Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for March 05, 2023

Taco Elvis! not Nosfurratu The Eternal One!

Georgia posted a marvelous picture of Elvis claws recently. Here it is!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMrJP_OaVV/

Look at those pretty Siamese eyes! Such a good boy.

Sunday Funday

I’ve never had a cat as easy to clip as Squid. I can just pick up a paw and snip the ones that need it at almost any time. No purrito necessary.

The Woobat, on the other hand, needs professional care. When DH was still here, we could sometimes wrap him in a throw blanket and clip a paw’s worth, but no more. 18 pounds of MaineCoon doesn’t fit in a towel :-)

Love the Elvis burrito.

Harsh language allowed when Lupin is pushing Elvis’ buttons.

One time Miss Kitty’s claws got so long they grew back into her toe beans the pads of her feet. I felt so bad that I hadn’t noticed what was happening. The vet had to put her under light sedation to clip them and pull them loose. From then on, I kept careful watch and trimmed them when they started to get too long. Fortunately, she didn’t resist when I would clip them. Jasper would only let me clip two claws at a time.

“Nailed” it, Lupin!

Old friends, old friends

Sat on their couch gettin snagged on their blankets

In the news shown for the mass

It doesn’t fall off those

Oh, the long claws of the old friends

Old friends, wicked comparisons with old magicians

Those with their overlong nails, waiting for the clippers

The sounds of the shakes sifting through ire meows

Harsh language like rust in the ears of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today

Get snagged on a blanket quietly?

How terribly strange to be 7, eeek!

Old friends, a gentle trim needed the next years

All cats sharing the same fears

(Old Friends / Simon & Garfunkel)

And as usual, Lupin is not helping, LOL.

I love it when cats get their claws caught and then act offended when you go to rescue them.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Queen Catshepsut the Golden: Elvis, I need you to write a scroll for me when you get a chance.

Elvis-Anum: Certainly, Your Majesty. How soon do you need it?

The Queen: It’s not urgent. After you finish your current scroll is fine.

Elvis-Anum: No problem, Your Majesty. Oops, just spilled my ink.

Beatrixia: Haven’t you had a few spills lately?

Elvis: Strictly coincidence.

Bea: And you tore a hole in that papyrus.

Elvis: Could happen to anyone. Anyway, it was an old papyrus I was going to throw out.

Enter Maat-Tilda

Tillie: Don’t forget to come to the Artisans’ studio to try on your new tunic.

Bea: That’s not something you want to snag.

Elvis: It’s not a problem.

Bea: Better safe than story. Why don’t you come with me to Barbara’s Shop? I’m getting a mani pedi today.

Elvis: Alright. But just I want to have my paws look their best.

Uh oh! The woman has Elvis bundled in her arms and Goldie is going in for the kill behind Lupin. This cannot end well for anyone.

You has to acclawmatize to age Elvis.

Careful, Lupin. Elvis might give you a taste of those long decrepit claws next time.

Goldie about to reignite the feud there…

Poor elvis. Also yes puck it is. Lupin. does this a lot. A lottttt. I mean he had the prop on hand man.

Panel three: Shake shake shake … shake your booty. Sorry, it’s what came to mind.

Foxy needs that, she’s been catching her claws on her cushion, and she’d never let me do it. I gotta get her to the vet and the grooming place.

When my Gracie was little, until she was about 6 months old, she would sleep above my shoulder. If I moved my hand, ZAP, she’d attack it. I learned to sleep with my hands under the covers.Thankfully, she outgrew that little game! One of the many reasons I call her my cuddle-monster.

I know when my Cassidy needs a nail trim, when I hear him let out gurgle scream, because he is stuck to my office chair!

For our big Siamese, it’s the teeth that come out. Clipping his claws is a two-person job and sometimes we have to use The Cone Of Shame to keep him from twisting his head around and trying to give a warning nip.

He always gets treats when we finish, so at this point I just think he’s being dramatic.

BABY TOWEL BURRITO

I feel lucky, my tonkinese will purr while I clip his nails. I can do his front and back in one sitting!

Elvis is a purrito.

When I try to do Smudge and the Marshmallow Mouse’s claws, they give me a LOOK, pull their paws back and take off in a huff.

OMC, this is my Sophie now. She’s 11.5 years old and has always tended to her own manicure, but recently she’s been getting snagged on her pillow, my pajamas, and my flesh, so I bought a new clipper for her. She’s not cooperative, but I managed to get one paw done this week.♥

I trim my cats nails. Nothing to it.

We’re lucky. Our almost 12 yr old boys and 15yr old gal keep the nails down using the sisal posts of the cat tree and 2 cat condos! On rare occasions a rug corner gets flipped over, but only once.

Our Calico, Ziggy, doesn’t seem to have a nail problem. Her six foot tall “Tower of Power” has ten spots on it for claw sharpening and reduction which she uses quite well. Although it is approaching the three year old in age spot and will need replacing in the near future. Ziggy will undoubtedly “help” me construct the new one as well making it a 30 minute project into an hour long plus project. :-)

Purrito!

