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We bought a runner some time back and just took it out of storage and laid it in the sunroom where the kitties spend much of their time. It's one of those popular in Victorian times made in India. It' s not looped and there are knotted strings on the ends. Very pretty. My husband and I were sitting enjoying cold sodas when Zebulon came sauntering in. He lay down on it and started to do the one-arm drag and two of his claws became caught! My heart is still racing. He tried to pull his claws free and was soon screaming in fear and pain. All it did was twist his toes. His claws wouldn't come free. OMG! We both jumped up and tried to turn the runner so he could free himself from another angle... he could not. I've never in my life even heard of something like this. I grabbed his scruff and with my other hand freed one claw at a time. How could they have become caught? Meanwhile he's screaming and crying in pain. His little toes were so badly twisted. After freeing him he ran for his life and hid in the hall. He finally let me examine his paw and it looks fine, nothing dislocated.
We picked up the beautiful runner and tossed it out the door. My husband can use it in his work shop.
Poor baby! Thanks for the heads up, I would never have thought of it.
It never occurred to us that a cat could get it's claws stuck in any kind of carpet. I can't understand how it happened. Especially that kind of carpet with no loops.
I dunno, Amber's gotten a claw stuck in various kinds of things over the years. It is extremely uncomfortable to watch and try to deal with, as the cat can't understand that she needs to get back closer to it in order to get free. All she wants to do obviously is run away from it as fast as possible by that point. But from what I can tell it looks and sounds worse than what it really is. Sometimes the offending object has been something she can drag with her. Other times she's been stuck. I can't remember the materials though, just that they've been at least a few different things, including, I think, some kind of carpet/rug/whatever.
When I used to live in a mobile home the furnace was out in the hallway. It had vents across front and my kitty Little Bit would strech (sp) his paws up the side and one time got his claw caught.
He was in a lot of pain until I got there to help him. He never did that again but I covered it anyway.
I dunno, Amber's gotten a claw stuck in various kinds of things over the years. It is extremely uncomfortable to watch and try to deal with, as the cat can't understand that she needs to get back closer to it in order to get free. All she wants to do obviously is run away from it as fast as possible by that point. But from what I can tell it looks and sounds worse than what it really is. Sometimes the offending object has been something she can drag with her. Other times she's been stuck. I can't remember the materials though, just that they've been at least a few different things, including, I think, some kind of carpet/rug/whatever.
I know what you mean. He panicked when he realized he couldn't pull back and free the claw. I don't think he would have freed himself alone in any case. It took a lot of pressure to get his claws out of the densely packed weave and backing. I think when he turned and his two toes twisted, that's what caused the pain and crying out. I found the clipper a few minutes ago. When hubby gets back we'll clip his claws. It's a two person job.
Sounds like a freak accident. I've had one of those in the hall for 20 years, and none of my cats have ever had that happen.
I believe it was a freak accident also. I had a large 10' X 12' Indian carpet in another place where I lived and none of the cats of those days ever got caught. His claws had to be pushed forward to be backed out and freed. Hard to explain. I don't think a cat can do that on their own.
When I used to live in a mobile home the furnace was out in the hallway. It had vents across front and my kitty Little Bit would strech (sp) his paws up the side and one time got his claw caught.
He was in a lot of pain until I got there to help him. He never did that again but I covered it anyway.
I'm sure just like dogs, they can rip a claw out in their struggles. I had a poodle that got her claw caught and did rip her claw out. God only knows what she went through there alone in the house. When I got home there was blood from one end of the house to the other. It wouldn't stop bleeding. Fortunately the place I worked was still open so I rushed her there. They had to cauterize it with an electric cautery to stop the bleeding. The claw never grew back.
Knowing these things can happen is one reason we would never go away and leave the cats overnight or for a weekend. What would Zebulon have done had we not been both sitting right there?
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My heart is still racing. He tried to pull his claws free and was soon screaming in fear and pain. All it did was twist his toes. His claws wouldn't come free. 
OMG! We both jumped up and tried to turn the runner so he could free himself from another angle... he could not. I've never in my life even heard of something like this. I grabbed his scruff and with my other hand freed one claw at a time. How could they have become caught? Meanwhile he's screaming and crying in pain. His little toes were so badly twisted. 
After freeing him he ran for his life and hid in the hall. He finally let me examine his paw and it looks fine, nothing dislocated. 
