The more times you do it the less difficult it gets.

The area should be bright as possible or you can use a flashlight.

The best time is upon being awakened from a nap (the cat, not you).
Soothe the cat during the process.

Safety glasses might be a good idea until the experience becomes
familiar.

I sit on my cat with his hindquarters under my butt and his head at
about my knees. That prevents him from scooting away.

Maybe the two most useful bits of information are that it will
become easier over time and that waking her up from a nap is the
best time to do it.

The first time, do one claw from each paw.

Sometimes I just clip the claws that are longer than the rest, to
even them out.

Being able to clip a cats claws is an effective treatment for a
variety of problems. And like you say, declawing is out of the
question. Claws are an essential part of a cat. If a person can't
handle claws, he (or she) should not get a cat unless it is an
unfortunate already declawed cat like from a shelter.

Good luck.

Re claw trimming. We have always trimmed our cats claws, it is not as
difficult as it sounds unless your cat is stressed. There are web sites you
can look at with video to show you how. With Phoenix, all we do is hold him
on a lap and he's quite happy. With Memphis, we lay him on a bean bag and
use as much body cover as necessary to hold him still, sometimes he
wriggles, sometimes not. Gentle pressure on the toes will extend the claw.
Introduce it gradually and offer treats  and cuddles after.

good luck!

Yes, this is normal kitty maintenance. It's not difficult to do if the cat
is cooperative. It may take a little time for the cat to get used to having
this done. Play with kitties paws when your petting her to get her used to
having the paws handled. Then when you clip the claws do as many as she'll
tolerate at one time. Even if it's only one or two claws at first no
problem. Just go back later and get another claw or two until they are all
done. With many cats they get used to it in time and will sit quietly while
this is done. There are some who are more of a problem and then you may want
to have someone at the vet's office do them or take kitty to a groomer.

W

The quick is the vein that goes into the nail. You don't want to trim the
nails that far anyway; you just want to cut off the "hook" about half way. I
just use regular nail clippers. But I do need someone to hold my cat because
she isn't cooperative. (Although she will cooperate every day for her
subcutaneous fluids; she has chronic renal failure.)

Hi,

My two cats let me do that more or less effortlessly, a few weeks after
I got one of them from a shelter (he was only 20-30 days old) I took it
to the vet and asked the nurse to clip his nails for me, she bled 3 of
them, after that I decided to do it myself since I was going to be much
more careful then she was despite me being a newbie at owning cats.

I second the opinion to do it right after they wake up, also I want to
add that there are special safety clippers that have a metal "spoon"
right after the blade that prevents you from clipping too much. (if the
claws are big enough in the first place)

If you look carefully, you can see that there is a pink part and a
white/milky part on the claw, you don't want to cut into the pink part.

--
Chris

There are a lot of good articles on the 'net about this.

Here is one:

http://maxshouse.com/Claw%20Trimming.htm

I've been clipping cat's nails for years without a problem. Some cats
are better behaved than others when doing this.

With my cat, I flip her over so she lays on her back... rub her tummy a
bit. She relaxes and usually starts to purr, then I start clipping. No
fussing or squirming on her part.

BTW, you are *always* better to cut less off than too much.

But some Kwip Stop powder -

hopefully you will never need it - but in the event you accidentally
clip to close and kitty bleeds you will need this powder to stop the
bleeding.