GUÍA PRÁCTICA para CORTARLE LAS UÑAS A TU GATO sin estrés 😻✂️💅 Evita estos errores

Surely the thing you like least about living with your cat is when it's time to cut its nails. But don't worry, because today I'm going to show you how to do it the easiest way. Hi, I'm Carlos, I'm a veterinarian and this is Alcatofo. Welcome to the Happy Pets and Families channel. Everyone asks themselves the same question when they start living with a cat. Hey, do I have to cut my feline companion's nails? The truth is that you don't have to cut their nails drastically. That is very short. We don't have to do that like we people do with our own nails. With our cats, nail care is a little different because for them, their nails have a very important function in their daily lives, which is marking. If our cat can't use their nails, they're going to end up frustrated. So let me tell you right away that I am completely against these colored silicone covers and also against the barbarity that was done a few years ago, at least here in Spain, which was declawing the surgical removal of the nails. Fortunately, that is now prohibited. Here, the issue of trimming our cats nails is not to stop them from scratching our sofa or climbing our curtains, but because in our home, since it is not as wild an environment as the natural world, they wear down their nails much less. When do we know that it is the right time to trim your cat's nails? First, if you notice that your cat is resting with its paws like this and the tips are sticking out. Second, if you notice that lately it gets a little stuck, well, I don't know, on a carpet, on the sofa, or on the blanket it sleeps on. This can become very uncomfortable in its day to day life. Third, if you notice that your cat has been using the scratching posts less lately, or that its paws are a little sore, it may indicate that your cat is getting older and needs you to check its nails more frequently. Fourth, if you live in a house with, for example, wooden floors, you may hear that your cat sometimes walks as if it were wearing heels because you can hear its claws when it walks. This is an indication that the size of its nails may be bothering your cat. So in these cases, it is completely justified to trim the tips of its nails a little. It is time to trim them. How should you do it? First of all, I have to tell you that the front nails tend to grow a little longer than the back nails and they are also usually much sharper. So we always have to pay a little more attention to the paws than to the back paws. You should know that the front paws have five nails and the back paws only four. They have a small one on the inside, which is the thumb, and then two, three and four fingers, five in total. And on the back legs, which are perhaps a little less touchable, they don't have a thumb, so they have 1, 2, 3, 3 and 4 fingers. As you have noticed, cat's nails are retractable. That is, they come out of the paw if you press lightly on the pad. So the most important thing is that we should only cut the tips of the nails when they are very large. The nail has a pink part inside that the cat can see very well, which we should never touch with the nail clippers. This is what some people call the pulp, and it contains the blood vessels and nerves of the nail. If you touch it with the nail clippers, it will hurt your cat a lot. And most importantly, it will start to bleed. The nails on the front paws grow about twice as fast as the ones on the back paws, which is why most of the time you'll only have to cut the ones on the hands and front paws. In fact, I don't usually touch the nails on my cat's back paws very much. You just have to use nail clippers specifically for cats. The ones for people won't work, and neither will the scissors you have lying around the house. These nail clippers have this typical pliers shape. They're not very big. The ones for dogs are quite a bit bigger. And that's enough to trim all their nails. Okay, now two foolproof tricks for trimming your cat's nails without causing any trouble. The first one is to catch your cat dozing off on the couch. You know that at this point you can go over, pet them a little and take the opportunity to trim their nails. Here's the cat, completely relaxed after their nap. Let's grab the nail clippers and start with the front paws. Let's gently squeeze the plantar pads under the toes so that the nail comes out. And that way we can see which ones need more trimming. Let's trim all the toes without forgetting the thumb, as I told you before.

How are you doing so well? This is perhaps the one that is most difficult to trim because of its position, but it is the most important because our cat wears it out much less. Very good, this kitty. Now let's move on to the other hand. Come on.

And we'll repeat the operation. Let's trim little by little, always taking into account not reaching the pink part. We only need to trim the tip. Some will need more trimming than others.

Others a little more. Very good.

But as you can see, in any case, it's something very subtle. And we finish with the thumb. And now let's go to the hind.

Legs, the back ones too.

Our cats like us less to touch this area of their body, so it requires a little more patience. But as I said many times it's not even necessary to trim all the nails because they grow much less. Very good. We finished with one. But even if we don't have to trim them all, we also have to check the other paw and all its little toes. And now let's go to the last one in the back. That is down here. Here. The cat resists a little, but he quickly understands that this is nothing, that we will finish it in a moment.

That's not necessary for the last one.

I check all his little nails. He is also checking them at the moment. And I only trim the ones that need it. Good. Right.

And with that we are finished. Do you see how stressful it is? There you go. Let's go back to sleeping.

We pet him a little so that the activity is pleasant for him. If you like your cat, you can give him a small treat. Although for the cat, the treat is the petting. And here you have the result. As you can see, there is very little that needs to be trimmed, only the tip. And the second trick is cooperative care. I didn't make this up. It's being developed at the ethology unit at the University of California, Los Angeles, and it can give very good results, especially with kittens that aren't very confident or that are a bit evasive and don't let themselves be handled. What does it consist of? Well, it's a learning process, and therefore it's going to be a bit slower, but it will gradually get your cat involved in this task of self care or cat care. To do this, you need a quiet environment and also a mat or carpet that stands out from the floor. The first few times, you need your cat to associate that mat with a positive association. How are we going to do this? Well, with treats, of course. We'll sit on the carpet, wait for our cat to approach. Okay? And when it puts both paws on the mat at that moment, we'll give it a treat.

Very good.

