If you or someone you know is a foster cat parent who’s ever dealt with the ordeal of cutting a kitten’s nails, scientists in California want to talk. The researchers are looking to survey these would-be manicurists to better understand how people trim their young cat’s nails.
The survey is being conducted by scientists with the Animal Welfare Epidemiology Lab at the University of California, Davis. In the past, they’ve asked feline owners about the health of their aging cats, how well their cats socialize with others, and if their cats would be cool with a diet high in creepy-crawly bugs. They’re now trying to study foster kittens, which haven’t gotten much attention from cat scientists.
A Need for More Foster Kitten Research
“This study is trying to explore the different ways that fosters trim their kitten’s nails, as well as how kittens react to having their nails trimmed at this young age,” research leader Jennifer Link, a PhD student at the lab, told Gizmodo in an email. “Very little research exists on foster kittens in general, and no published study has looked at methods of trimming nails and addressing concerns that fosters may have regarding this routine procedure.”
Pet cats should get their nails trimmed regularly, for both their own and their human’s sake. Untrimmed claws can badly scratch up a person’s furniture and belongings, not to mention their skin. If the claws get really long, they can even dig into a cat’s paw pad, causing pain. As with many pet-related habits, it’s best to get a cat used to trimming young if possible.
So while foster parents may only spend a brief time taking care of their furry wards, ingraining a trimming routine in a kitten can be helpful for the rest of the cat’s life. And the researchers say their survey could help fosters gain a few skills.
“Eligible participants may want to participate in order to further our understanding of these things, and may come away with tools to better inform how they are performing this procedure on their young kittens,” Link said. If that’s not enough incentive, there’s also the chance to enter a raffle for a $100 gift card.
The team is hoping to recruit about 60 pairs of adult fosters and their kittens, with kittens needing to be under 6 weeks old (people expecting to foster kittens in that age range over the next four weeks are also eligible). The kittens need to be healthy and not yet spayed or neutered. Potential volunteers will also need to provide the contact info of their foster coordinator/foster organization, since the researchers will need permission from the organization to conduct the study.
Those curious about the study can visit the survey link here.
