How to Trim Your Cat's Nails

Most experts, who are not worried about protecting their precious belongings at all cost, agree that declawing is inhumane and and unnecessary mutilation. Declawing is not a manicure, the last bone of your the cat's claw has to be removed. Declawing is actually an amputation of the last joint of your cat's "toes". Cats need to scratch for phycological reasons. If you declaw your cat, you'll end up with a neurotic animal.

Instead of declawing your cat(s), provide them with proper scratching fixtures, make provisions to protect anything you don't want them to scratch, and keep their nails trimmed. My cats, Scooter and Jasmine, prefer to scratch on a section of an old sofa that I got rid of years ago. Sure that one chair is getting tore up, but that's their scratching post substitute, they generally leave everything else alone.

If your cat's nails keep splitting or breaking, you'll need to trim them regularly. You might also want to cut them to prevent the cat from scratching furniture, other pets, or children. It's a pretty easy thing to do, if you train your cat and know where and how to cut.

1. Condition your cat. Most cats are naturally a little skittish about letting a human hold their paws, so you might need to do some training to teach your cat that having its paws constrained doesn't mean it's going to die.

If you play with your cat(s) and handle them a lot, you should have no problem trimming their nails. I've read, in several cat books, that it takes two people to trim a cats nails. Nonsense! My cats sleep most of the time. They are active only in the morning and evening. I wait until they are ready to sleep, or after they have already begun to sleep, then I trim their nails. They don't even bother to wake up for the procedure.

While I'm cutting their nails, I talk to them. I assure them that it's okay because their nails will grow back. Many cat book authors claim cats can understand a vocabulary of only about 20 words. Again nonsense! Cats are always alert and trying to understand what's going on in their environment. I think my cats can understand about 50 percent of what I say to them, especially if I keep their limited vocabulary in mind. If they can't understand what you're saying, they go by the tone of your voice. Keep your voice calm and playful and you'll have no problem trimming their nails.

• When the cat is relaxed and lounging, make it a habit to pet its paws. Try to do it while simultaneously petting the cat in its favorite spots (the back of the neck, under the chin, where its back meets its tail all work well). Do this for all the paws you intend to trim. The cat might pull its paws away, or even get up and walk away. Let it go; don't force it to do anything, but let it know that every time you're together, paws and hands will intermingle.

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