Cat getting ugly

[LisaLynn]

I have a 3 year old cat who refuses to go outside in the winter.  (We live in Maine)  He has been in the house for 4 months straight, and is starting to get mean.  This morning he scratched me on my hand after I went in for a quick goodbye pat on the head before work.  I have put him outside, only to have him race right back in.  I think he is going stir crazy in the house, but I guess he just can't take the cold.  He has toys and plays with them often.  I'd love to have him outside to work out some of his energy, but he's not having it.  My question has to do with a cat scratching post.  I was thinking of getting him one, so he can rip it to shreds in place of me.  But is a post simply a sharpener?  Also, does anyone have the vet clip their cats nails?  The last thing I want to do is make him more upset, but I need to do all I can to avoid him from hurting the kids.  Any suggestions?

[marissposa]

Try nail caps to protect you and your kids.  Go to www.softpaws.com, if you are uncomfortable applying them yourself any groomer can.  I even think Petco will do it.  These long days indoors are an important time to give your cat extra interactive play time.  Fishing pole games or chasing balls that you throw burn lots of extra energy.

[lindsp62]

In my opinion, Cat Claws makes the best scratcher.  Here is the link;

http://www.catclaws.com/

I have one cat that I had declawed before I found this...and the other cat I have is not declawed, and she uses this everyday.  She does not scratch me or the furniture and instead uses this thing.  It also helps to remove the outer covering of the nails.  I nerver have to trim nails.  That being said...some cats can just get a bit testy, and the nails will come out..so, watch the warning signs of your cat and back off before the nails come out!  I have gotten scratched unintentionally sometimes during play with my cat, but it was unintentional.

Cat Claws sends a bag of catnip with the scratcher,...you can sprinkle some on the scratcher to entice them to use it.  But, be careful, my cat gets a bit more testy and "high" with the catnip for a moment...so if the kids annoy your cat in that moment,,,,,they could get in the way of a nail! Catnip just seems to make the cats crazy, you know!!!