I like to dangle a string in front of teh kittehs and let them play tug-of-war with me.
Sometimes when they grip it with their mouths, I’m hesitant to pull the string too strongly for fear of ripping one of the poor critter’s teeth out. Ditto when their claw is stuck in it.
Is this a real concern, or is cat anatomy (and/or cat common sense) safe against such accidents?
I’ve never had a dog or a cat lose a tooth or a claw due to playing tug-of-war. (And our current boy cat is enthusiastic about tug-of-war). Both dogs and cats can really get into it.
In my experience you are far more likely just to drag the cat around by the string it is holding on than you are to break its claw or tooth, particularly if it’s as light weight as a kitten. If its claw is actually caught to the point that it appears to be trying to extract itself but can’t, to then you should probably release the tension and possibly help it to untangle its claw. But if it has got the string into its mouth and is actively pulling on it then it’s having a good time an will enjoy a full fledged tug of war.
FYI kittens like humans have an early set of teeth which they lose before regrowing a new set so if you see that your kitten has lost a tooth it may be natural.
I’d say don’t yank when it’s gripped by a tooth/claw but rather pull with predictable pressure. Aside from that, if the cat gets a tooth/claw stuck to a string, they usually have a look/body language that makes it clear they’re stuck and no longer playing so it’s time to release pressure.
I’ve never had a problem but I imagine they can happen if you yank the string. Cats seem not to have full control over their claws so it’s good to have time to realize they’re having problems by not holding the string hard and not pulling hard when there’s a cat on the other end.
Kittens/cats *can *lose claws in carpeting or when playing tug-of-war. Not often, because they’ll feel pain and usually stop before the claw comes out, but sometimes if a person tugs, or if they’re “snagged” in the toy or the carpet, they’ll YANK - and voila bloody foot.
Doesn’t happen often, but I’ve had one of mine lose a claw to an indoor-outdoor carpet, and a roommate’s cat lost a claw when it couldn’t get loose from a stringy toy. I’ve never seen that with a dog, but I have much less immediate doggy experience.
Claws tend to do like broken or smashed human fingernails - they bleed a lot, hurt like hell, and grow back eventually. Watch for the new-growing one to make sure it doesn’t grow inwards or crooked - then you need a vet.
pics plz
As demonstrated by a thread here a few days ago: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=671020
Our late kitteh loved to bat around the little birdy toy on the string so much that I would occasionally have to disentangle her manually, at no small risk to my own fingers. She’d swipe at the birdy whenever it moved, for whatever reason.
Both got me a Page Not Found message. 
I wouldn’t worry about it. If the cat’s teeth are that loose, better they should come out anyway.
I’ve also never had one lose a claw when playing with string. Although I know they do occasionally lose claws, because I’ve found them. Including finding one cat’s claw in the other cat’s neck.
I expect you have seen it, but I can’t resist:
War On String May Be Unwinnable, Says Cat General.
Sorry. I just fixed the security settings. Give it a try.
First rule of playing tug-of-war with the cat: Do not jerk hard
Pull steadily, or if you must jerk, grasp the rope/string/toy lightly so that it will easily come out of your grasp. You’ll find that it makes the cat happy too.
The point is for them to enjoy it. They’re going to enjoy keeping the toy and rasslin’ with it more than you constantly ripping it out of their mouth.
The most fun is to snatch it away from them when they let go of it, then give them a chance to get it back.
Now it’s “Sorry, that page was not found”.
I’m sure we’ve all seen dogs supporting their full body weight clamping onto a hanging rope, or a cat ‘hangin in there’ with one paw. But that’s their weight distributed over a full mouth of chompers or a paw full of claws. It’s a whole different deal with just one tooth or claw versus their body weight. Think of it this way: Can someone pull you up pulling on one of your hands? [Presumed answer is yes.] Can they do so just yanking you up by your pinkie finger? [Presumed answer is OOOWWW!]
Juvenile animals are even more delicate. One would hope that one would not yank a pacifier out of baby’s clenched hand any more then a string yanked from a kitten. Among their own kind, the adults playing with the kits and pups pull their punches. Please do the same.
One string caution I didn’t see mentioned in this thread (no pun intended) is that when playtime is over, put the string away somewhere kitty can’t get to it. Some cats will eat the whole thing, which can lead to serious problems.
This is also true for anything else of a similar shape that your cat(s) might be interested in eating - ribbons, videotapes, etc.
One of the stranger things I’ve encountered in some cats is the desire to eat plastic. For some reason, all of the plastic-eaters have been part or fullbreed Maine Coons.
Obligatory cat pics: Tiger
Very pretty kitty!