Quote Originally Posted by lostbutnotforgot
Is nail trimming good, bad, or otherwise? I've been training my two kittens to sit and accept it as it's important if they do manage to attack my dad they don't do much damage. If you trim your cats nails, how often do you have to do it? How do you go about it; can you do it yourself or do you need someone to hold the cat?

On bathing, how old is to late to start teaching cats to tolerate a bath? My kittens are both 9-10 weeks old now and I was wondering if they're too old to learn. They both stink a bit, as they're always getting into stuff, and I think teaching them to at least tolerate water might be a good thing.

Trimming nails is a good thing. Nails can become overgrown and curl around to poke into the pad and cause painful infections. Starting your kittens out early to accept nail trimming is a great thing to do and no 9-10 weeks is not too old to learn with patience on your part and gentle reassurance given.

How often you have to trim depends on the cat, how they use their claws, and wear them down. You'll just have to keep checking the claws to see how long they are.

I personally use a human toenail clipper to do my cats, it's more of a personal preference but I wouldn't recommend that if your kitties are wiggly or you aren't sure of yourself because the sharp open point on the end can be very tricky to make sure no one is injured. I have also used baby nail clippers on kittens with good success. They make several types of nice nail trimmers available at your local pet store. My boss prefers one called a 'guillotine type' it has a changeable blade for when they get dull.

You only need to trim off the points of the claws, assuming you keep up with the trimming.

Here is a great article with pix of a cat nail trimming.
http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/cat_nails.asp

As far as bathing goes, my experience has been either cats love it, tolerate it, or outright hate it by nature. Starting young does help them to learn to at least tolerate it. Be sure to use a shampoo that says for kittens and look for one that says tearless. Try to find one without flea meds in it because those can be harsh on the skin and dry them out more. Also during hot humid weather be sure to get them dried well to avoid a skin fungus infection. You shouldn't bathe any pet more often than every 2 weeks, or longer if you can help it because it dries their skin out. I bathe mine (indoor cats) about 2-3 times a year.

Good luck