have both arms free you get a really good look at the nails and you're going to be able to get the nail trim done typically much faster and in a safer way in this case i'm going to ask my manager steph to come and hold gwen for me thank you whoever's holding your cat should just make sure that they're supporting their bottom and making sure that their paws are pointed out towards you so you can get each paw for the nail trim so again we're just trimming from the bottom being really careful not to get that quick and doing the back pause as well you and whoever is helping you might need to reposition your cat a few times to allow you to get all of their paws and once you're done you can give your cat lots of love and lots of treats thank you if you do clip the quick which is something i've talked about a couple of times throughout this video there's no need to panic your cat probably isn't going to be super happy with you it is a very sensitive area and it causes a little bit of pain very similar to cutting your own nail too short this is where you'll have your styptic powder handy this will stop the blood or the the bleeding rather quickly so you'll just apply a little bit to the affected nail just pinch the nail a little bit to stop the blood flow and i would discontinue your nail trim at that point you want to make sure that your cat isn't dreading having their nails trimmed every time you need to do it so if you do hit the quick again make sure that you're keeping it positive for them with lots of treats and praise and things like that if ultimately you cannot safely or comfortably do a nail trim with your cat call your veterinarian ask them if they're able to see your cat for a nail trim or even contact a professional groomer ultimately your safety your cat's comfort and your bond with your cat is the most important you do need to get that nail trim done so if it has to be done through a professional that is totally okay thank you so much for watching our nail trim tutorial gwen and i thank you very much for your time hopefully you learned something from this video for more information please visit omhs.ca thank you [Music] you

Channel: Oakville & Milton Humane Society

Views: 62,970

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Id: Q_QZwVZ9W5s

Length: 11min 55sec (715 seconds)

Published: Mon May 31 2021