cats claws

[CiderMonkey]

I have a 19 year old cat. At the start of the year she moved from my mum's house to live with us and has settled in fine.
But I have noticed that her claws on her back paws are sticking out a bit, looks like they have grown too long? It's not just becaue she has them out, it's when she is just sitting. This hasn't happened on her front paws. I am wondering if there is anything i ought to do about this? I have never noticed them sticking out before.
Is this maybe because she is moving out less now she is so old and not wearing them down? She claws wood and the door mat with her front claws which might explain why these still appear normal length. Also, there is less concrete in my garden than my mums, so could this have an affect on wearing down her nails?
Any advice please?

[wolf63]

she might just need a pedicure. But if you have never had to cut her claws before it would probably be a bit of a battle. Take her to the vet.

My cat used to hate getting his claws cut, but he looked happier and walked much better afterwards.

At her age claw problems are normal and you are right to assume it is because she is clawing her front paws on wood, if she masters doing her back claws this way remember and take a video clip of it.

[murphy~]

my cats the same her back claws are a bit long and at the last vet visit, she advised going back in a few months to get them trimmed (the few months are up now) so prob be a good idea if you popped down the vet, unless you fancy doing it yourself.......

[ganesh]

My 19 year old cat had the same problem. Cats lose their ability to retract their nails when they get old and if they arent as active with them they grow too long. Take your cat to the vet and have them clipped. I didnt really take much notice of them until one grew right over and embedded itself in his pad.It was very sore. Vets charge too much for this,I know, but unless your confident to clip them yourself,let them do it. I should imagine that at that age your cat would be seeing a vet fairly often anyway. Good luck.

[Catso]

You're right, the back claws only really wear as a result of the cat being 'out and about'. As the cat gets less active in old age, they can get too long to be comfortable. This happened to one of my old cats (who was in her teens, also).

Take the cat to the vet for a look-see, and they'll probably clip them down. Watch carefully what they do, then you'll be able to do it yourself, if you're confident. I used to do my cat's.