Cat scratches - What to do to avoid them?

[Pixall]

I trimmed Kyra's nails yesterday and today(she only let me do three paws yesterday) and I did Tucker's today(he is a dream, makes sense since I have been doing them since before he opened his eyes. ). Tucker's are fine. Kyra's are at a healthy length, but she managed to gouge my thumb pretty good just a minute ago. I am not worried about cat scratch fever, I know how to avoid that. What I am concerned with is the fact that she was able to scratch at all with her nails being freshly trimmed. Declawing is NOT an option in my mind, sorry.

I cannot trim her nails shorter, as I feel it is mean. I can trim her nails and she will let me, but my S/O cannot. He trims them too close, I am convinced. He never 'quicks' them per sey, but I personally think he trims close enough to hurt her a bit. Why else would she sit calmly for me to do it, but struggle and fuss bloody murder when he trims them down to lil nubs? Anyway, I am wondering what I can do. She has like three scratching posts(one post, one cardboard scratch 'n' hide type thing, and a doorknob hanger scratch thing) do I need more for two cats in a two bedroom apartment?(They do not have access to my office, the second bedroom, as that is where my birds, rats, lizards, and mouse live.)

Has anyone tried those nail cover things? I have seen them in pet shops since I was a kid, but do they actually work? If so, I know a certain kitty who will be getting a set of hot pink nail covers for Christmas.

Thanks,
Pix

[marie73]

I put the Soft Paws on Gigi when I rehomed her, mostly because she was going to be a little girl's best friend and I didn't want her scratching because she got spooked or surprised. She's a very gentle little girl, but I thought it was best to start with them on her.

It was a pain. First, you have to trim the claws before you put them on. That part was simple (my groomer clipped while I held her, just took about 1 minute). Then you fill the little teeny tiny covers 1/3 full of the glue (so much fun!!!), put them on the claw and kind of "snap" them in place. My groomer was holding Gigi while I filled them and put them on, then she snapped them in place. They're supposed to last 2-3 months.

[Syrena]

I heard that they work just fine and cat is not bothered with them at all. Personally, i would never do that. The problem is when you do it, you cannot let your cat to go outside. So it is more suited for an indoor cat. My cat is allowed to stay outside so, just as for preserving her self-defense, I would not put covers on her claws.

[Vivid Dawn]

My first thought when I read the title of the post of how to avoid cat scratches... don't own a cat! LOL

But yeah, those cap things are good, if it's an indoor kitty. They still got teeth, though! The lady that owns the rescue group I volunteer at got bit really bad the other day when she tried to trim the claws of one of the more feisty cats. She's taking anti-biotics for something else, and her thumb still got all red and swollen!

[Pixall]

oy. Key hasn't bitten. Would wearing those make her? Both the kitties are 100% indoors, I live on the edge of a large city with big roads.

[lyle]

Maybe (everything depends, doesn't it). We have a rescue cat that was declawed before we got her. When she gets mad/scared, which isn't often, her first reaction is to bite. Being nipped makes the other indoor cat mad when they play. She hardly ever uses her claws/paws, which seems to be the first line of offense for all the other cats.

[tghsmith]

our tinker cat used to get them every so often, she had a habit of swatting at the other cats with claws out and was putting holes in some of them,, they worked in both protecting the other cats and training her in claw use.. we would put on the brightest ones we could get and tinker would spend the next days trying to hide the fact that she had them on..

[NJgroomer]

While declawed cats are usually more likely to bite, I haven't seen cats with nail caps (I like SoftPaws) be prone to resort to biting. Usually it takes a few times for the cat to accept the nail caps, they can last anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks I've seen. If you get the extended tip for the glue, its MUCH easier to put them on. I usually will lay out 1 paw's worth of nail caps with glue, then clip nails and apply nail cap so I'm only handling each paw once. I also love all the colors!!! They are also easy to remove if you get to the 8 week mark and they are still attached (you want to change them because the nail grows out and needs to be trimmed). Hope that helps!

[librarychick]

If you can currently do her nails without her totally losing and you have a fair level of patience then you can give this a shot.

I sometimes dremel Doran and Muffin's paws. Mainly Muffin's. A dremel works just like a nail file, but it's electric. You can get a cheap version at petsmart for about $20 and it will work fine for a cat. That's what I do Muffin's nails with.

You HAVE to go slow and be patient or you risk making her really mad about getting her nails done at all, but once you get going I find that they hate it a lot less than the clippers.

I started with just holding the dremel, while it was on, and feeding them treats. When I can pet them with the dremel and feed them treat without a reaction I moved to the next step. I'd hold them in the 'nail trimming position' (cradled between me and the couch arm) with the dremel on, and feed them treats. When that no longer phased tham I would move the dremel close to a paw, turn it off, touch the dremel too the paw, move it away then turn it back on. So when the dremel tip actually touches them it's off. Do that a bunch until they don't care. Lots of treats after each time of course.

The final step is to start touching the nails with the dremel while it's on. I just did a very light touch on one nail, then the rest of the paw I did the same as the last step. Gradually move up to actually doing the nail, then two nails, ect.

Now I can dremel both front paws fairly easily. If you practice you can get nice smooth edges, that's why I do Muffin's paws this way. I always dremel his feet before we go on a therapy visit or to the vet, so there's no way he could scratch anyone in the remote chance that he has a total freak-out. (And so his nails are easier on the paper-thin skin of some of his elderly friends.)