[johnnyrelentless]

One of my cats, Lester, pulls on her claws one by one with her teeth. Is this a normal part of grooming?

She seems to pull pretty hard. I can even hear a soft clack every time she loses her grip with her teeth.

 

[hal1]

Me thinks its normal

 

[Sinatra-Butters]

My cats both do this when they clean themselves.

 

[shan841]

yup. normal

 

[the_albino_1]

June does that too! It stresses me out because it sounds horrible... like she's going to pull the nail right out. LOL I was talking to my friend (who has cats forever and ever) and she said her cat does it too and in her opinion it's just his way of grooming.

 

[hal1]

it's also weird to find nail shells lying around

 

[lilysong]

Yep, sometimes just scratching on things isn't enough to get the outer sheath off, and they'll take to chewing on their claws to pull that layer off. Unless you see signs of damage or distress, don't worry!

 

[maggie23]

wow. this is good to know it's a really common thing, because Angel does it, too. i figured it was because her front paws are declawed (by prior owner) and it was her way of keeping her back claws trimmed. our first kitty definitely did a good job of scratching with her front claws, but i never noticed her really scratching with her back claws, so maybe she also chewed on her back claws and i just never saw it.

 

[johnnyrelentless]

Oh, wow, thanks for all the responses. I'm glad to know it's normal. I was a little worried she was going to hurt herself, although there really is no sign that she is hurting herself.

 

[Victoriax]

3 of my 4 kitty's do this, they keep their own claws short & never need me to trim them but my 4th Kitty does not do this so I have to trim them about once every 6 month's

 

[librarychick]

Our only kitty that does this is Jitzu, she likes to keep her weapons nice and pointy...*sigh*

lol, the other three were all taken from their mums at 4 weeks or earlier...way too early (not something I recommend, but it was unavoidable in their cases) and never learned how to clean themselves completey. They are all gradually improving with age, but it's slow.

 

[catloverami]

Most of the cats I've ever owned like to do their own "manicure". When old nail sheaths get loose and maybe itchy, they will use a scratching post to pull them off, or failing that use their teeth....it's a normal part of grooming.