Look, little by little, the cat will internalize the mat with the treat and therefore won't be afraid of it at all. In fact, it will want to come to you voluntarily. Once we have repeated this for Several days. The next time the cat puts both paws on the mat, we will cut one nail, just one, and repeat. We will give it a treat, and the next day we will cut another one and the next one. In the end, it will take about 10 days to fix the front paws. But the cat will gradually learn that this activity does not cause it any harm. Will this always be repeated like this? No, probably. As the cat internalizes that nail clipping is not a big deal. Over time, we will be able to do more than one nail at a time until it associates the mat with the tree. With the fact that nothing happens to the nails, we can even cut them all at once. So if this is the method you have chosen, tell me right now in the comments if you think this will work well. Very good. Well, now you know how you can trim your cat's nails, how you can fix them if they need it. But there are also some people who can make some mistakes, which is why I'm going to tell you about them so that you don't make them. The most important one is starting to cut too quickly. If you've noticed, with the nail clipper, I first take out the little nail, look at it carefully, see that the nail clipper is positioned correctly, that I haven't gone too far back, and then I cut right. Then if you don't pay attention, if we don't have that patience, you could end up getting to the pink part and hurting your cat. So if I tell you to say goodbye, make sure your cat understands that nail trimming is a pleasant and relaxing moment. Because of course, if it's already hurt, logically it won't want us to do it again. Also, doing it this way, in a slow and relaxed way helps reduce stress. Another very important mistake is forcing your cat. If you see that at that moment, for whatever reason, your cat doesn't like it, wants to move, wants to get up, don't worry, okay? We've already trimmed a couple of them. We'll do it later or we'll continue it during the next nap. You don't have to finish everything right away. Forcing things will only make the experience traumatic. And the following times they'll leave it even less. Third mistake, not having the right tools. Human nail clippers can splinter our feline companions nails. And if they splinter, they'll be more fragile, and it's possible that they'll hurt themselves the next day when they go to mark or scratch on their scratching post or tree. Fourth mistake is not rewarding your feline companion, especially the first few times, if you see that they're a little reluctant, surely with a little food in between, they'll leave it much better. The fifth mistake is ignoring your feline companion's signs of stress. If your cat starts growling, starts flattening their ears, or you see that they don't want to be there, well, as I said, it's better to leave them alone and avoid going through that mess. Another very important mistake, and there are already six, is wanting to use a file on your cat, even if you see it on the Internet, because you say, hey, look, it's going to be easier, huh? It's less annoying for the cat. To me, it's something you shouldn't even consider. It's a much slower operation, and in the end, you're going to end up bothering your cat for much longer. Another very common mistake is nothing. If my cat has scratching posts at home and is already climbing its tree, I don't even need to look at its nails. If you never check your cat's nails, they may sometimes start to grow more than they should, especially when it gets older and reduces its daily scratching or marking activities. And in the end, we could have a problem because you haven't accustomed your feline companion to ever looking at its nails, to checking them, and therefore that situation will be completely new when the cat is much older and much more stressful. On the other hand, I'm sure that during your cat's younger years, when he climbs and scratches a lot and everything, all that stuff you want, you'll have to trim his nails at some point. As you can see, trimming your cat's nails doesn't have to be the hell you probably have in your head, or that if you've ever experienced it with a cat, you know from your own experience, it just requires a little patience, a little learning on your cat's part, and on your part, too. The more you do it, the more trained your eye will be, the easier it will be for you, and the whole process will probably take less time. Also, if your cat associates it with something pleasurable, with treats, with petting, with physical contact, which our cats usually love, it's very possible that for him, it's the most normal thing in the world and a moment to be with you and strengthen your bond. And now someone will tell me, oh, the cat is so good. Well, yeah, he's a pretty good cat. But you're also assuming that the first time we cut his nails, he also behaved like the video you just saw, right? This is all the result of A learning process. We've been training him little by little, and for him right now it's part of a routine at home. And now it's your turn. Tell me in the comments if your cat is one of those who lets us cut his nails without any problem, or one of those who makes a little drama. And if you've implemented either of these two systems, tell me if it worked for you. Come on. I want to find out. Also, if you like the video, give it a like, share it with everyone and also subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. If you want to support us a lot, a lot. Give us a super thank you. It really helps us keep making videos. And we have a secondary channel here on YouTube called Questions and Answers from a Veterinarian. Check it out. Don't leave yet because we have to get to know you. This beautiful little one is called Sabrina. And when they sent us the photo, she was going to be a year old. She lives with her human companion, Ceci Bautista. And here we have Miru and Kira, who live in Cali, Colombia, with their human companion, Joan Sebastian. To say goodbye, we have this little baby who, when they sent us the photo, was two months old. He is very happy and playful. His name is Moncho and he greets us with his human companion, Michelle from Uruguay. Thank you very much for following the channel. Happy pets and families and here with the sleepy little cat. I'll see you in the next video. If there is something dangerous about a cat, that's it. If there is something. If there is something dangerous about a cat, that's it. Oh, well, how cute. People must think of you. And it's normal. If you see your cat with those claws, you say, oh my God, my.

Kitty is eating, eating. Oh, he's not recording. Oh, no. Well, he hasn't recorded from the beginning. Well, let's repeat for a while. I need you again. Okay, well, what do you want me to say? Yes, it's better to say things before we say them, right? Because we're going to end up in nothing. Because, you know, this video is short. Oh, the process is pretty, pretty simple. It only requires a. No, no, no, no. Pretty, pretty simple, right?

Okay. As you can see, cutting the nails is nothing to do with it. As you can see. Hell no. And now a lot of people will tell me the cat is just so good. Well, of course I know the cat is so good, but. No, no, no. But it just tires me out when people tell me that he likes the ball better.

We need to buy him more feeders. Yes, of course. And the automatic feeder for my Aunt Rita.