Claw Trimming

[Louie'sDad]

As Louie grows older he's becoming more and more ornery during claw trimming time. He's now at the point where he draws my blood via a bite or a mean gash from a scratch. My vet refuses to trim his claws and is visibly afraid of him. The local pet store groomer I sometimes use to help me, still leaves me bleeding afterwords. In a word, I have now finally abandoned any hope of performing this chore with Lou's cooperation. I have tried sedatives, and they do not work at all.

Has anyone here had luck with a restraining device, such as a cat bag, or similar. I will need to supplement with a hood/muzzle. I need suggestions on which are the most durable and RELATIVELY easy to get the cat into.

I realize that this might offend some people here. My wish was to have Lou enjoy, not dread this experience and I have tried since he was very young, to get him to accept the nail trim. I thought I was almost there at one point, but after he passed 1 YO, he took a definite turn against the procedure. Apparently, restraint is the last resort. I understand that the hood might, in some cases make the ordeal less stressful because he won't be able to see.

 

[Chris Elliott]

Many cats can be peacefully restrained using the same technique used by mother cats when moving their babies.

Basically, by applying the same pressure as a mother cat would, or if there was a large enough mother cat to carry your grown cat, many (60-80%) of cats can be put into a state that you can do most anything to them.

Here's an article on what they are calling "Clipnosis":

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/vetmed/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/650761

This article referenced Ohio State U.'s studies and papers on this way of restraining cats.

Many vet techs will do this manually. However, this almost always means it takes two people.

You can use a clip or two, and the effect is almost as effective as the technician's grip. You can use 2" binder clips--you'll need at least two--maybe even three. Read the study--they show that this pressure does not hurt or bruise the cat. If it works, you can buy clips especially designed at:

http://www.ourpets.com

Please note that you must start with a calm cat and get the clips on without unduly disturbing the calm. Then just be careful to keep calm and avoid loud noises that might bring the cat out of this state.

Some cats almost become catatonic--almost. Others just become much easier to handle. And some it doesn't work on at all.

I am just a happy user of this technique. It works on my mongrel cat and my F6 Savannah female. Haven't tried it on my F2 yet--only had him a month, and I'm on a road trip, otherwise I'd try it now.

I hope this helps.