How to Restrain a Cat to Clip Nails

Cats are self-independent species who don’t like to be groomed by anyone even their parents. If you are a cat parent, you might know how much cats hate to be bathed, shaved, or trim their nails. One of the biggest challenges for cat parents is to groom their cats as they get super aggressive when anything is done against their nature.

Taking your cat to a vet for clipping is always a sign of relief for you, but not for your cats. Cats are not social, and they do not like interacting with anyone other than the people they live with. Visiting a vet always means stress for your cat, which is something that you should avoid as cat stress is fatal for them.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t take your cat to the vet if she is ill, but you can avoid the number of visits by grooming your cat at home. One of the biggest grooming challenges is to declaw a cat’s sharp nails that they don’t want to be cut.

Therefore, in this article, I will discuss how you can adapt to restrain your cat from clipping nails. The ways are based on my personal experience of dealing with cats, and these are the best pieces of advice. A few parents like me also have dogs at home and may think of using the same clipper for both pets. Such parents are advised to read this before using dog clippers on cats.

Being a caring mother or father, you may not be willing to irritate a cat with less effective clippers that can harm the cat too. Vets always recommend a sharp and safe clipper. I have written a detailed review on the best cat nail clippers here that you can choose from.

Why Nail Clipping is Important

Nail clipping is very important for your cat’s health as well as for your furniture and flooring. Cat’s big nails are too dangerous for them, and you shouldn’t let them grow as your cat might hurt herself along with hurting you or destroying your home furniture, flooring, or other accessories.

You might have noticed how cats scratch themselves. If their nails are big, they might strike themselves hard, and if the wound gets bigger, your cat may get in pain.

Also, when you play with your cat, they usually unintentionally grab your hands. If their claws are unclipped, you might get injured. Similarly, the habit of cats scratching their nails will destroy all your furniture, flooring, and other wooden items at home, which is definitely not what you would even want to see in your imagination.

Different Ways to Restrain your Cat

Always remember; Don’t do such things that can put your cat under stress or depression. Help your cats to cure depression with this guide. Please give them a peaceful environment and then start any of the activities they do not like. Restraining your cat to clip nails is essential and does not mean you are all injured in the process of clipping your cat’s nails.

Trust me; you can do cat’s nail clipping with less drama. All you need is a proper restrain method for your cat, and you can pass this big test after every few weeks. Believe me; this will save you from scratches, hide and seek, and running all around the house.

Towel Wrap your Cat

One of the ideal ways to restrain your cat from clipping her nails is to towel wrap your cat. This method is one of the most common methods that every cat parent has been using. The method not only helps in declawing a cat’s nails, but it is also safer for you.

The towel wrap method is the trickiest method and requires some practice and skills to ace the process of wrapping your cat successfully.

You need to ensure that your cat is familiar with the towel, and if not, spend some days with your cat on the towel and offer her food and her favorite treats so that she can know that this towel is not a sign of any danger.

Once your cat is familiar with the towel, you can begin the clipping session. Call your cat on the towel, get her favorite treats and firstly, wrap the right side of the towel. Once it is done, hold the left side, which should be the longest, and wrap your cat tightly, not too tightly that her neck chokes.

Once your cat is accurately wrapped, pet her a bit so that she does not get into any panic. Gently remove the towel from one paw and cut the nails while other paws are under the towel. In this manner, you can cut all the claws easily and without putting your cat under any stress.

Cats’ attitudes differ from one another. There is a possibility that after a while, your cat may leave no stone unturned to stop you from declawing her nails. If you have been experiencing something like that, give your cat a break. You can cut the claws in two days but don’t put your cat under any stress as that may give you an adamant time.

Get another Person’s Help

Two is always better than one. Getting the help of another person for clipping your cat’s nails can be a wiser decision. Ensure that your cat is familiar with the other person as otherwise, she will be stressed.

With the help of another person, cat clipping can become easier. One can hold the cat, bear her anger, and calm her down, while the other can easily clip the nails. In this manner, cat clipping can be done quickly and easily.

Declaw in a Stress-Free Environment

No matter which technique you choose to declaw your cat’s nails, always ensure that the environment is stress-free. Choose a place your cat is familiar with and spend most of her time there. Also, please make sure that there are no loud voices as that may cause stress to your cat.

If you will be declawing your cat’s nails for the first time, it is important not to be in a panic. Cats, just like other animals, understand what’s going on in a human’s mind, and if you are in a panic, your cat will automatically start panicking.

Conclusion

In my personal experience, cat clipping is tough but not impossible. Many owners do it with human clippers but these two cat nail clipping methods are highly effective and did wonder for me. Also, ensure that the environment is pleasant for my cat. Be confident and start declawing the nails, and you will succeed.