Why have I never had to clip my cat's nails?

My friend says you're supposed to.


But I've never clipped my cat's nails(I've had her for three years)


And they're the exact same size they've been for yearsWhy have I never had to clip my cat's nails?
Basically everyone else is right. People trim their cat's claws because they don't want the cat to wear down their claws on their furniture. If you have a scratching post or you don't mind giving your furniture to your kitty, then the problem takes care of itself.





Or maybe your cat is a super-intelligent mutation of a cat and he clips them himself when you're not at home. If so, please contact me, we have urgent matters to discuss involving world domination... :)Why have I never had to clip my cat's nails?
I feel that nail trimmers are just a precaution.


They give people (the dumb people who think that mutilating their cat's fingers by declawing them is a good idea) the option of gentle trimming instead of hacking off claws.





My one cat's back paws are like that. I suppose they only grow to a certain length, because they take proper care in the management themselves.


Cats are designed to scratch. Scratching is a natural behavior to them, not a ';bad'; behavior, like many tend to think.


The scratching is to gently remove the excess nail sheaths that grow around the nail. Over time, if the cat keeps scratching the posts, or toys, or anything else, the nails will naturally take care of themselves.





De-clawing is just for lazy, ignorant jerks who don't feel like taking the 5 minutes to buy a scratching post, and another 5 minutes to trim the nails if they require maintenance.





The cat would only require a nail trim if you never properly trained the cat not to scratch you or the furniture, and the trim would help keep them lower and less sharp, therefore no damage can occur.


I trim my cats' nails for a couple reasons. One, because my little cat still likes to climb up on me, and it can hurt when his nails are long. (He only does that because I don't mind it, so I don't scold him.)Two, because they love to play-fight with eachother, and I don't want them accidentally scratching too hard and hurting eachother.


The rest are managed by proper training.





Your cat sounds perfect though, haha. Since you haven't noticed a reason to trim them, then you don't have to.


Just be sure to check up on her nail grooming once in awhile to make sure that she's getting them enough. Sometimes, one will be too tough to scratch off the sheath, and you need to trim it down so that it doesn't split and cause the cat pain.


(Yeah, a simple hangnail hurts them like heck. You can imagine what de-clawing feels like.)





So yeah. Sorry about all of the unsolicited de-clawing lecuturing... Just had to get it out there in case someone else stumbled upon this question looking for advice. =)


Hope you can find at least some form of help in my answer!





P.S. Don't you hate it when people answer with ';duh...no idea.'; It's like... then why waste your time and mine?
I don't know, but I cannot stand the razor sharp nails. My cats are trimmed and checked weekly. Cats nails if left untrimmed can cause problems if they catch in fabrics or material - your cat is at risk for serious damage to herself if she ever gets caught and cannot pull her claws out.





You really should be trimming her nails on a weekly basis.
I'm a vet tech and I've seen owners that bring their cats in and they are outdoor cats and their nails are perfectly fine and don't need to be trimmed. If your cat goes out, them scratching on things or even a scratching post helps them stay short.
Cats stratch things and sort their own claws out. I have kept cats for years and never clipped them or had problems with them scratching furniture. I suppose if they lived inside on carpets without a scratching post it might be an issue but I'd leave them be if I were you.
Last I heard, you're not supposed to clip their nails. Cats tend to take care of their claws themselves... that's why they scratch furniture, it helps them wear their claws down.
you're cat probably found something to wear his/her claws out on, so it's not necessary.





i never had to trim my cat's nails either :)