Since I do house calls on my own, I've started to use furniture as an "assistant." This hold lets me trim their claws while restraining them in a soft way, since they are nestled against the corner and back of a sofa. Their body sinks into the sofa.
I am tight up against the cat. My hand is on the loose skin of their neck or across their shoulder blades. The snap-on e-collar is loose enough that I can put two fingers under it. The towel burrito-wraps the cat. I wear gauntlets when I'm working with a difficult or new cat. I only use this hold if the cat has shown itself to be difficult. I don't start out like this.:)
As cats have powerful rear legs, the towel keeps them from leaping up or rabbit-kicking me.
The cat's head is in a "room" formed by the e-collar and the back of the sofa.
In one photo, I've pulled the cat's claw up and out of the towel, so that the paw is behind her neck. That's the position for the claw trim.
This hold has kept me safe with some scary cats. I think it's not hard on the cats as long as I stay conscious of how firmly I am holding them and work quicklyPreparingforsofaclawtrim.jpgsofaclawtrimrestraint.jpgClawtrimhold.jpgTrimmingclawspawleft.jpg. Hope this is helpful!
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