Update: Zebulon claw trimming (stomach, belly, sleeping, dogs)

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This picking him up and fondling his toes and claws isn't working out at all. The first days were OK but now Zebulon wont let my husband near him nor does he solicit petting from my husband anymore. He spends most of his time trying to avoid being where my husband is. My husband feels very bad about this whole deal. We don't know what else to try.............

[Kittymom4]

Well at the sake of being ignorant and possibly making you mad - I'm not insinuating you don't know how or anything like that ...

But are you sure that your / your husband are being gentle enough and there is no possibility that when you're extracting the claws (not trimming) that you could be causing any discomfort?

Now, believe me I KNOW that some cats are just drama queens - I have one. If you look at her or walk within four feet of her she screams like your hacking off a leg!

But something just isn't adding up here.

I have one that is very difficult to trim - Grace aka the drama queen. It takes two of us and I always dread it. She screams and wails. My husbands picks her up from behind and he can't sit down with her. I just grab a foot mid air and nip away as fast as I can while being sure not to quick her. It's nerve racking at it's best. She's five and it's always the same But Grace is kind of a touch me not anyway we can NEVER pick her up and she barely sits in your lap anyway. She runs if my hubby comes down the hall at her to fast

Zeb may just be like that. It's something you'll all just have to learn to deal with I'm so sorry. It's no fun. But once you've crossed off all the other things that you're not in any way hurting him - there could be nothing possible wrong like a nail fungus or anything weird. Then it just is what it is.

Even IF you were to consider having the front de claw done - you would still have to trim the back claws. This what we have to do with Grace as she is front de clawed ( I know I know - but it was done a long time ago before I knew better and I was young and stupid. I would never ever do it now)

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Originally Posted by Kittymom4

Well at the sake of being ignorant and possibly making you mad - I'm not insinuating you don't know how or anything like that ...

But are you sure that your / your husband are being gentle enough and there is no possibility that when you're extracting the claws (not trimming) that you could be causing any discomfort?

I'm sure. Among other things, his claws are thick and don't retract all the way like most cat's claws. They're very easy to expose. It's not the claw clipping we're realizing,...it's the being picked up. He's always hated being picked up from the day I brought him home. And we don't pick him up by the scruff. He's picked up under the chest and supported under the rump.

Now, believe me I KNOW that some cats are just drama queens - I have one. If you look at her or walk within four feet of her she screams like your hacking off a leg!

But something just isn't adding up here.

Oh it's adding up with Zeb alright. Cats are smart and crafty and have good memories. Zeb is wise enough to avoid my husband now, knowing he may pick him up. He makes sure he's far enough away that DH can't touch him. Oddly enough, once he was picked up, he didn't mind me fondling his paws and gently squeezing out the claws. This is the clue that makes us suspect it's not the claw trimming but the being picked up he hates. But then, even if he's sleeping all I have to do is touch his paw and he's gone like a bat out of hell. Tomorrow I'll have to pick him up and hand him to DH because his claws already need to be trimmed. It's possible someone did hurt him trimming his claws before I got him. He was 4.5 months old and his claws were trimmed when I got him. His first trip to the vet got him another claw trim. He can't tell me why he's this way.

I have one that is very difficult to trim - Grace aka the drama queen. It takes two of us and I always dread it. She screams and wails. My husbands picks her up from behind and he can't sit down with her. I just grab a foot mid air and nip away as fast as I can while being sure not to quick her. It's nerve racking at it's best. She's five and it's always the same But Grace is kind of a touch me not anyway we can NEVER pick her up and she barely sits in your lap anyway. She runs if my hubby comes down the hall at her to fast

How would he pick her up if she wouldn't let him near her? How does he get her from behind without her seeing him? Zeb will not allow my husband near enough to touch him now - from any side. Strangely enough, this afternoon DH was sitting in the sunroom taking a break and Zeb went over to him and did the roll-over belly-up act for a chin rub. He let DH rub his chin but as soon as DH went to stand up.... Zeb was gone into the tangle of tropical plants now indoors for the winter.

Zeb may just be like that. It's something you'll all just have to learn to deal with I'm so sorry. It's no fun. But once you've crossed off all the other things that you're not in any way hurting him - there could be nothing possible wrong like a nail fungus or anything weird. Then it just is what it is.

Even IF you were to consider having the front de claw done - you would still have to trim the back claws. This what we have to do with Grace as she is front de clawed ( I know I know - but it was done a long time ago before I knew better and I was young and stupid. I would never ever do it now)

Zeb will never have to endure being de-clawed as long as we can somehow manage to get his claws trimmed. He so loves to climb his tall cat trees. He's learned how to back down them as well as go up them. He'd miss his claws terribly. And the memory of poor Abby (I was once young and stupid too ) makes me all the more determined to get his claws done here at home.

Ya know, when we're camping or snow birding we set up a separate screenroom (see below) for us and the cats. The two girls lift their little front legs to be picked up and carried out there even though we chest lift them and support their rumps. They love to go outside to the screenroom. Zeb will cry and get frantic until we set his carrier on the floor in the RV and let him RIDE the 12' or so to the screen room. This last camping trip we chased him around the house when I thought of his carrier. I went and got it and set it on he floor. He went right in from behind the sofa and we loaded him in the van (tow vehicle).

