Long nails can scratch your skin and furniture, and if long enough, can cause pain and injury to your cat. To get kittens acquainted with having their paws and nails handled, it is beneficial to start at a young age. You can buy cat nail clippers from any pet store (using human nail clippers is not recommended). Even cutting one nail at a time is a good start!
Be careful to avoid the pink part of the nail (the “quick”) as it contains a blood vessel and can be painful if clipped. If your cat has dark ‘pigmented’ nails, trim small bits at a time and keep checking to make sure they haven’t been nicked.
If you should happen to accidentally nick this part, apply firm pressure to the nail bed until bleeding stops, or keep a supply of “Quik stop” on hand. Quik stop is a silver nitrate powder which can be used to stop bleeding and is sold for only a few dollars either through the clinic or pet store.
