Cat nails really aren’t “close to bones”. They’re far too fragile for that. They’re designed to be like that, so it’s easy for the cat to sharpen them and keep them a reasonable length.
this goes in detail, but claws are thicker, and physically closer and more wrapped around the bones, and they not that fragile (especially when normailsed by their weight)
Nails aren’t trimmed beyond usability. They can still use them just fine. You’re really not impairing the cat here.
this will impact their preying abilites i think
Indoor cats don’t usually “sneak away”. Most are perfectly happy indoors and are often afraid of going somewhere they don’t know. And it’s fine if they’re not being some predator all the time. Humans aren’t either, nor are dogs or other animals.
Maybe it is not “sneaking”, but indoor cats do spend some time outside, enough to cause damage to other species. Maybe yours or even a significant amount of them do not, but then again, many do
My cats are 2 and 4 years old. They’re rescue cats, taken from the streets of Greece at a very young age. They aren’t allowed to roam free outside anymore, but that’s fine. They’re plenty stimulated through play indoors (which lets them act out any “predatory instincts” they have), though they also like to sleep in some sunny spot all day. Perfectly happy cats.
so your cats are young (as i said, really old or really young). Also, your cats are rescue cats, so they also have some amount of trauma, and may explain some amount of fear.
Again, I am not an expert and would like to learn more about it.
Then try not to present your opinions as some true fact to people who actually know what they’re talking about.
I never claimed my “opinions” as true facts. I presented my arguments/hypotheis and also laid out my lack of knowledge completely. I maybe am wrong, but I did not ever present my arguments as truths. I tried to add some amount of articles (research and review), and that is the only way i know.
Trimming cat nails is completely normal and just a way to do what outdoor cats do naturally anyway
It is not just a way to do what they naturally do, naturally they get experienced in hunting, and during that, they wither their claws. It is a more gradual (not a discrete clip 1 mm in a day, a month together, as compared to a few microns every time they attack). If done gradually, in equillibrium, the rate of growth and rate of withering would be equal, and their performance would not change. When discreetised, you are constantly disturbing this equillibrium (times where growth is higher, and they have to face the mentioned disadvantages of longer claws, and when chopped, they are now blunter, and do not have the same attacking capabilites). Also, the experience (and the reward of food) is now replaced by trauma, and some treats. It is not same both physically and psychologically.
It’s not at all remotely equivalent to declawing a cat.
my statement from my original comment
And maybe cutting/trimming nails is not same as declawing, it seems to atleast cause similar trauma for them.
never did i mention it i equivalent. I said it is traumatic, and it is as a apprent from the original “meme”
this goes in detail, but claws are thicker, and physically closer and more wrapped around the bones, and they not that fragile
That doesn’t make them “closer to bone” than they are to nails. Handling a cat makes it very clear they are much closer to nails than to bone.
this will impact their preying abilites i think
You think wrong. At worst their claws are a little dull for a day. Cats sharpen them by scratching, and because claws aren’t bones and closer to nails it happens quickly.
indoor cats do spend some time outside
Then they’re not indoor cats.
Also, your cats are rescue cats, so they also have some amount of trauma, and may explain some amount of fear.
One of them has a scratch, the other was rescued too young for any trauma. Certainly nothing related to their nails. They don’t have a trauma response or a fear response, they just dislike it (same as human children often do). Stop assuming.
It is not just a way to do what they naturally do, naturally they get experienced in hunting, and during that, they wither their claws. It is a more gradual (not a discrete clip 1 mm in a day, a month together, as compared to a few microns every time they attack).
That’s not how it works. Your lack of experience handling cats is really showing here. The claws wither because the cats walk around on harder materials, like stone, wood or the pavement. This ‘chips’ off parts of the nail. They don’t need to hunt for this, it just happens as they walk around. They’re also not losing microns this way, they chip off bits or ‘slices’ off the nail, usually a couple mm long but quite thin. A house cat will also do so, but at a slower pace because house floors are less course and rough.
Also, the experience (and the reward of food) is now replaced by trauma, and some treats.
Cutting nails is not “traumatic” to a cat. Stop presenting this as a fact when it is clearly not. Most indoor cats don’t even mind at all. But cats are drama queens. 10 minutes late giving them food or cleaning the litter box? Time to yell throughout the house as if death was imminent. Anything they dislike and they’re more than happy to thoroughly inform you of it. Oh a treat? Nevermind then it’s all good.
https://laughingsquid.com/difference-between-claws-and-nails/
this goes in detail, but claws are thicker, and physically closer and more wrapped around the bones, and they not that fragile (especially when normailsed by their weight)
this will impact their preying abilites i think
Maybe it is not “sneaking”, but indoor cats do spend some time outside, enough to cause damage to other species. Maybe yours or even a significant amount of them do not, but then again, many do
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10073
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cats-prey-on-more-than-2000-different-species-180983429/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats-kill-a-staggering-number-of-species-across-the-world/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016815912100160X
so your cats are young (as i said, really old or really young). Also, your cats are rescue cats, so they also have some amount of trauma, and may explain some amount of fear.
I never claimed my “opinions” as true facts. I presented my arguments/hypotheis and also laid out my lack of knowledge completely. I maybe am wrong, but I did not ever present my arguments as truths. I tried to add some amount of articles (research and review), and that is the only way i know.
It is not just a way to do what they naturally do, naturally they get experienced in hunting, and during that, they wither their claws. It is a more gradual (not a discrete clip 1 mm in a day, a month together, as compared to a few microns every time they attack). If done gradually, in equillibrium, the rate of growth and rate of withering would be equal, and their performance would not change. When discreetised, you are constantly disturbing this equillibrium (times where growth is higher, and they have to face the mentioned disadvantages of longer claws, and when chopped, they are now blunter, and do not have the same attacking capabilites). Also, the experience (and the reward of food) is now replaced by trauma, and some treats. It is not same both physically and psychologically.
my statement from my original comment
never did i mention it i equivalent. I said it is traumatic, and it is as a apprent from the original “meme”
That doesn’t make them “closer to bone” than they are to nails. Handling a cat makes it very clear they are much closer to nails than to bone.
You think wrong. At worst their claws are a little dull for a day. Cats sharpen them by scratching, and because claws aren’t bones and closer to nails it happens quickly.
Then they’re not indoor cats.
One of them has a scratch, the other was rescued too young for any trauma. Certainly nothing related to their nails. They don’t have a trauma response or a fear response, they just dislike it (same as human children often do). Stop assuming.
That’s not how it works. Your lack of experience handling cats is really showing here. The claws wither because the cats walk around on harder materials, like stone, wood or the pavement. This ‘chips’ off parts of the nail. They don’t need to hunt for this, it just happens as they walk around. They’re also not losing microns this way, they chip off bits or ‘slices’ off the nail, usually a couple mm long but quite thin. A house cat will also do so, but at a slower pace because house floors are less course and rough.
Cutting nails is not “traumatic” to a cat. Stop presenting this as a fact when it is clearly not. Most indoor cats don’t even mind at all. But cats are drama queens. 10 minutes late giving them food or cleaning the litter box? Time to yell throughout the house as if death was imminent. Anything they dislike and they’re more than happy to thoroughly inform you of it. Oh a treat? Nevermind then it’s all good.