In the pic below, taken last winter in FL, you can see Zeb's back just behind the blue carrier. Zephyr is on the mini-cat tree (to be replaced this winter with a larger better one). Phaedra is by the door in front. They stay out there for several hours and call us when they're ready to come in. Or, if we're out there with them in our comfy recliners, they'll stay until we're ready to go in.

They love to watch what's going in in the campgrounds, to watch dogs being walked by, to watch the ever present squirrels and birds and to greet people who walk up to the screenroom to see them and ask questions.

[ParallelJJCat]

Maybe I'm being dense...but have you tried NOT picking him up then? I don't pick either of the cats up to do trims. JJ sits in my lap and I cross my arm over his chest and pick up the opposite paw. Robin stays on the floor and I kind of kneel over her with my knees on either side. It helps to have another person scruffing or controlling the head...and of course a good light source is essential because things are harder to see.

Can I just add that I'm intensely jealous of your traveling life? I promise I'd make a very good kitty stand-in and be no trouble at all if you'd like to take me along

[Kittymom4]

Well the picking up of Grace is fun LOL. We have to get her at the right moment. If we are in the back bedroom / office then we shut the door and usually he scoops her up while she is lazing around on the cat tree. You kind of have to hit her before she knows what's coming. It's a terrible attack. Probably why she hates us and has trust issues LOL - but no - Grace really is all about the drama. She does sit with me some. But she Will NOT be picked up by choice. And she cackels and howles the whole time. The only good thing is she doesn't flail or wiggle.

If Zeb is a lap sitter possibly this is another option - or if he will let you start to trim even one nail here and there every day while he is laying in a favorite spot this may be a better more acceptable alternative to him.

I love the kitty tent and camping too! How wonderful for all of you to vacation together

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Originally Posted by ParallelJJCat

Maybe I'm being dense...but have you tried NOT picking him up then? I don't pick either of the cats up to do trims. JJ sits in my lap and I cross my arm over his chest and pick up the opposite paw.

Never happen with Zeb. That's the method I tried to use when we first got him. He struggles so hard there is no holding him on a lap unless he's properly scruffed. My husband just can't get the knack of proper scruffing. I can't do Zeb when he's napping either for as soon as I touch a paw, he's up and off in a flash. The method that worked for awhile was DH picking him up and scruffing him on the table... but here again Zeb isn't like most cats. Even scruffed, unless in the 2 point hold (scruffed and on side, plus tail against one hind leg being held) can still struggle. That's why this is becoming such a hassle we all dread. Zeb is as determined not to get his claws trimmed as we are to trim them. It's like a battle of the wills. I can try having DH secure him on the floor and see it that works but as you said, the light is poor and I can't get close enough to his paws to see the vein and nerve. My vision isn't what it once was, even with the bifocals. Now if only he'd get close enough for DH to grab him.

Robin stays on the floor and I kind of kneel over her with my knees on either side. It helps to have another person scruffing or controlling the head...and of course a good light source is essential because things are harder to see.

Can I just add that I'm intensely jealous of your traveling life? I promise I'd make a very good kitty stand-in and be no trouble at all if you'd like to take me along

Pack your bags and head on over...... the more the merrier.

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Originally Posted by Kittymom4

Well the picking up of Grace is fun LOL. We have to get her at the right moment. If we are in the back bedroom / office then we shut the door and usually he scoops her up while she is lazing around on the cat tree. You kind of have to hit her before she knows what's coming. It's a terrible attack. Probably why she hates us and has trust issues LOL - but no - Grace really is all about the drama. She does sit with me some. But she Will NOT be picked up by choice. And she cackels and howles the whole time. The only good thing is she doesn't flail or wiggle.

Then that's Zeb... the drama KING! He and Grace would make a good couple. You should hear him complain and whine and growl when his claws are trimmed. So far he hasn't tried to bite either one of us.

If Zeb is a lap sitter possibly this is another option - or if he will let you start to trim even one nail here and there every day while he is laying in a favorite spot this may be a better more acceptable alternative to him.

I love the kitty tent and camping too! How wonderful for all of you to vacation together

He's not a lap sitter anymore. He's too large. He has his special time with me at night when I'm reading in bed. He comes in and jumps on the bed, the same spot at the head of the bed every time. He walks around my head and gently steps on my stomach and chest. He always approaches from the right side. He does a minute of kneading, purrs and assumes the meat-loaf position, front paws tucked under while I pet him, rub his chin and tell him how much we love him and how handsome he is. He eats it up. This lasts for about 10 minutes, then he either sleeps next to me or finds somewhere off the bed to spend the night. Sometimes under the bed. Sometimes in the cat bed under the window. Sometimes in the closet. He sleeps most of the night.

We're making the best of our Golden Years. We both worked hard all our lives to have something at the end. We were tied down for many years as my husband worked "on call" 24/7 so always had to be in range which made travel and camping impossible except for brief vacations each year. We recently bought an old Class-C Dutchmen motor-home we're restoring so we can take a cross country trip, hopefully next year. The cats will get to see the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and other great places - if all goes as planned. We don't want to drag the large Travel-Trailer with us. That one is new and better suited for local camping trips and snow-birding. This isn't as expensive as most people think and worth looking into for those who like to take a break from the day to day same old routine of their life.