Claw checks move up the agenda at the point where she stops doing the job herself, because a senior who scratches less is no longer wearing her claws down. Check her claws every week or two, because older cats who scratch less can grow thickened claws that curve towards the pad. Press each toe gently, look at the whole set including the dew claws, and trim just the sharp tip if she tolerates it. A claw that has curled into the pad, a bleeding toe or a cat who resents paw handling needs a vet visit rather than a firmer grip at home. Your vet can check for stiffness, pain, dental trouble or other age-related causes before you reorganise her routine around a problem that may be treatable.
The Basics First
A younger cat maintains her own claws by scratching; an aging cat often quietly stops. She may scratch less because her joints are stiff, because the post has become an effort to reach, or because the whole business interests her less than it did, and the result is the same either way: claws that thicken, keep growing, and begin to curve towards the pad. Caught early, that is a small grooming task. Left unnoticed, a claw can curl into the pad itself, which is painful and a vet visit rather than a home trim.
That progression is why more frequent checks belong in a vet conversation rather than being left as a private resolution. Your vet can look at the whole set, including the dew claws that owners most often miss, judge whether thickening is simple age or something more, and check the stiffness or pain that may be the reason she stopped scratching in the first place. Raise it at her next routine visit, sooner if you have already found a claw approaching the pad, and say when you last remember her using the post properly.
A Workable Routine
A gentle, regular home check between visits keeps a small problem small:
- Press each toe gently once a week or two and look at the whole claw, tip to base
- Include the dew claws, which wear down least and thicken fastest
- Trim just the sharp tip if she tolerates it, and stop if she resents the handling
- Note any claw curving towards the pad, a sore toe, or a change in how she walks
- Write down when she stopped scratching, to tell the vet at her next check
Pair the check with something she already enjoys — a settled lap session or the quiet after a meal — and do one paw at a time if that is all she will accept happily. A check she tolerates every fortnight catches far more than a thorough battle once a season, and resentment of paw handling is itself worth mentioning to the vet, since sore toes and stiff joints both announce themselves that way.
Keeping It Going
Over the months, the pattern of her claws becomes a small diary of her aging: how fast they thicken, whether one paw grows faster than the others, and whether the scratching ever returns once her comfort is addressed. Keep that diary somewhere you will actually find it at appointment time, alongside the dates of each trim and each vet look at her feet. Her claw notes belong in the KinsLe Pet Passport too, so the trim dates and vet history behind them stay together when she travels, boards, or changes hands.