Can Cats Get a Real Nail-Trimming Ritual?

Why Do Cats Cut Their Nails? Can We Finally Get a Real Answers?

Properly cutting your cat’s nails helps avoid holes in your pet’s nail bed, which helps stop damage and prevent needing surgery to fix the problem. But keeping that DIY fingernail polish in the freezer is just another example of the cat’s artistry taking over. There’s a lot more to it than that, though.

Using different tips will help create different patterns. For instance, if your cat loves triangles, use a thin square. A crescent is for dog paws.

In short, if your cat’s nails are uneven, or if the tail shape doesn’t look good, use a specialized nail sharpener or nail clipper. Or, if your cat is sensitive to certain sharp objects, have her walk outside when you need to use a sharp tool, or put them in an air-conditioned area.

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Look, lots of things cause painful nail problems in dogs and cats. Hopefully some kind of science will be able to put an end to the scary cat-or-shame logic that tells people which practices are “good” for your cat, and which ones are “bad.” But until then, keep giving your cat painkillers and keep your nail file handy. He’ll thank you.