Ayrad (crazy) first reaction to nails clipping...

[Xcellmusic]

Hey everyone, it's me again today.

After having my hands looking like if I played with Edward Scissorhands I decided to give Ayrad his first nails clipping.

I expected him not to be happy, but I didn't expect what I was about to experience.

First I got a guillotine type cat nails clipper, as it seemed to be quiker to use than a regular one and some expensive treats to ease him.

I wrapped him in a towel, as advised by many people, petting him and talking to him with the most mellow voice ever. He HATE towel wrapping with a passion so I started to be anxious about the nails clipping.

After many attempt I finally managed to have access to the first paw, he was going berserk, screaming and shaking like crazy, that scared me a bit (Concerned father) His heart was racing but I decided to go through the process or I'll never be able to do it. He didn't even consider the treat.

First paw done and 3 more to go... At this point I thought it would be impossible but as I read on many thread I shouldn't let HIM decided when it's done. So I decided to bite my tongue (I hated seeing him in such distress) But honestly he needed it and I want to be able to do simple grooming to my baby without being anxious.

Story continues, second paw and he was literally going NUTS, he started to bite me and tried to scratch my face, forget about the towel it was long gone. (He sounded like I was slaughtering him but I was being so nice and gentle and trying to focus to not hurt him while clipping)

(BTW I was just clipping the very end tip of the claws)

At the end of the second paw I started to smell a disgusting odor I though he lost some gas until I realize that my brand new pair of jeans and my vintage collector 1983 harley davidson tee shirt were full of poop!!! Yes POOP!!! (Ok I'm stupid for wearing that while doing the process but I was just coming back from a meeting and I didn't realize that pooping on daddy would be an option)

I put him on the ground (I was holding him on my lap) and he finished his huge poop in front of me, looking at me like he was saying "You deserve that daddy" just 2 feet away from his litterbox.

At this point I wasn't going to let him go away with this so I took of my dirty clothes and simply finish the process. I managed to do it, even if it cost me lot of scratches everywhere on my body and him hating me.

I'm thankful I did that in the bathroom with the door closed (Thanks to all the threads advising that)

When I opened the door he ran under the bed
.
I tried to play with him a little bit after he would chase the feather on the wand (his favorite) but he was HATING me. every time I was a couple feet away he was running like Usain Bolt under the bed.

I gave him food, he ate it and now he seems more relax he's sleeping on my bed as I type that but wow what an adventure.

I hope you're laughing at my experience and that at least it's funny for others! haha

I still have a couple question, should I redo it regularly to get him used to it? (Is he ever gonna get used to it?) Because it was a crazy adventure. stressful for both of us. I hope he will calm down with time with this.

Is pooping a known sign of protest for cats overall and SV particularly?

What would you advice me for the next attempt?

Thanks for reading. (And laughing at me)

 

[Arinelle]

I haven't yet trimmed Ayanai's claws. I am playing with her paws each night, and (using pressure) I will unsheathe each of her claws, she isn't thrilled about it, but it's more of a mild annoyance and she just pulls her paw back. Once she lets me do that without any qualms I plan on using the clippers. We will slowly progress to the nail caps...but ug. I cannot imagine going through the adventure you did. I am glad you had such a good attitude about it at least heh.

 

[Patti]

Cats have been known to lose their bowels when extremely stressed or in an adversarial situation (e.g., cat fight), this is not breed specific. I agree with Arinelle's method of getting a kitten used to nail trimming by gently handling the feet and unsheathing the claws frequently (several times a day would be ideal) before attempting to actually trim them. Cats that get overly stressed with nail trimming I usually only do one paw at a time, sometimes it has toe one claw at a time.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I agree with Patti, this is a normal kitty reaction. My guess it was a combination of your anxiety and the kitten's fear that lead to an over-reaction and the mess you've described. This sounded way more traumatic than it should be :-(

I would advise starting all over again. Just be calm with your kitten and when the kitten is napping pick up a paw and start massaging it. And then let it go...and keep doing that until handling it is not a problem.

I personally prefer the kind of kitty nail clippers that are like funny little scissors..like these ones http://www.vitacost.com/jw-pet-nail...618940650133&gclid=CM3h5qeXtrkCFWXZQgodbzMAAw

They are easy to use and so you can with one hand play with a paw and push down to extend a claw and with the other just snip off a claw before they know what is happening. Then stop. If there is no reaction you can continue. If kitty looks distressed just give it a bit. If you need to do a claw a night at first...so be it.

If you have a friend that can help you, then you can try to do all the claws in a less confrontational way. Try scruffing your kitten, do they relax? This is a move that imitates mama cat grabbing the kitten by the back of the neck and so usually their response is to just relax and hang there... so if you scruff, then the other person can clip nails.

There ARE some cats that simply seem to have super-sensitive claws. I've had one born here...I KNOW, because she was born here, that she has never ever had a bad claw clipping (where the quick of the nail was injured etc) and I know she's had regular nail trims since 2 weeks of age but she's ALWAYS gone crazy over it. I have to conclude that somehow the nail trimming feels much worse for her than any other cat. We do have to wrap her in a towel and still it takes two of us to clip her nails. I hate it.

 

[Xcellmusic]

Thank you very much for these precious advices Brigitte, I'll definitely follow them on my next attempt.
It really did hurt me today to see my little love in such distress so I hope with patience and time we'll ease the process. And I think you're right he probably felt that I was anxious and that probably made it worse.

 

[Becki]

I wait until Nyah is sleeping in my lap and just play with her paws. I use people nail clippers as they are smaller and easier to handle. I will rub those on her paws too until she realizes it is no big deal, and then I quickly snip a few. If I don't get them all at one time, that is ok, I just go back and do them later so it is never an issue for her to worry about.

Kovu, on the other hand, doesn't nap in my lap because THERE IS TOO MUCH TO DO!!!!! Luckily, Betsy, his breeder, had trimmed them from the start, so he isn't a freak about it, he is just a wiggly kitten. If I have my daughter hold him, I can get them done quickly. I don't need to go fast because he is fighting it, but because he wants to go pounce on something NOW!

 

[admin]

I would trim the nails weekly, following the advice of everyone here...my kittens are all sued to it by the time they go to their new homes...I just trimmed the claws on my 4 day old kittens a few days ago...they weren't happy about it, but they get used it

Let us know how the next nail clipping session goes...

 

[KMcgown]

We use regular nail clipper (people) and it seems to work fine. We do clip them often and like Paige, start early. I also try to do the nails when they first wake up and are a little sleepy...and not all ramped up like they tend to get. I must admin, you made me laugh

 

[Treywi]

Hmm never had a kitten poop on me, but sadly or funny whichever way you want to look at it I've had way too many reptiles poop and pee on me.

Sorry can't help with the nail trimming part, but just didn't want you feeling bad about getting pooped on.

 

[Xcellmusic]

Thank you all for the replies, I will follow the advice and will tell you how my next attempt goes. But this time I will wear the clothes I loves less in my wardrobe haha Lesson learnt !