Cat Chat Feline Forum

Tobias' fur smells of poo. When I took him to get his 2nd vac. today, the vet could smell it too and thought he'd done a poo in the carrier

I really want to wash him but Im so nervous. I have yet to trim his nails but I intend to - God knows how! Its difficult for me because I live alone so I have no one to hold him down.

Any advise on the best way to trim a cats nails/ then wash/bathe them?

personally I wouldn't try to wash him - pet wipes should remove the source of the offending smell, and as they are used in a stroking motion he should be fine with you using them

to cut the front claws, I have found the scissor type clippers easy to use - if you get him when he's sleepy and somewhere accessible like your bed, you may find he will stretch out his claws when you press lightly on his paws - don't try to clip more than he'll tolerate at a time, so keep a note of which ones you've done

cutting back claws on more powerful back legs is much more difficult but those claws are less likely to get overgrown enough to cause problems

on the other hand, getting them done at the vets can be fairly cheap, as a vet nurse usually does it, and they have the experience to cut them much shorter than you'll probably dare to if you're anything like me

Kay wrote:personally I wouldn't try to wash him - pet wipes should remove the source of the offending smell, and as they are used in a stroking motion he should be fine with you using them

to cut the front claws, I have found the scissor type clippers easy to use - if you get him when he's sleepy and somewhere accessible like your bed, you may find he will stretch out his claws when you press lightly on his paws - don't try to clip more than he'll tolerate at a time, so keep a note of which ones you've done

cutting back claws on more powerful back legs is much more difficult but those claws are less likely to get overgrown enough to cause problems

on the other hand, getting them done at the vets can be fairly cheap, as a vet nurse usually does it, and they have the experience to cut them much shorter than you'll probably dare to if you're anything like me

Cheers Kay.

I bought some clippers so I would like to make good use of them LOL. I'll give it a go and if not, I'll resort to a vet.

On a side note, I just found this hilarious YT video hahahaha!
Kitten Refuses to Leave Warm Bath

I really would advise getting a nurse to show you the first time. If you cut them too short, you will cut into nerves, which will be very painful and will bleed. I have trimmed a bit off the tip of claws of my elderly cats, but the nurses do a much better job. I think I was charged £8

MarkB wrote:I really would advise getting a nurse to show you the first time. If you cut them too short, you will cut into nerves, which will be very painful and will bleed. I have trimmed a bit off the tip of claws of my elderly cats, but the nurses do a much better job. I think I was charged £8

Thank you so much for the info! I will call the vets tomorrow and see how much they charge

Yes, totally agree with Mark. Once you know what you're doing then clipping cat claws (provided the cat is willing) is a very easy thing to do, but as Mark says - it can go badly wrong.

Re the pet wipes, what I usually use on my cats is the new born baby water based baby wipes... they seem to work as well and probably cheaper

Thanks guys! I have booked him in for tomorrow noon and they only charge £6.77!!!

I'll also invest in some wipes

excellent - that's not a bad price at all. And once they've shown you, you should hopefully be OK managing on your own.

Oh ive also heared horror stories of people cutting the claws too short and causing agony for the cat. I take mine to the vet. He only charges 6 pounds and he does it so quickly and professionally and he only needs them doing about every 2 or 3 months.

The best part about having them done by a nurse is that they don't just clip the ends off, they get the outer sheath off too, which is what cat do naturally. As cats get older, they often have trouble retracting their claws because the outer sheath builds up.