Top Guide How to Use Cat Nail Clippers to Trim Cat’s Nails
It is good practice to trim your cat’s claws while they are young to get them used to it when they are grown up.
If you do, your cat will comfortably sit while you trim her finger, though some may require you to use some restraint.
Some other cats may grow up not liking their claws to be trimmed.
If you must restrain your cat, place your hand loosely over the neck and the bum of your cat. At the same time, holding on firmly to the clipper in your right hand.
Nail trimmers come in different styles, such as the scissors cut, guillotine type, and the normal fingernail clipper used by humans.
The most convenient ones to use for your cats are the fingernail clipper and guillotine type.
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Scissors-Type Trimmer
However, if your cat’s toenails are so long that they curve into circles, the scissors-type would be the most appropriate. If left unattended too long, claws could become toe pads.
If right-handed, you would have to firmly hold on to the trimmer.
To move the trimmer’s cutting blade, gently squeeze its handle with your hand closing around the clipper.
While trimming your pet’s nails, you will have one side of the clipper facing you and the other side facing your pet.
Squeezing the handles will lead to the blade sliding along the cat’s stationary ring.
Because of its retractile claws, you will have to be gentle while squeezing between the toe, the thumb, and the forefinger when exposing the claws.
It’s a lot easier to find a cat’s blood vessels and the nerves supplying the cat’s claws with blood. The cat’s quick, located at the base of its nails, is very visible for lightly colored cats.
The claws must be cut within 2 millimeters of the cat’s quick.
Cutting into the cat’s quick may result in bleeding of the claw and the cat experiencing pains. That’s why you out to cautious and ensure to stick by the 2 millimeters distance.
It is best to cut the nail from the top to the bottom while placing the clipper perpendicularly.With just one cut to each nail, you should be able to trim the lightly colored claws.
You should avoid cutting the nails from one side to the other because this would lead to the nails’ crushing and will most likely result in splinter.
The use of sharp trimmers is advisable because you get very clean cuts from sharper trimmers. After clipping, use a nail file to smoothen the edges of your cat’s nails.
Guillotine Type Trimmer
If you choose to use the guillotine type for trimming, have the cutting blade’s side facing you instead of your cat. You can have the other side of the trimmer face your cat instead.
Remember that the cutting is done from top to bottom and not from one side to the other.
The trimming is done by placing the nail in the trimmer’s hole and gently squeezing its handles.
You can position the trimmer’s handles to face the floor as you make advances with the trimming.
However, you can also hold the trimmer’s handles in a position facing up to relax your hands.
When the blades become too blunt to trimming, you can have them replaced with new ones.
A note of warning with the way you hold the trimmer. Using the trimmer while the screws are facing you, the blades will cut closer to your cat’s quick. The chance of cutting into its quick is less likely when cutting with the blades facing you.
Dew Claw
By paying close attention when cutting, you should be able to notice two nails on either side of your cat’s feet called dewclaws. These also need to be trimmed because they could grow into circles if they are frequently trimmed.
Whether you choose to hold the trimmer’s handles facing up or down, it all depends on your preference. The important thing is cutting your cat’s dew claw from top to bottom.
If, after cutting, you notice that a clawis cut shorter than it should have been, a styptic pencil containing silver nitrate can be used to prevent the blood flow. However, some animals resist the use of styptic pencil more than cutting off their claws.
You will have to hold the stick’s black end to the nail while rotating it gently to ease the bleeding.
This should stop the bleeding within 5 minutes, even without additional treatment.
Sudarsan Chakraborty is a professional Blogger and blog writer. He lives and breathes in the blogging industry. He regularly writes on Widetopics to keep all the readers updated with the latest facts on wide range of topics.
