# Cats - how do they keep their claws so sharp? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 6, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260 "2008-03-06T00:27:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/21 "2008-03-07T00:12:25Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] Isn’t that the point of trimming their nails? [/QUOTE] The link suggests that it results in bacterial infections as it causes the nail sheath to fall off sooner than it would normally. How true this claim is, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/22 "2008-03-07T00:20:41Z")
That article also suggests I shouldn’t pick up my cat unnecessarily. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/23 "2008-03-07T00:27:56Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] That article also suggests I shouldn’t pick up my cat unnecessarily. [/QUOTE] Well, I insist it’s necessary. _snorgle_ ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/24 "2008-03-07T00:28:40Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] That article also suggests I shouldn’t pick up my cat unnecessarily. [/QUOTE] Picking up my cats is required. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/25 "2008-03-07T00:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] The link suggests that it results in bacterial infections as it causes the nail sheath to fall off sooner than it would normally. [/QUOTE] Actually I think it’s saying the opposite, that the trimmed husks stay on longer: > [@](#): > > By clipping the tip of the claws the outer layers to be shed often accumulate alongside the claws and under the cuticle, frequently resulting in an infection of the nail bed. An accumulation of old layers on clipped claws often gives the appearance of brittle claws… ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/26 "2008-03-07T00:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Actually I think it’s saying the opposite, that the trimmed husks stay on longer: [/QUOTE] OK, so reading for comprehension wasn’t on my to do list today. I got the infection part, though! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/27 "2008-03-07T01:37:36Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] My cats getting stuck to the carpet because their claws are so long and sharp interferes with their natural living cycles, because they are stuck to the carpet by their long sharp claws. It’s pretty damn hilarious, though. [/QUOTE] Around here we call this “claw snag”, as in “Achilles has a claw snag!” when he has, once again, gotten himself stuck to the chair. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/28 "2008-03-07T02:37:40Z")
C’mon, you know the rules. A cat thread needs cat pics! Did you happen to take any pics when the poor dear was stuck? 🙂 \*\*\* Ponder ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/29 "2008-03-07T08:54:57Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] You have no idea what your cat is doing in your house at night. Think claws. Think sharpening. [/QUOTE] Think pouncing, playing and savagely mutilating a helpless prey item on the stairs at two in the morning, making enough noise to wake the humans. Think said prey item being a runner bean. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/30 "2008-03-07T17:10:27Z")
[QUOTE=IvoryTowerDenizen] Picking up my cats is required. [/QUOTE] I has a kitty! I has him and he can’t get away! Hahahahaha! He huffles and puffles! Seriously, I think that guy has cats like other people have fish - to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/31 "2008-03-07T17:18:54Z")
My youngest, [Luna](http://pics.livejournal.com/wilee_coyote/pic/0000pyx7/g4) is always getting her nails caught in things so I have to trim them. Recently she got a nail caught in a baby gate (in one of the fasteners) and was flailing about crying and I had to free her. Then later she got a nail caught in a hole in a metal pipe bookcase and started freaking out. She has also managed to catch her nails in fabric. I worry she will get a nail caught when I’m not home to free her and rip the whole thing off. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/32 "2008-03-07T18:40:28Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] I has a kitty! I has him and he can’t get away! Hahahahaha! He huffles and puffles! Seriously, I think that guy has cats like other people have fish - to look at. [/QUOTE] You can’t cuddle fish? That explains so much… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260/33 "2008-03-09T04:49:43Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Well, I insist it’s necessary. _snorgle_ [/QUOTE] Yes - fuzz therapy is a major reason to have the buggers in the first place. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cats-how-do-they-keep-their-claws-so-sharp/440260.md?page=1)