very thick claws?

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Elizabeth Blake - 22 Mar 2005 05:56 GMT

I picked Tiger (almost 15) just before and had her laying on her back in my
lap. I looked at one of her front paws, and her claws (the three middle
ones) were really big & thick. They were very curved and looked like they
were digging into her pads. After a minute or two of freaking, I decided to
try to cl;ip her claws. She didn't mind me playing with her paws and I
really had to manipulate them in order to move the tip of the claw away from
the pad. I clipped them enough so that they didn't look like they were
reaching the pads. The claws on her other paw were all normal looking.
That was about an hour ago and now one claw that I clipped looks normal - a
nice thin nail.

As I was clipping some of the claw seemed to flake off. Is this caused by
the sheaths not coming off? I'm afraid to pick at them because I don't want
to hurt her. Is there anything I can do to cause her to shed them? Her
scratching activity these days is mostly limited to her cardboard Cosmic
Catrnip Alpine scratcher, which she loves and uses daily.

--
Liz

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Karen - 22 Mar 2005 06:11 GMT

> I picked Tiger (almost 15) just before and had her laying on her back in my
> lap. I looked at one of her front paws, and her claws (the three middle
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> --
> Liz

Yeah, when they get older that can happen. Clipping them regularly will help
that shed off and keep them from growing into the pad. That happened to an
older cat of mine once and I was SO ashamed for not having noticed earlier
(it just didn't occur to me. She was our big outdoor hunter type. I was also
just a teen and didn't think about possible "old" problems.) I think you
just need to keep an eye on them and help her out from time to time.

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Brandy?Alexandre - 22 Mar 2005 19:03 GMT

Karen <kchuplis@alltel.net> wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:

> Yeah, when they get older that can happen. Clipping them regularly
> will help that shed off and keep them from growing into the pad.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> think about possible "old" problems.) I think you just need to
> keep an eye on them and help her out from time to time.

I notice thick claws on Kami's back paws, but they never grow out of
control because she bites her toenails while watching television. A
little absent minded habit she has. LOL!

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Brandy??Alexandre?
http://www.swydm.com/?refer=BrandyAlx
Well, would you?

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Elizabeth Blake - 22 Mar 2005 19:19 GMT

> Yeah, when they get older that can happen. Clipping them regularly will help
> that shed off and keep them from growing into the pad. That happened to an
> older cat of mine once and I was SO ashamed for not having noticed earlier
> (it just didn't occur to me. She was our big outdoor hunter type. I was also
> just a teen and didn't think about possible "old" problems.) I think you
> just need to keep an eye on them and help her out from time to time.

Tiger hates laying on her back so I don't often do that to her. I use a
regular (human) nail clipper to trim their nails, and lost it awhile ago. I
just bought a new one so I picked Tiger up. I couldn't believe that she was
walking around like nothing was wrong. I changed the cardboard insert in
the Alpine scratcher so she'd have a nice new surface to scratch. After I
clipped the claws as well as I could last night, she was using the scratcher
and I saw some nail flakes on the cardboard when she was done. I think I
may move the sisal post into the kitchen (her favorite hangout) for awhile,
to encourage her to use that as well. I'll have to make sure I check her
paws on a weekly basis now.

--
Liz

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-L. - 23 Mar 2005 07:53 GMT

> I picked Tiger (almost 15) just before and had her laying on her back in my
> lap. I looked at one of her front paws, and her claws (the three middle
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> As I was clipping some of the claw seemed to flake off. Is this caused by
> the sheaths not coming off?

Yes.

> I'm afraid to pick at them because I don't want
> to hurt her. Is there anything I can do to cause her to shed them? Her
> scratching activity these days is mostly limited to her cardboard Cosmic
> Catrnip Alpine scratcher, which she loves and uses daily.

Clip them more regularly, and she will scratch to shed the sheaths. As
some cats age, their nails tend to thicken and the sheaths aren't as
readily shed.

In the future, if you need to clip a claw that has grown around almost
into the pad, just clip it in the center with a scissor-type nail
clipper. The sheath will fall off and expose the new nail which can
then be easily clipped as well.

HTH,
-L.

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