I did not know Elvis required the towel burrito for clipping. My cat Nikki, the sweetest and most affectionate of cats, must be stuck in a sleeve (cut from an old sweatshirt—wrist end rubber-banded closed) for nail-clipping. One foot at a time drawn out at the shoulder end, struggling fiercely the while. When all 18 knives are cut, I let her go and she runs. To seconds later she’s my best friend again. No apologies required.

Well, you can tell by the way I snag my claws

I’m an aging cat without no flaws

Denials loud and misinformed, my prickliness

Is world-renowned

And now it’s all right, it’s okay

And you may look the other way

We can try to ignore that

Towel burrito effect on cat

Though Lupin’s a bother with comments improper

I’m stayin’ alive, gonna survive

Toenails are breakin’ and blankets are shakin’

And I’m stayin’ alive, gonna survive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin’ alive

Don’t snip my toenails, somebody help me

Somebody help me, yeah (ah, ah, ah)

Burrito baby, somebody help me, yeah

I’m stayin’ alive

- Barry Alan Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb – Stayin’ Alive

I don’t know, I certainly wouldn’t mind being compared to a wizard. Then again, as we know from the breath stealing conversation (https://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/reports-of-slander-are-coming-in-from-the-living-room/), this is a sensitive area. Meanwhile, it’s hard to say in the last panel if Goldie is going to jump Lupin or just wants to pose like the wizard, but I dig it.

Is there any particular age where we have to keep an eye on this? Except for Mittens, all our cats are relatively young. And Mittens keeps her claws trimmed on our fine furniture and door frames.

So we can now add “Baby Towel Burrito Boi” to Elvis’s list of names.

“protect me like the baby towel burrito that I am”………………………………………………………

He’s the cutest burrito I have ever seen!

Ozzy and Inky, the Black Devils, are about to turn 14, and their claws are not decrepit. Despite the sisal scratching post, their claws grow into large, strong meat hooks, and they do not like trims at all, but I usually manage the front ones after a little struggle. The back ones are another story—talk about murder paws! Seldom successful with those, but although long, they show no signs if becoming ingrown. Sweet, precious Tucker, at 16 still has kitten-like needle claws in front and gives very little trouble. Fortunately, his back claws also don’t need trimming. But everyone forgives after a couple of treats!

Dad cat with stilettos? Time for a pedicure! Spa time!

I love Goldie getting ready to bounce Lupin.

Lupin, check six—you are about to get bounced!

Yah. We wrap them up in a towel and make little purritos and they just go Ito a trance and are okay with claw trimmings. Even our big floofy NFC and Meezers will just into little calm snowflakes once they are all wrapped up.

Lupin! Look behind you!

Cat purrito.

Today’s strip brings up an extremely timely point of interest for my kitten kaboodle. Advice much needed, Orb! ❤ How may we trim our kittens’ sharp claws without them annihilating us? Any tips? I see the Woman has Elvis in a baby towel burrito—has anyone here tried this? How do you fold it so they can’t unravel it? Thanks, folks!

We used to say that Albert had a slight flaw in his character, which was that he didn’t like having his claws clipped. Like the gentleman he was, he would politely, but very firmly pull his paw away. But his claws were like tiny razor hooks and he loved being carried with his front paws on his Man’s shoulder. I mended a lot of shirts. We got good at trimming his claws one paw at a time while he slept.

Our friend who is a pet groomer recommended a pair of clippers, which have a guard on them so you can avoid clipping too deep. We started using them on Bartholomew after he had been here a couple of weeks. He didn’t seem to mind. It took us longer to get him used to being brushed!

Mugumogu is a claw-trimming champ. She’s been trimming her cats’ claws since each one was a kitten. Miri is a couple of years old; Hana’s nine or ten, and Maru is—um—14 I think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBa4D9RZYlA

I’m kind of surprised at all the folks here who are saying that clawing trims the claws. What it actually does is sharpen them into razor points. Cat claws have layers that break off to each side of the claw. It’s not called “sharpening the claws” for nothing when your cat claws the furniture, the cat tree, or the scratching post.

My indoor feral cats won’t let me trim their nails, the other ones will, grudgingly. Felix, when he was alive was a champ at trims. I’d sit next to him and say, “Paw” and he’d lift up a paw and let me trim the nails, then it was “other Paw” and that would be lifted and trimmed. Took 2 minutes at worst to get done.

Exactly! I really need to trim both of my old cats’ nails. I’m just waiting for a friend to come by and hold the burritos while I trim.

I love Evis’ huffiness in panels 2 and 5.

I’m thinking Goldie’s both paws up is a request to The Woman to cuddle her too.

yeah we have two cats who have to have their nails trimmed regularly. One is greatly resigned to it, and is pretty calm though not especially cooperative. The other is going to make sure their claws go out with blood on them.

Elvis the little burrito <3

I like this enough for Georgia to tag it for a Ruben submission. The sweetness between the Woman and Elvis embodies the tone of the strip.